Some time ago, I decided to plan my week off to redecorate the house. I decided to use a 'reputable plumber' to help with some of the work. I decided to use this company http://www.leakbusters.net/. I decided to accept the extra cost for their reputation. I decided to give them weeks of notice (which was ample they said).
Were they any good?
Can't really say because no one turned up.
Alarm Bells...Started ringing when I first rang up and booked the appointment. Later that day I rang back to change the appointment. 'What appointment?', the chap said. 'It's not on our system'. So I had it re-entered - time, date, address, work, the whole shebang. Hmmmm, I thought best check again tomorrow.
Next day I ring back and ask them to check whether my appointment is now on their system. 'What appointment?'. So I have it all renetered for a third time.
I make a note to ring back a week before the work is due to make sure its still on their system.
'Yes, its on our system', the chap proudly proclaims a week before. 'Dont worry, someone will be there 8am Monday morning as promised...'.
Great! I'm chuffed.
8:30am Monday morning. I'm still waiting. I finally get a phone call along the lines of 'I'm sorry I cant make it at the moment. I've been on call over the weekend and have to finish the job this morning so I cant turn up for a couple of hours...or shall we reschedule till tomorrow?'. I suggest I can wait a couple of hours. 'Errrr....actually can we reschedule for tomorrow?'. OK. I agree and get him to confirm an 8am start.
9:30am. The phone rings. 'Errr...sorry I can't make. I may be able to get there in a couple of hours'. I'm verging on annoyance. It's obvious I'm not being told the truth The excuses sound as though they are being fabricated on the fly.
At this point I decide to cancel. I'll just go to British Gas. Now it really gets interesting.
Given my experience with leakbusters appointment system, I tell the plumber that I will ring head office to cancel the appointment. He very kindly offers to do it for me as he is no more than 5 minutes away and on his way there (Why? I thought you were on a job - my job?).
Anyway, we politely go our seperate ways. But again, alarm bells are ringing. I immediately ring the head office.
Ohhh, they are horrified. 'I can bet he didn't want you to inform us because there's a £15 fine on their wages that goes to charity every time they pull these shenanigans.'
Anyway, I'm told they will ring back in 10 minutes. Over an hour later they ring back and offer to do the job at half price.
To be honest, the job is too small for a half price reduction to matter. Taking into account the premium for using a 'reputable' plumber I decided to refuse the offer and just cancel the whole thing. I told them I'd just use British Gas!
A lot more happened than I care to write about but the moral of the story is something involving the words 'trustworthy', 'plumbers' and 'not'.
