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I can't believe this....

(76 Posts)
Howjado Fri 01-Feb-19 16:46:00

A plumber has been here all afternoon servicing my boiler. He comes every year and he will be charging me in excess of £100. The backdoor has been open all this time, as he has a vacuum cleaner he uses, plugged into an extension, into my utility room. However I have just looked out of my landing window and noticed HE HAS HIS CAR ON CHARGE USING MY ELECTRICITY!!!!! Does anyone know if this is expensive?

tanith Fri 01-Feb-19 16:47:40

Cheeky bugger, I hope you’re going to challenge him?

nanaK54 Fri 01-Feb-19 16:49:06

What an absolute liberty taker

Howjado Fri 01-Feb-19 16:51:55

He never asked if he could.

NotTooOld Fri 01-Feb-19 16:56:10

What a nerve!

Luckygirl Fri 01-Feb-19 17:00:58

Cheeky bloke!!

Elegran Fri 01-Feb-19 17:03:03

Send him a bill.

pod-point.com/landing-pages/cost-of-charging-electric-car says "Charging an electric car at home costs about £3.64 for a full charge." Resellers of electricity are entitled to add something to what it cost them, so bump that up a bit (£5 ? £10?)

Jalima1108 Fri 01-Feb-19 17:06:59

That's a cheek!

Mind you, we just had our boiler 'serviced' - it is still under guarantee so didn't need anything doing at all. He was here for about 15 minutes.
Cost £78 + VAT - so yours is good value as a plumber if he's been there all afternoon.

Jalima1108 Fri 01-Feb-19 17:09:04

A full charge costs about £3 apparently.
You could deduct it from the bill.

Vonners Fri 01-Feb-19 17:12:08

That is too cheeky for words!
I had assumed a special socket would be needed to charge a car - a bit like an electric oven which has to be especially wired.
I probably wouldn't have the nerve to say anything but its something for us all to watch out for.
I'd be tempted not to use him again but then there's always the 'better the devil you know scenario' and I guess as a regular customer you would be able to call on him if you had a problem.
I know from experience how difficult it is to get good tradesmen which makes it tempting not to say anything.

Howjado Fri 01-Feb-19 17:16:46

Jalima, you made me feel better. I think it's the fact that he never asked if it would be ok. I would have had said yes and jokingly asked if he was knocking the price off my bill.

Jalima1108 Fri 01-Feb-19 17:21:02

He really should have asked Howjado

mumofmadboys Fri 01-Feb-19 17:22:33

I wouldn't say anything or he may up the bill. I agree it is cheeky and unacceptable.

Charleygirl5 Fri 01-Feb-19 19:05:14

Unbelievable- that is cheeky. If you are not going to call him again I would say something when he gives you the bill and deduct money. Difficult if he is your regular guy.

nanny2507 Fri 01-Feb-19 19:08:06

wow I pay about half of that for a boiler service

Jalima1108 Fri 01-Feb-19 19:37:26

I suppose it depends if it was just a service (like ours which was just really a check) but if he was there all afternoon perhaps he did a thorough maintenance.

Coolgran65 Fri 01-Feb-19 20:26:10

We have our regular guy who comes every year without fail, we are in his diary. He was here last month. Took 1 and a half hours and charged £50.

Toots Sat 02-Feb-19 09:09:23

He sounds expensive to me..and he could be spinning out the time until his car is charged!... I'd pay him as usual, but as you hand it over just add casually "Minus £5 for charging of battery" And smile sweetly...?

Aepgirl Sat 02-Feb-19 09:14:56

My heating engineer installed my new boiler 4 years ago, and now services my boiler every January, and charges £80. New boilers don’t need vacuuming. However, your’s shouldn’t have charged his van without asking. If he works for a company you should report him, if not, don’t have him back again.

lovebeigecardigans1955 Sat 02-Feb-19 09:15:06

Blimey Howjado some people have got a brass neck, haven't they? My boiler was serviced (£60) about three months ago - it needed a two new parts plus the service was £500 - last week it leaked and needed two more parts costing just shy of £300!
Have I been spectacularly unlucky or being taken for a ride? 2019 hasn't got off to a very good start, has it?

4allweknow Sat 02-Feb-19 09:19:49

Seems a long time to service a boiler. I recently had a problem with a boiler needing problem to be diagnosed. After quite a bit of testing various parts new part needed. Both diagnosis and replacement took two hours. Can't say how much it would have all cost as under a service contract. Don't think any engineer would just plug a vehicle in though.

harrysgran Sat 02-Feb-19 09:21:33

What a cheek I'd be looking elsewhere next year he sounds expensive the most I pay is £80

Lupatria Sat 02-Feb-19 09:24:43

when my boiler stopped heating over the new year i called in british gas and was charged £99 for everything including a service and a new part (old boiler but reliable). i decided to take out their boiler repair/maintenance service - homecare i think it's called - and what i pay monthly will cover the cost of service and repair. well worth it i think.
previously i had an independant plumbing/heating firm service the boiler and they only charged me £49.

maxdecatt Sat 02-Feb-19 09:26:31

Is he young and hunky?
If so forget about challenfing him and simply indulge your eyes and then give us his 'phone number. I am sure that quite a few old boilers on here could do with a servicing.
If he is old and grizzled tell him he is a cheeky git, and then have a laugh about it. That charge will cost small pennies.

ajanela Sat 02-Feb-19 09:38:09

Why didn’t you say something at the time to him to clarify what he was doing? Know he can just deny that he did that.

If you haven’t received the bill yet you don’t know if he will take off £3 for electricity. You could e mail him and ask him if what you saw is correct and you can expect his bill will reflect the cost to you.

This is how people get away with things because people don’t politely question what is happening.