Searching For The Bloke Who Did Electrical Work In My Bathroom

[steve64dbst]

Hello everyone

I have had work done in the past by a local electrician, who I thought was reliable and trustworthy. I live in Sheffield S13 and so does he.

The problem in a nutshell is that this guy vouched for and recommended some guy named Sam, as a professional electrician. This is a bathroom, including under floor matting installation, and some associated RCDs . As you know this work is legally notifiable and so on. I cannot get the name or address of this Sam, and at the moment neither of them is answering my calls. Sam was very reluctant to give me a receipt for my £480 and absolutely refused to give me his address or surname. The paperwork is missing and something he installed an element in a electric towel heater without water, burning it out. The under floor matting would not go down very well, because the floor was dusty and not prepped. So, he started jumping up and down on it, which I hope has not damaged it.

I urgently need to find out more about Sam. If you live in SOUTH YORKSHIRE you may have seen him and his distinctive vehicle. He is approximately 25 years old, with blond short hair, a big lad of 6'1 or so  and big built too. He is driving A BLUE mid sized (much smaller than a transit) van, with GRAB A SNACK on it's side

I hope someone has seen this vehicle and disapproves of this behaviour enough to get in touch. My wife and I are worried sick and these two characters are laughing in our face. Oh, by the way this Sam, has an ebay user id of samcarper88, where has sold over 200 items over the last few years, of electrical stuff. I only know this because I managed to track it down, via google and his mobile phone number.

You may know him through that means too. He has a local accent, and I think must have gone to school somewhere in or near Sheffield

And Ryan of RMC electrical, who is shielding his identity, was I believe born in Handsworth or nearby

Thank you for reading this

Steve

 

[Marvo]

He is approximately 25 years old, with blond short hair, a big lad of 6'1 or so  and big built too. He is driving A BLUE mid sized (much smaller than a transit) van, with GRAB A SNACK on it's side

I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry...this has got to be a wind-up. Please tell me it is.

 

[Marvo]

I'm still not sure if this is a joke. Surely the OP must have at least suspected something wasn't kosher if the guy arrives in a burger van. Maybe the other electrician is registered and there's some come-back via his scheme provider.

 

[steptoe]

Yes, what has GRAB A SNACK got to do with Sparkying ? 

Maybe i have led a sheltered life and Steps will explain :slap

nope,

maybe you have,

but Im waiting for an explanation too,!

surely that should have rang warning bells to start with.........

 

[Marvo]

Maybe I'm reading too much into this but are you sure his name is Sam Carper on ebay? If he just used his first initial it would be S Carper....as in Bodget & Scarper. The jury is definitely still out on this being a wind-up.

 

[steve64dbst]

look, I wish this was a wind up. I have been stupid for sure, but as far as the van is concerned, he did not turn up in that for the quote. I only found out about the GRAB A SNACK logo later on. are any of you from the Sheffield area, ( South Yorkshire ) or not?

 

[kerching]

Or ring him up, order a burger to be delivered ( we dont do liver, we do chicken, we do chips, we do burgers, we do fish, we DONT d' liver)

 when he turns up with it then " get him"

sorry, just made my day that!

p

try trading standards anyway

 

[Sharpend]

Should've gone to speck savers! It never did say GRAB A SPARK.

Seriously, this is tragic that this 6 foot blonde guy can get away with passing himself of as an electrician and shame on Ryan for recommending him.

Trail the car boots and see if the van shows up?

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

Sam was very reluctant to give me a receipt for my £480 and absolutely refused to give me his address or surname. The paperwork is missing

look, I wish this was a wind up. I have been stupid for sure.

If this is not a wind up....

Then in all honesty it does sound as though you got what you paid for...

Any person who purchases anything from anyone without verifying who they are or how they can be contacted and without having something in writing confirming the schedule of work to be done with either an estimate or quote on some form of headed paper with full contact details is asking for trouble.

