Gas Safe Register P O Box 6804 Basingstoke Hampshire RG24 4NB Dear Sir/ Madam, I am writing to file a report regarding professional misconduct by Mr Gareth Cole who is certified by your organisation (Gas safe card ID: 5004435). I also wish to inform you of what I believe to be the abuse of the Gas Safe Register membership and the exploitation of customers by his employers; Plumbingforce Ltd based at Kanahura, 260 Hillbury Road, Warlingham,Surrey,CR6 9TP. I have attached the following documents which I will refer to in my statement of case. (i) Invoice dated 12/06/2021 sent as attachment to email (ii) Gas warning and advice notice dated 12/06/21 sent as attachment to email (iii) Letter of complaint to Plumbingforce Ltd dated 9/12/2021 (iv) Complaint Letter to Directors of Plumbingforce Ltd (v) Email Correspondence with Ms Becca Oakley of Plumbingforce Ltd. From 06/12/2021 to 10/01/2022. (vi) Sample of adverse reviews of Plumbingforce Ltd in the month of December 2021 alone reported by Trustpilot. BOOKING OF APPOINTMENT Plumbingforce Ltd is listed on Google search as a company which offers repair to Baxi Boilers. On 6th December 2021 I telephoned the company regarding malfunctioning of my central heating system powered by a Bermuda Baxi Back Boiler. I informed the company’s representative that the pilot on my installation did not flare up to provide heating. I also stated that a previous engineer who had called but was not available on the day had advised that the likely fault was the ignition, and that the PCB may also require replacement. Ms Becca Oakley, the After Sales Manager in her correspondence (email of 08 December 2021 highlighted in red ) confirms in outline my conversations with the company’s representative. I did not, and Ms Oakley does not state in her email that I reported the smell of gas which would have been obvious to two other members of my household nor did I report a hissing sound coming from the installation. At no time during the booking process was I advised that a Bermuda Baxi Back Boiler is considered an obsolete installation for which no parts are obtainable from the company’s suppliers as Ms Oakley was later to assert in her email of 23rd December 2021 as highlighted. ENGINEER’S CALL Mr Gareth Cole turned up in the company of a younger colleague or family member. He expressed concern that the coal bed and surround had been removed. I explained that they were not an integral part of the installation and that I had removed them myself to grant him quick access to the installation. I also informed him that the fire had been isolated in the past as it was not required for space heating. He laid in front of the installation on a dust sheet he brought with him and spent about fifteen minutes reading the Baxi Bermuda Inset 2 Boiler 50/4 E manual on his electronic device. He explained that the fault could be inadequate oxygen supply which caused the boiler to automatically shut down or that there could be accumulation of shoot in the chimney. He did not ask to inspect the gas meter or ask that I turn on the installation to observe how the pilot comes on but does not flare up. I offered to make a cup of tea for his colleague and upon my impromptu return to the sitting room, I observed Mr Cole with a spanner in hand, turning a bolt or valve which created a hissing sound and the release of gas which was noticeable by a distinct smell. He mumbled an explanation and falsely claimed that he could smell gas “all along”. He explained that he would not “touch” the installation as someone else had previously worked on it. He offered to cap the boiler and provide a quote for a replacement boiler. I declined the offer. AFTER SALES Shortly after Mr Cole’s visit I received from Ms Becca Oakley the After Sales Manager emails with attachments namely an Invoice (Appendix 1 ) and a Gas warning and advice notice ( Appendix 2) which the company referred to as a certificate. The invoice categorically states “Did not work on appliance”. Yet the certificate makes two false claims namely that “Escape of gas has been detected on the appliance” and “Has been turned off and a warning label attached” with reference to a non-existent gas leak. This became the subject matter of email exchanges between Ms Oakley and me. I informed her that there was no gas leak; that Mr Cole tampered with the appliance and he did not fix a warning label as the certificate purported. Ms Oakley’s email of 8th December 2021 asserted that a gas leak was detected and stopped. She advised that I replace the installation as it was deemed obsolete, and no parts are available for its repair. Her email appeared to suggest that Mr Cole performed some tasks or activities involving investigation and fault diagnostics; when as a matter of fact all he did was to observe a coalbed which had been removed, reading the manual on his electronic device and caught in the act tampering with the appliance. COMPLAINT I filed a formal complaint on 9th December 2021 and in my letter included