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I have had cause to either use or get quotations from Pimlico Plumbers several times over the last 5 years. They are very very expensive and although on a couple of occasions they have been ok more often than not they are no better than any other plumber (not a compliment). You also need to be careful when you get them around for a quotation. When I asked them to quote for a new boiler two years ago they were very proud of the fact they were more expensive than anyone else. They also informed me that they could not confirm if they would have to tear my ceiling down until they had started the job which would cost even more. Obviously I went for one of the other three firms quoting who could give me a fixed price and confirmed before hand that they did not need to tear the ceiling down. Today was the last straw for me. I have a two year old boiler that passed its last annual check-up with Pimlico as well as the installation of a new control unit by Pimlico a few months ago. However I have today been informed that it is not installed properly despite being installed by a gas safe engineer and passing two annual inspections. Out comes the paperwork and stickers and the engineer decides to shut the boiler down for me so I cant use it. All because of a missing screw on the flu. It is complete overkill and a very obvious attempt to up the fee. Needless to say the boiler is now back on and working fine after I used the services of another plumber. He is from British Gas, charged £65 instead of £120 (Pimlico), finished the job in 15 minutes and confirmed the Pimlico plumber does not know what he is talking about. I also called the techies at Worcester boilers to confirm that the flu junction in question was “push fit” and needed no screw. I lodged a complaint with Pimlico and of course I get no where. I strongly recommend that you do not use them. They have a branded image and customer service centres etc and try to put forward the idea that they are so expensive because they are somehow expert at what they do. They are no better than anyone else with a Corgi/Gas safe qualification.
They promise everything on the phone and then the engineer turns up with a completely different story.. I paid an invoice on the day as I had to have the work done, and after calling customer services to complain they told me it was my fault for paying when I didn't agree with the work, and pretty much said I was lying when I said the engineer did not explain the options to me!!
I submitted a review via their website but they clearly only show positive feedback which is why I'm writing here.... steer well clear of these guys, no customer care at all and they are only interested in overcharging and getting your money
I have a portfolio of properties across London. I have used Pimlico in the past and although expensive did have a high standard of employee initially.
Over the last few years I have found their employees have adopted terrible attitudes to both me the paying customer and the tenants in the property's. That is to say both the call centre staff and the plumbers/electricians.
I'm not sure what went wrong over the last few years but here's a recent example...
1)LEB informed me that after conducting an initial safety test there were sockets without adequate earth's in a property.
2) I called Pimlico who said they would be there between 11:30 and 02:00pm to conduct an electrical safety test.
3)Engineer arrives at 14:30pm tells me after sticking his tester into the socket that it's faulty and it's the earth but he has to go now can I pay £80 vat for the 1st hour. He would come back on Monday to do a full test taking 4 - 6 hours. I said (on phone) can't he test other sockets to minimise the testing required on Monday.
4)He reluctantly tested one more before charging me....I then asked the call centre staff why I was paying for two visits when one would do. They had various excuses but the main one was if he started work then it may be dark and he needs day light. I said how dark can it be at 02:30pm....
5)The call centre staff would not agree to removing the initial call out charge from the new inspection appointment on Monday. They kept asking do I want the inspection I said. "yes".
6)I questioned "how a studio flat with one room, open plan kitchen and a bathroom can take 6 hours to check. It's not a six bedroom house. Two sockets in the kitchen, three in the bedroom/living area. One lighting circuit with just two switches and a consumer unit. Six hours!!!!!!Just to check!! What are we talking two weeks to rectify!!!!"
7) I received a call from them later saying although I had booked a full inspection(fuller than the one I already booked) they required a 3 hour deposit from me before they would come out.... This is after they confirmed and booked the appointment...
7) I will not use Pimlico again except in an emergency and have reverted to using my ex convicted murderer and burglary come handyman.
There is a risk he may rob the tenants but when it comes to plumbing and electrics he is trustworthy and honest.
I have been a customer of Pimlico Plumbers for over 5 years. I call them out 3-7 times a year for a range of small plumbing, electrical and maintenance jobs. I stomach the labour charges because most of their tradesmen are professional and efficient. The pain was not about being charged £80 for a 32 minute job - it solved my problem. But I did feel a bit done over when I was charged £72.00 for a standard replacement part that has a retail price of £27.00.
After using a complete cowboy to get the pilot light going in my back boiler ('Kevin' - he didn't manage to get the front of the fire back on straight, and there was a smell of gas after he'd gone), I thought I'd pay top dollar for Pimlico Plumbers. Surely they'd do the job properly. Chap came along, did the boiler service OK, then started 'fixing' the pilot light. Despite having had the problem explained before he set out, he didn't have any spare parts in the van, and disappeared to Sydenham (the nearest plumbing suppliers to Dulwich, apparently) for 50 minutes. At £90 an hour, I thought this was a bit much. Came back and had terrible trouble fixing the pilot - constant complaints about the job the previous guy had done (yes, I know, that's why I called you in). He had a great deal of trouble getting the pilot alight, and as soon as it was he scarpered, leaving me £300 poorer. This was on Friday. I came back home on Monday, having been away for the weekend, and the thing went out the instant I tried to get the burner going. Only then did I notice the get-out-of-jail-free clause he'd written into the invoice, recommending further work as 'there may be problems in the future'. Fair enough, nothing's guaranteed for ever, but two days? When there was nobody home? When I phoned to complain, customer services were as helpful as a brick wall. Pimlico are a bunch of cowboys in shiny vans. Don't use 'em.