But then the people who do a bit more of a professional job may cost a bit more...

as they have to cover their admin overheads (paperwork etc)...

Every trade has rogues working in it... 

Its not new...

Been going on for years....

TV...  Web sites....  Radio...  Local press etc..  etc..

have articles on rogue traders of all sorts on a regular basis about such characters....

And I think the common rule they all say is get something in writing..

with proper contact address NOT just a mobile..

None of this advice is new...  been going on since Deke was a lad...

Watchdog / Rogue traders / Dominic whatsis name & Melissa et' all are just the modern

incarnations of the old programs such as Thats Life which used to include such traders and advice how to avoid them! 

I wouldn't hold out much hope of searching via the forum..

May be best to just cut your losses...

Write it off as an error of judgment and be wiser nest time!

:C

:coat

 

[Robin Spark]

Specs, are rouge traders the ones that are dodgy and go red in the face when caught

Sorry but its not often you make a spelling mistake!

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

Specs, are rouge traders the ones that are dodgy and go red in the face when caught

Sorry but its not often you make a spelling mistake!

:Applaud   :Salute

Thats the trouble when reading the forum..

While supposed to be doing other "proper work" on the PC...

You brain knows what you are saying....

So you read what you think ..  NOT what your written!!!

Dyslexia ruels KO!!

:Blushing

 

[steve64dbst]

I thought this might be a waste of time, as I got a dim view of the electrical trade, through my recent experience. Seems people on this forum and in this trade think it is more important to poke fun at my stupidity; than worry about the damage done to your trade. My only crime has been gullibility, and you people are obviously superior to me in that regard. But I never ridicule people when they are down, and try to make situations worse for victims. So, I guess I am superior to you few in that regard. I know which type of person I would rather be, for sure. I know I was too trusting and indeed stupid. It does not make me deserve treating unfairly, by the workman, or the chap who recommended him, or yourselves. If there is any one with anything remotely helpful to another human being to say, I would love to hear from them. I have not got time for people with an under developed EQ ( Emotional Quotient ) ; the ability to realise they too are not perfect, and empathise with another's situation that is.

 

[Robin Spark]

Steve, we dislike the bodgett and scarpers just as much as you do.

Most of the guys on here especially the regular posters are professional in their workmanship and business skills and not only have to compete against these bodgers, but also convince customers that a job will cost such and such due to regulations etc..

We also come on here as its a social networking forum as well and guys are free to express their opinions within the rules of the forum.

My opinion is that if you didnt verify the credentials of your contractor before work was agreed, then you are partly to blame.

Us electricians are fed up of paying scheme memberships, regulation books, test equipment, sourcing quality materials etc.. when joe public still give the bodgett and scarper brigade the work!

Sorry this has happened to you, and i hope you can sort it out, but with these types of people it will be difficult if at all possible to seek compensation and get the work correctly completed.

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

We  are a bit cynical due to the amount of wind ups. It sounds to me your original sparky was not registered and thats why he did not touch the bathroom himself.

 

[OnOff]

Trading Standards............good luck with that. I just tried. Basically a major high street car accessory shop chain (no prizes for which one) are selling again probaly the best know brand of satnav. The advertising is not clear in that you basically have to pay just short of £50 a year to keep the speed cameras up to date - not made clear on purchasing. My brother is a lawyer and I wrote to the chain with the law they are in effect breaking. Not a maybe but a clear cut case etc. They wrote back saying they simply use the advertising the satnav maker supplies. I wrote to Trading Standards. They thanked me aknowledging the issue and said in writing that pretty much they only investigate if they get enough complaints about the same seller etc quoting limited resources etc.

 

[Nicky Tesla]

is this your man http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Aj4yeDpEpU

 

[Andy™]

Have you tried a layby on a local A road?

Or somewhere in the middle of an industrial estate?

 

[septiclecky]

I thought this was an Electrical Forum not a Detective Agency