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Recommendation for plumber: Francis


Jsmith5757

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...
I would not recommend Francis under any condition. I hired him on the basis of these reommendations. He came to fix a small problem. He recommended I change the magna clean which I agreed as the old one needed replacing as it was leaking a bit. All this usually requires is to drain the sytem, install and new system and refill the system. So he got a new one and replaced it. He charged me ?300 (?150 for parts). He was in such a rush to leave that when he left he didn't fill up the tank, resulting in my boiler overheating. So we spent the day/night with no heat. When I phoned he said couldn't come that night and would come first thing in the morning. Needless to say he didn't turn up, didn't call to say why and never returned my calls in the morning. This prompted me to have to get another plumber in to reset the boiler and likely I have to get the thermostat replaced now. Francis is a cowboy and should not do anything other than fix a blocked drain.
I've had a really bad experience with Francis. He gave to give me a quote on a big job in my home, did part of the job but did not get back to me to do the rest of it, leaving debris and an unfinished job in my flat. He then did not return my calls after he got full payment for the job, which he asked me to do online to help him cover bills he had coming out soon. 5 days ensued of me trying to get hold of him and him not answering my calls or texts. He has a set of my spare keys that I do not have back. I'm really unhappy with the job - it's unfinished and I paid alot of money for it, and it's impossible to get hold of him. Really bad service.
I have also had a bad experience with Francis. I had a relatively small plumbing problem that needed quick attention so I called him after reading some good reviews about him on this thread. To be fair to him he came within 2 hours of me calling and he was very friendly. However he said that he had fixed the problem and left, I was so relieved that he had turned up so quickly that I transferred the money straight away (big mistake). But a couple of hours later I noticed that the problem was back and it was worse than before. I called him back and he cones back to 'fix' it again the next day. He was in a rush both times (it seems that he hired a hire /Zip Car to get to me which I imagine bumped the price of the job up), he left after 2 minutes saying that the problem is sorted. But it wasn't. By this point I was extremely worried but annoyed of course . In the end my partner (who has absolutely no plumbing experience) spent Sunday afternoon watching a video on You Tube and sorting it himself. I wouldn't recommend Francis,I should never have paid upfront and I'll be making sure that I get an invoice.
Although I inadvertently started a new thread re my complaint, having seen these recent experiences I am now somewhat relieved that he did let me down. I got another plumber from EDF recommendations and my problem was solved speedily. It's really odd though how someone can get such wildly different reviews from customers. Maybe the heading should be amended as it does give a misleading impression.
A lot of first time posters, or posters who have only ever recommended Francis singing his praise... and established forum members with a sound posting history having bad experiences. Sadly it's likely that many of the recommendations are fake.

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