Plumbers Direct

Plumbers direct advised me a smell in my property was caused by the drain. They charged me almost £500 for a 40 minute jet wash of the drain.

The smell which never went away returned just as strong after a couple of weeks and I have been trying to speak to Plumbers direct since. Each time I call they promise to send someone down to look at the problem but nobody ever turns up. Once somebody showed to tell me that I needed more investigation. I complained and now they refuse to answer the phone and also put the phone down on me.

Today one of their employee called Debbie told me that she would return my call after 5 minutes, that was 7 hours ago.

I called back to complain and they put the phone down and now refuse to accept my calls. I am currently filling out legal papers to take the matter to court.

I was told a plumber would arrive between 3-4pm. By 4pm I'd heard nothing. I texted the number of the alleged plumber. There was no answer so I recalled the main line, the male receptionist was pretty unpleasant and spoke to me with both contempt and aggression and told me to ring the number of the alleged plumber. It was another reception/office type place. (So clearly I had not been given the plumber's direct number.) Another male receptionist said he would call the plumber and get back to me with an approximate time of arrival. 15 minutes later I still hadn't heard from him. So I recalled. He said he'd ring the plumber (so I assume he did not the first time). He can't get an answer. It is now past 5pm and I'd had chance to find these reviews. I can only say it sounds like I had a lucky escape!

The whole process was unprofessional and unpleasant.

I was quoted £60 for what was apparently a simple plumbing job and was then charged £264!! Do not on any account use this company.

I contacted the company to come and fix the ball *** in my water tank in the loft as it was dripping out of the overflow. I was told it was a quick job and would take just half an hour The plumber took one and a half hours so I expected it to be a bit more. I was charged £264!!

When I checked the invoice I found that labour was £122.50 an hour plus VAT on top. Is that even legal?

Poor service, wouldn't recommend this company to anyone. Paid £370 for just over an hours work to fit a 6" pipe.

Was not fitted correctly and will now have to pay someone else to do it correctly. Thanks a lot plumbers direct ars**oles

Hi, I run a company in Tavistock, Devon, England called Plumbers Direct, we have been operating successfully for ten years and would ask you to advise your customers that your complaint regarding "pissed consumers" is nothing to do with us, please advise,

Kind Regards,

Trev Thane

Plumbers Direct103 MonksmeadTavistockDevon Englandpl198pr

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dont at any cost use this host company...they are set up to robb the custermer...they dont employ one single plumber...they sub it all out to anybody without E V E N...meeting them...I should know they offered me work and they found me on a web site..martinmarienshowers.co.uk

I have a friend who worked for these Robbers...He left as he put it.." custermers are robbed blind.."..And he got so much stik over the massive bill he felt like it was his fault...So he just quit...Small independant plumbers are the best choice...martin marien

WARNING Plumbers Direct happily took £240 from my vulnerable mother to change a ball ***. Charging by the half hour for the plumber to leisurely shop around B&Q for the part. I don't understand how they could, in good conscience take that amount of money for a part that cost £15.

One of my tenants had a leak in the bathroom. When I called company I was quoted £79 for half an hour and if it went to 1 hour it would be £100, and once the plumber is at the house, if it goes over this amount, then I would be contacted for permission.

The plumber came out, did the job, I never received a call. The next day I rang them to ask for invoice, said it would be emailed, have never received, now I see they took £188 from my account.

Currently in the process of dispute.

This 'company' are fraudulent.

Called to request they fix a couple of toilet leaks in my home. Not a big job - not one that you would pay a big call out fee for and they offer a NO CALL OUT CHARGE.

The plumber then turns up and the first thing he does is to get you to sign a form to confirm what time they turned up.

Plumber then looks at the toilet and says they can't fix it, they don't have the parts. (Was also told that wrong replacement parts had been fitted - no new parts had been fitted as the toilets are part of a new build house and have been working fine for over 8 years)

Unbeknownst to me they are charging for this 'diagnostic'.

So the 'call out' might be free but you will be charged for the 'diagnostic'. How much will this cost you?

Well, this plumber came round, had a look and was around for no more than 20mins...£75...to be told they can't do it.

So the moment you pick up the phone, call this company, arrange for them to come round and the second they step through the door - your being charged. Not what I'd call a 'free call out'. a very expensive one at that!