Flabbergasted by the negative comments on the site. OK, they are a tad pricey but I have had five jobs done by them recently ranging from roof repairs to joinery and they have been exemplary - fast, excellent standard of workmanship, polite and very tidy. You could use A N Other but you just don't know what, if anything other than aggro, you're going to get. The harsh Blagging Pimlico has received gives me the nastiest suspicion that some of the comments are not kosher and derive from some of their cowboy competitors...quis custodet custodes ipsos, eh?
Had another plumbing company out today (aspect) which, somehow i got to their website through a link saying pimlico plumbers? found this rather underhanded, anyway, they came over, and the guy was absolutely useless, didnt have a clue what he was doing, so i told him to leave. I then called pimlico, who was very efficient, and they repaired the problem within minutes.
It just goes to show, that you get WHAT YOU PAY FOR!
I had an electrical problem at my property, and within 40 minutes, had a lovely young chap called ricky turn up at the door. within 20 minutes he had diagnosed 3 seperate problems with the lighting which kept blowing the fuse. Yes it did take a while to repair the problems, but i found the engineer very professional, helpful, and he knew exactly what he was doing. The job was done neatly and successfully, and he cleared away all the mess afterwards.
Very poor service, very poor job done. I felt utterly at their mercy. They came and kept saying it would cost more, and then that they wanted to get someone else from their team involved. in the end we just had to get them to keep going because they had made such a mess. someone looked at it today and said they thought it might be dangerous. I'm so depressed about it. they were really chirpy to begin with but as time went on and we started to question them they closed ranks and actually became quite rude. don't use them. use someone like british gas services. they are really honest and trustworthy.
I had them out this morning - the first guy couldn't resolve the problem and said he needed to call another plumber (his choice). They then decided that we needed to pay £150 for the first guy and £80 for the 2nd guy. If they had sent someone initially who could do the job I would only have had to pay £150. I was at work and refused to pay the 2nd invoice over the phone - whilst this conversation was going on they bullied my wife into making the payment. Never use this company....I thought they were reputable but obviously not.
Charged me just over £400 for two visits in relation to my faulty boiler and still failed to diagnose the problem, which has since transpired to be a faulty pump. The Pimlico Plumber engineer first replaced the gas valve (it has since transpired this was not necessary), when that didn't work, he told me there must be a fault with the electronics panel and I'd need to get the manufacturers engineer out to look at this. I did, Vaillant's engineer told me it was just the pump and any plumber should have spotted this. I paid £400 for nothing and an extra couple of days without heating or hot water. Never ever use or recommend this company.
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Visitors to the site are reminded that the details contained within user comments are uncorroborated and as such should not be read as fact but as the opinion of the person who left the comment.
Comments:
They promise everything on the phone and then the engineer turns up with a completely different story.. I paid an invoice on the day as I had to have the work done, and after calling customer services to complain they told me it was my fault for paying when I didn't agree with the work, and pretty much said I was lying when I said the engineer did not explain the options to me!!
I submitted a review via their website but they clearly only show positive feedback which is why I'm writing here.... steer well clear of these guys, no customer care at all and they are only interested in overcharging and getting your money
Over the last few years I have found their employees have adopted terrible attitudes to both me the paying customer and the tenants in the property's. That is to say both the call centre staff and the plumbers/electricians.
I'm not sure what went wrong over the last few years but here's a recent example...
1)LEB informed me that after conducting an initial safety test there were sockets without adequate earth's in a property.
2) I called Pimlico who said they would be there between 11:30 and 02:00pm to conduct an electrical safety test.
3)Engineer arrives at 14:30pm tells me after sticking his tester into the socket that it's faulty and it's the earth but he has to go now can I pay £80 vat for the 1st hour. He would come back on Monday to do a full test taking 4 - 6 hours. I said (on phone) can't he test other sockets to minimise the testing required on Monday.
4)He reluctantly tested one more before charging me....I then asked the call centre staff why I was paying for two visits when one would do. They had various excuses but the main one was if he started work then it may be dark and he needs day light. I said how dark can it be at 02:30pm....
5)The call centre staff would not agree to removing the initial call out charge from the new inspection appointment on Monday. They kept asking do I want the inspection I said. "yes".
6)I questioned "how a studio flat with one room, open plan kitchen and a bathroom can take 6 hours to check. It's not a six bedroom house. Two sockets in the kitchen, three in the bedroom/living area. One lighting circuit with just two switches and a consumer unit. Six hours!!!!!!Just to check!! What are we talking two weeks to rectify!!!!"
7) I received a call from them later saying although I had booked a full inspection(fuller than the one I already booked) they required a 3 hour deposit from me before they would come out.... This is after they confirmed and booked the appointment...
7) I will not use Pimlico again except in an emergency and have reverted to using my ex convicted murderer and burglary come handyman.
There is a risk he may rob the tenants but when it comes to plumbing and electrics he is trustworthy and honest.
It just goes to show, that you get WHAT YOU PAY FOR!
Thanks pimlico plumbers.
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