Anonymous
Sorry for the long rant but I had a very nasty encounter with this company and want to warn others! I made an appointment for a repair/service for a domestic gas fireplace, and was assured on the phone that their engineers could fix any make or model. I (stupidly) handed over my card details to secure the booking and was told payment would be taken on completion of the job. They charge a fixed labour rate for the first hour, then by the half hour after that. I was told I'd get a call half an hour before the engineer arrived but he showed up with no such call. When the engineer arrived the first thing he said was "oh I've never seen one like that before" - not a good sign. His manner was strange, and 40 minutes into the hour he had not made any progress aside from confirming that the remote control batteries were indeed new (as I'd told him) my licking every battery in the house - I'm not kidding. He had the user manual, as requested, but did not seem to have any plan of action, just kept saying "This is dead as a doornail", "This is dead as it gets", which I did not find particularly informative. He then said that the manual was "quite vague". At no point did he ask for the installation manual or tell me he needed this. I then looked online myself and found an installation manual, which I showed him on my computer screen and he spent some time scrolling through, reading and rereading sections aloud. He had never heard of Faber (a very large and well-known brand) but on seeing that they were owned by Dimplex, said "There might be a Dimplex office in the UK mightn't there?". At this point I asked if he thought it was something he was able to fix. He said that it was either the receiver or the gas (and kept repeating "either the receiver or the gas" several times) but didn't answer my question of whether he would be able to get it working. I then asked how long he would need, and he responded with the same "it's either the receiver or the gas" and then said he needed to do a gas check. The next 15 minutes were spent inspecting my gas meter. When he returned I asked him again how long he thought it would take, as we were approaching the end of the first hour and didn't seem any closer to identifying the problem, let alone fixing it. I said that if it's not a model he feels confident with then he should say, and I would contact the manufacturer to find a specialist installer. He then started telling me "I'm an engineer, you're not", which I fully acknowledge, but is not how I expect to be spoken to in my own home by somebody I'm supposedly paying to do a job. I told him that I didn't want to indefinitely keep clocking up hours and end up being charged hundreds of pounds without being able to get the fireplace fixed. I felt that his manner was unpredictable, and that he did not have enough knowledge of this particular model of fireplace, so I said that if he can't say how much more time he needs it would be better if he's honest with me and we can find someone else. He understandably seemed a little upset by that, and kept telling me "I'm an engineer, I'm an engineer". At this point I asked him to leave my house as I did not feel that he was being honest or communicating with me appropriately. I refused to sign his work report, so did not authorise them to take the payment. I then phoned Plumbingforce immediately, and was put through to 'Dispatches' who had me on hold for around ten minutes while they spoke directly with the engineer. I was informed that I would still be charged as I had asked the engineer to leave - which was solely on the basis of him being unable to either complete the job or communicate with me, the customer, as to what he planned to do or expected timescales. I eventually spoke to Michelle, the 'Resolutions Manager' who was extremely rude, shouted over me, refused to listen to my complaint and hung up on me twice. She did the same to my partner when he called soon after. I have sent an email complaint (they won't deal with anything over the phone) but have still heard nothing back. This company is a joke - they employ unprofessional, inexperienced engineers and untrained, rude administrative staff, then charge you hundreds of pounds for doing nothing at all. DON'T USE THEM! UPDATE 14/02/17: Over a month later my complaint has still not been acknowledged by Plumbing Force, despite follow-up emails. They refuse to discuss anything over the phone. I have now had to open a dispute with my bank to try and claim my money back. This company is seriously dodgy and have no customer service whatsoever. They also clearly employ someone specifically to screen and block negative reviews online - surely more efficient to just provide a decent service in the first place?!
7 years ago
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