Train4TradeSkills News: Electricians gone bad

An electrical firm have been caught out by BBC’s Rogue Traders after being found to have overcharged customers for carrying out basic electrical jobs.

The Kent-based electricians were secretly filmed carrying out electrical jobs that the Rogue Traders team had deliberately caused in “customers” (actors) homes.

The first incident took place in Ealing, where the electrician was called out to fix a cooker switch with a loose connection. 2 hours later (15 minutes of which he spent on his phone time-wasting) and the job was “done” – at a cost of £203.

Apart from it wasn’t done, as the electrician had removed the earth cable from the back box, and used wood screws to reattach the fitting. Which basically means that he took the problem and made it even worse.

Next up, the Rogue Traders team filmed an electrician from the same company (a different person this time), at a different house. All he had to do was fix a problem in the consumer unit, which should have taken about half an hour.

After messing about with live wires for an hour and 45 minutes and using an excuse of a “burnt out cable” – the problem was fixed – at a cost of £156.

So why were these electricians taking so long and charging so much just to fix basic electrical faults? Simple, because they were being told to.

An undercover electrician was filmed being told to drag jobs out for 2-3 hours when they could have been fixed in minutes, all to charge the customer more and make more money. The sub-contractor were also told to buy extra parts (in this case a new RCD) to add to bill.

Unacceptable? Definitely. But while this case shows the dangers of rogue traders in terms of ripping off customers, it also highlights the naivety of some customers.

In one instance, the Rogue Traders team spoke to a customer who was charged £384 BEFORE the work was carried out. While you can say how much did the company know how to charge before fixing the fault and how long it would take, why did the homeowner agree to pay it before the job had been done.

That’s why the NICEIC have launched the new A.S.K campaign – to ask to see tradesmen’s accreditation and keep an eye on what they are doing in your home, in order to clamp down on rogue tradesmen.

We wrote about the new A.S.K campaign on Train4TradeSkills News this week, and that’s why the NICEIC’s campaign is so important – to stop companies like the one Rogue Traders featured from being able to charge customers for work they simply are not doing.

Read the full report on the BBC Rogue Traders website here.

Electricians – what do you think of this? Let us know and comment below or join in the debate and share your thoughts on the Train4TradeSkills Facebook page.

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