I phoned Plumbers Direct at 11.30 Sunday morning to say my toilet cistern had overflowed and I needed a plumber urgently as my stop *** didn't turn the water off. Promised a visit between 1300 - **** if not earlier.

At 14.00 received call that work on previous job had overrun,expect plumber 14.00-16.00. At 16.15 no plumber had arrived so phones on 0800 169****. Phone rang for one and half minutes - no reply!

At 18.30 a young man knocked on the door and said he was the plumber. Told him he was too late as I had booked someone else.He told me he had received a call at 14.00 from a female telling him the job was at 18.00.

I asked him if he had been busy and he said he had done nothing all day and was decorating at home. Afterwards I read this page of complaints and realised I should have read these complaints first before going to this useless company for help. The young man was gutted because he could have done with the work - I am gutted because I have to wait until Monday to get job fixed by the people I had now fixed to do it. No wonder Plumbers Direct are not listed on Check-a-Trade.

How they have the cheek to ask for £79 per hour plus VAT and then not turn up. Who makes the money?

The plumber from Plumbers Direct (aka "The Local Plumbers”) arrived, took one look at the toilet and said he wouldn't be able to fix it. He then charged me £70 for the callout, saying I was paying for "part of half an hour". The company clearly advertises itself as having no callout charge, so I called and complained. The operative told me that because the plumber hadn't explained the charges or got me to sign off on them before entering my property, I would receive a refund. However, after 9 days, this had still not arrived, so I called them again. The first person (Adam) told me he would get the relevant department to call me straight back but, predictably, they did not. I called them back again and asked to speak to a manager. The person to whom I was put through claimed to be the owner of the company (Ian Hawkes) but he would not let me speak and just shouted abuse over the top of me before putting down the 'phone. It’s now clear that I am not going to receive the promised refund.

Do not be tempted to use this so-called company. It appears to be a scam. I'm reporting them to Trading Standards and am considering informing the Police. And I see from the comments below that I'm not the only person who has been ripped off by them. In fact, the plumber I eventually used also warned me about them. I also ran a search for this company – under both its names – on the Companies House website but there is no record of either.

This is a "lead generation" company owned by Mr Iam Hawkes. THEY DO NOT GUARANTEE THEIR WORK.

They advertise as a "Local Plumbers" but are anything but. The "plumber" arrived and took one look at my tap and said it needed replaced. NO diagnostics. He did not know where the "local" plumber merchants is.

I had to Google it for him. He managed to make the job last one and a half hours and left some piping hanging loose. The cost was £276 including £95 plus VAT for a tap he bought retail for £49.99. They retain the tap invoice to reclaim the VAT then charged me £18 vat on top.

So in the end the vat element was £38 for a tap that cost £40 including retailers margin, and a handy £45pure profit for Mr Hawkes. So £113 for a tap that cost £20 to produce. The invoicing structure is dubious. I called to complain about being over charged and was told someone would call back.

They didnt. The tap is now leaking again and Mr Hawkes spoke to me like I was an ***. In his book the customer is always wrong and he does not have to tolerate them. His manner was deplorable and infuriating.

He referred to my signing the original invoice which I knew was a pre-cursor to denying any responsibility for the current problem. He complained that I interuppted him and did not answer his questions correctly. "That is not what I asked you" he whined when I volunteered information or dared to give an opinion. He then told me I was very rude, abrupt and threatening and hung up.

When I called back he refused to put me on to speak to someone more reasonable and the put me on permanent hold. Of course it's a premium line.

Check out the web. There are lots of complaints by customers and plumbers about this firm.

when carrying out work for home services direct limited trading as plumbers and at least seven other plumbing trading names, the staff their are pressured by the director ian hawkes to direct their subcontractors to earn well on the job, they will even go as far to say "drag the job out", which i think is not the way to do business. the director ian hawekes also ran another company called first call direct which went bankrupt when one of his subcontractor caused a elderly lady to die after forcing her to with draw 5500 from her pension for 2 days work.

this man has no morals, and will try to scam any body who he knows. check out his house on google earth its were his office is based, it has a 35ft brick wall built around it, its like a prison, i wonder why, i think he might be hiding from a couple of people he has pissed off.