Hunter7

Hetas have begrudgingly sent an inspector around....one look and he condemned the install on several points. Next trick is actually getting them to take action against the installer. I was amazed to be told by the Hetas Lead Compliance Officer that an installer does not need to belong to any Competant Person Scheme or even have any qualifications at all, to work on solid fuel installations! Wish I'd known that, would have saved a packet.

It says I've tried too many times to log in with the wrong password and to wait 14 minutes. I wait and it happens again and again. I've had to change my password a few times now, but its still the same. By chance and changing the password each time, I have managed to log in only twice today now. Even this time it said oops, something went wrong, then let me in. I'll let you know how it goes.

....and again and again. If this website is going to keep locking me out, then I'm done with it.

Nothing to report yet, except some little scrote from Slough has been trying to get into my Buildhub account.

Maybe. I'll find out!

Hetas are about as useful as a chocolate teapot. They agree that this installer is at fault, but they are hiding behind their 'processes' that say they can only help if the original installer is allowed to return. They agree that they would not want him back if they were in my shoes, but are stickng to the rules. I am expected to pay another installer to fix it. I have told them that as I have a valid certificate, I may continue to use the appliance as it is signed off by one of their trained members as 'safe'., so it must be.

They don't appear to be very organised. When I contacted them to ask about next steps, they sent me the same complaint questionnaire as they did when I first contacted them. I don't think they are going to be much use.

With a bit of prompting, Hetas have actually got in contact with me with a cut and pasted response that doesn't even address me by name. They want to know if this installer is allowed back to resolve any issues. (This was something that he had been given 10 days to contact me about, which has elapsed, so why are they still not actually taking action against him?) I wrote a comprehensive reply including asking what they think he intends to do this time, seeing as he was more than happy to sign the install off as safe when it obviously was not?

He has contacted me to tell me "we need to arrange a time to come back and fit the CO alarm" only because Hetas had told him to. He was asking me to see if I refused, which I didn't, nor did I agree. He then told me that if I refused, he would have to give me a notice that the stove was 'unsafe'. Ha ha! I told him that his refusal to respond to my messages regarding the install was his refusal to do anything about it, so I have contacted Hetas to see what we do now, given that he didn't get back to me within the 10 day period given to him by Hetas. Small claims court is probably the only option.

I have been nothing but reasonable. He has had the opportunity to rectify the issue, time and again. It was a basic but dangerous omission to have made and even when he was alerted to it, he did nothing until Hetas told him to. Even then, he took as long as he could to contact me. If Hetas want to send out another fitter, then ok, but this bloke should not be installing anything.

I do have photos and screenshots of our messages. I have again contacted Hetas and see what they say now. I'm sure they will insist that he is given yet another opportunity, but why would I want someone back in my home who is deceitful, untrustworthy, confrontational and not least, prepared to put my family at risk ?

TonyT...I have paid him already.

No need here.

I paid him 50% deposit so he could continue with the job, but he is now refusing to give me an invoice. £200 of which was for doing the brickwork and rendering....which he didn't do. Then he couldn't provide the Stove we had agreed on so told me to source my own and he would fit it. ( 'fitting it' comprised damaging my new granite hearth and plonking a stove pipe in place.)

I have the Hetas certificate proving its 'safe'. That's why it is so daft that the person that left it unsafe ( but signed it off as safe) feels he can issue a notice to say its not.

A Hetas installer has been paid to do the job, but he failed to do it properly, as explained. Why would I want to pay BC another load of money....to do what?

Building Control? Why.?

Hetas gave him 10 days to get back to me, but he didn't bother until this evening, a day late in my book. He had the nerve to tell me that the install was safe and not fitting a CO alarm was just a 'technicality'. Not really a 'technicality', in fact it is a 'necessity' according to Hetas. He asked to come back and fit one, which I have neither denied or accepted. He told me that if I didn't let him fit an alarm, he would have to give me a notice that the install was "unsafe". It escapes his attention that the install has not changed since he did it on 25th May, so if it is unsafe now, it was unsafe then. He denies any knowledge of damaging the hearth, of course, despite me telling him at the time. His refusal to provide me with an invoice was because he "had given me a verbal quote instead." Maybe HMRC would view it differently? In essence, this bloke is a cowboy and a fraudster, so I will be following up with the necessary steps.

If the stove pipe is from the same place as the rest of the kit came from, its MiFlue or similar. Looking at the install manual, it clearly states "it is essential that all connections between the stove and chimney flue are sealed and made airtight" Seems clear enough to me and this is the manual he was looking at whilst installing it! I'll be letting HETAS deal with it now and maybe I'll visit him with a baseball bat one night.

No mention of the pipe manufacturer, but its a standard steel, single skinned pipe. Any attempt to contact him is falling on deaf ears.

There is a problem, he has not done what Ive paid him to do or what he said he would do. He has made his position quite clear but I will give that a go.

Not C02, CO of course!

Hi, he is a HETAS fitter allegedly, but I can only assume that these people are not vetted. He did a smoke pellet test, which he seemed happy with. Certificate for the rope? What rope? I have contacted HETAS to ask if a CO2 monitor was part of the install and they said that it was a NECESSITY and not to use the appliance until its fitted. They didnt actually confirm that it was the fitters responsibility but the regs seem to make it quite clear that it is. I can easily get one, but as I have already paid for a full install, I don't see why I should. Seems I have two choices here: Report him to HETAS ( if that does any good) Take him to court to persuade him to finish the install and refund me some of the money I paid ( original deal was to open the fireplace, install the logburner and render/plaster to finish. I did all the dirty work as he was 'too busy', I even helped him install the logburner and hearth. I think he owes me a refund on my 'full install'.)

Hi, just had a logburner installed and the fitter has not sealed the joins where the stove pipe goes into the collar. He hasn't sealed the stove pipe to the liner adaptor and he has not sealed the adaptor to the liner. He claims that pipes are "self sealing these days". Is he correct as it contradicts everything I've been told prior? The logburner manufacturer is not aware of any such self sealing pipes either, except when joining lengths of stove pipe, as they are a tight fit. I realised after he left that he also failed to provide a carbon monitor, despite me seeing it in the boxes that the flue items were in. Of course, he is not responding to my messages, so just wondering if any of the members here have any knowledge of this stuff? Thanks