photographs of the replacement ignition and the boiler in working order. I received no response within the fourteen days I’d specified and consequently wrote to the Directors of the company. I then received the email of 23rd December 2021 in response to my complaint from Ms Oakley; the After Sales Manager who had previously touted a new installation now advising me that she is also the company’s complaint officer. Her email of 9th January 2022 claims that my case has been reviewed and they “remain in the decision that the minimum one-hour charge is applicable for the visit and the warning notice advising that a non-gas safe engineer had taken the fire apart would be applicable”. WHAT REVIEW? Regarding the very serious charge of tampering with a customer’s appliance to raise a false flag, Ms Oakley has not demonstrated that she has followed a complaint process and has spoken to Mr Cole or his colleague regarding this matter to ascertain their version of events. Setting aside the minimum charge that the company is so desperate to keep, she appears to condone Mr Cole’s unethical practice? GAS LEAK In her email of Dec 23, 2021, as highlighted she makes the most outrageous and incomprehensible claim that : “Regarding the gas leak which has been advised, we are unable to say whether this was a continuous leak which had been experienced, and are unable to provide an opinion on this, only that when we attended the property and investigated the matter that there was a hissing sound on the union, and once tightening up the joint this hissing had stopped. Due to no leak being left there was no need to raise an additional warning notice for the leak as when we left there was not one present”. It is uncertain who the “we” in her statement refers to. Presumably the After Sales/Customer complaint department of one, is unable to say and provide an opinion on whether there was a gas leak. Either there was a leak or there wasn’t. That should be incontrovertible. It should not be a matter of detached opinion as she asserts. The gas leak and hissing sound were supposedly emanating from the appliance. If gas had been detected the remedying of the situation would conceivably be accounted for as work done to the appliance. However, the Invoice categorically states “Did not work on appliance”. WARNING NOTICE In back pedalling on the illusory claim that a notice was fixed to the appliance, Ms Oakley in her email now refers to “additional notice” which was not required. It speaks to Mr Cole’s lack of competence as a gas safety engineer and insincerity given that he did not fix a warning notice to an appliance which he deemed to be at risk. BAXI PARTS Ms Oakley states in her email of 23rd December that “Due to the age of the appliance and our suppliers not providing new parts for the Baxi Bermuda, we recommended that a system upgrade is required”. This claim cannot be true as Mr Cole made no attempt to disassemble the appliance to look at the ignition. Knowing very well that their supplier does not provide parts for the Baxi Bermuda, the company nonetheless persuaded me to pay for an appointment with the assurance which she states in her email as “ we advised that our engineers work on an hourly rate for their time spent on site, with a minimum of the first hour, plus the cost of any parts if they were required. I believe that no reputable company will quote for a job when it knows that parts are not available for the appliance. PROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT Regarding the purported incidence of gas leak in a home, Mr Gareth Cole was not the least alarmed and permitted me to switch on the kettle (an electrical appliance) to make tea for his colleague. This fact should be sufficient to convince any gas safety conscious person or institution that his claim of finding a gas leak is false. If not, then this act of gross negligence which puts customers safety at risk should disqualify him from flaunting a gas safety card. It is clear to me that Plumbingforce Ltd is either not concerned about or incapable of investigating my reported case of one of its engineers tampering with a customer’s installation. It appears the company condones the unethical conduct of its employees/contractors. I have attached nine pages of adverse reviews by customers as reported by Trustpilot in the month of December 2021 which shows the company’s exploitative track record. However, tampering with a customer’s appliance to release gas, must fall in the league of despicable behaviour and professional misconduct which as a Trade Body you should be concerned about. Not many customers will find the time to pursue redress or be capable of coherently presenting their case. I have chosen to do so to prevent Mr Gareth Cole from perpetuating his scam on the unsuspecting public. I trust you will share my grave concern and take action to maintain your reputation as an institution that the public can trust to regulate the conduct of its members. Yours faithfully Kenneth Koranteng