Faulty Part Fitted By Company, Am I Liable To Pay For Labour Twice?

Dominic-Toretto · 21 Oct 2020 at 16:21

Long story short:

My heating system was recently repaired by Company X. Company X ordered the replacement part directly from the manufacturer. The supplied part is faulty, this part will now have to be fitted again, for which company X will bill me for the labour.

Should I be picking up this bill? It feels wrong that I have to pay for labour twice because the manufacturer provided a faulty part. Who should be paying the bill for labour here?

Do I have a leg to stand on here? Or would it be unreasonable of me to expect the manufacturer to pick up the labour charge.

Thanks all for input.

Dominic-Toretto · 21 Oct 2020 at 18:17

touch said:
Is the part actually faulty or is it just not up to your exacting standards? (like restaurant cutlery or hotel bedding)

It is actually faulty. It does not work.

Dominic-Toretto · 23 Oct 2020 at 13:35

Just had a call from the fitting company saying they can provide a new pump free, but they will have to charge for the labour. They are saying that I can liaise with the manufacturer for a refund of the labour, but there is nothing they can do. He stated it is not their fault that the pump was faulty, and they should not have to pay for their engineers time for a problem that is not their fault.

Any advice on how to proceed? Any specific law that can be cited that is relevant?

Dominic-Toretto · 23 Oct 2020 at 15:57

Just had a conversation with them and was put through to the business lead, I tried to come up on a amicable solution but ultimately they had a bad attitude and I can not say I appreciate the way I was spoken too. I informed them I would be taking them to small claims citing Section 23 of the CRA 2015. The business lead claimed the CRA won't hold up in court. She also wants me to send an email to her listing my issues and evidence so she can review and make a decision. Do I have to follow this procedure or can I go straight to small claims?

It feels like she is buying time / trying to find a way out. Do I have to send her an email, will this look negative in court if I do not follow the company complaint procedure? She was adamant that she should not have to pay her engineer out of her own pocket to fit a part that was faulty and not her fault.

Edit: They also offered to send me the replacement part for "free". They mean the part that I paid for already and they got as a warranty replacement from the supplier. lol

What are your thoughts here guys.

Edit: They also have a website that states "12 Months Parts and Workmanship warranty with all of our work". She also disagreed with this and said she did not even know the site had that on.

Dominic-Toretto · 23 Oct 2020 at 16:22

Bouton Aide said:
This isn't your problem it's a company problem. Is the labour costs expensive? How long ago was this?

Labour is £160 approximately (again). Already paid that the first time. New part was fitted no more than 3 weeks ago.

dirtychinchilla said:
I would send my engineer back out. If you'd broken it, that's one thing. If it arrived broken, it would be up to me as the ops manager or whatever to claim the money back from my supplier. I've done that many times, successfully.

She claims they can not claim costs back from the supplier.

inogen said:
Indeed. An act of parliament that won't stand

lol these were my thoughts when she said that.

Dominic-Toretto · 23 Oct 2020 at 19:21

jpaul said:
How did you pay for the original work ? if, a credit card that's maybe an angle, not sure how (labour) services are dealt with though,
I wouldn't discuss that with them initially though, in case they just say, that will sort it.

Household insurance that might include legal costs, might be another threat.

Bank Transfer

Dominic-Toretto · 23 Oct 2020 at 19:24

Thanks all for input so far. It is very much appreciated.

I have drafted a formal letter listing out the issues, along with the action I intend to take, I will email this to them either this weekend or Monday. It also gives them 1 final chance to do the right thing before I start court proceedings.

Will keep you all updated.

Dominic-Toretto · 26 Oct 2020 at 09:34

Sent the email this morning with the accompanying legal references this morning at 8.00am. Just had a call that an engineer will be out at 12:00pm to resolve this today. Looks like the email with the legal jargon made them fold.

Thanks all for the help!