Pimlico Plumbers, London, England - poor service experience

# 11 for May 30, 2003

Complaints.com received the following on May 29, 2003:

From: Jean Fergus [Email User]

RE: Pimlico Plumbers, London, England - poor service experience

Dear Sirs: I am an American woman and spend part-time in my London apartment. On May 24, I called Pimlico because I had no hot water. The first representative who came said he was not qualified to work on our gas boiler. An hour or so later, a second plumber, named Ivan Leary, came and told me that I needed to have extensive work done on the boiler. He noted that the boiler was improperly installed and created a dangerous condition in the apartment.

In fact, he said the original installation was “shoddy”, “un-workman-like”, “dangerous”, and “illegal”. He said that the flue that was installed was “too short” and was not properly sealed which could create carbon monoxide poisoning and death.

He also said that he needed to change the immersion heater and that he had changed the thermostat, both he claimed were damaged because of the original “shoddy” installation. He advised that he would need to “drain the cylinder” and replace the immersion element and reinstall the flue through to the roof. He put all this in writing with an estimate of