Plumbforce Direct
Reviews and Complaints

I recently used Plumbforcedirect Company to address a leaking dishwasher, and it has been a costly and frustrating experience. The plumber who initially visited claimed the leak was due to a blocked pipe and charged £540 to unblock it. However, within two weeks, the leak returned, and despite two additional visits from their plumber, the issue was still not resolved.

Out of desperation, I contacted another plumbing company, who identified and fixed the problem properly for £460. I provided Plumbforcedirect company with a video and a report from the other plumber, showing that their initial diagnosis was incorrect. When I requested a refund or compensation for their ineffective service, they refused, claiming there was “no proof” despite the documentation I provided.

This company not only failed to fix the problem but also refused to take accountability. I would not recommend them to anyone looking for reliable plumbing services.

** If you have been scammed by Plumbforce Direct - report them to:

1. Trading Standards (via Citizens Advice Bureau) on 0808 223 1133

2. Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.

3. The Insolvency Service (google 'Complain about a limited company')

I’ve been advised their actions are criminal and the more people who report them the more likely that they will be investigated and prosecuted **

‘Marcel’ attended my broken boiler on 16/01/24, told me the gas valve had gone and it was essentially beyond repair. He convinced me to pay a £1590 deposit for him to install a new boiler the next day. It was stupid of me to fall for it but I was home alone with a baby in the coldest week of the year and was desperate. After he left I saw the reviews and my heart sank. I called another engineer from a reputable company who came and fixed the boiler quickly with no parts required. He said the only issue was a blocked condensate pipe, which was easily fixed by unblocking. He confirmed that if the gas valve had gone the boiler wouldn’t even fire up. So everything 'Marcel' told me was a lie.

I called Plumbforce that evening to cancel the new boiler installation and was told the deposit was non-refundable (another lie). After bringing up the mandatory 14-day cooling off period for service contracts they agreed to refund me the deposit minus a cancellation fee, which I accepted. Two months on and still no refund, despite countless calls and emails. I have spoken to ‘Scott’ and ‘Sylvia’ many times, who both sound very reasonable on the phone but have a never ending list of excuses and evasion tactics. Scott would tell me that the refund had already been processed or there was an unknown delay. He would leave me on hold, hang up on me, and even blocked my number. They of course never respond to emails or give anything in writing.

Our boiler has been working fine since it was fixed two months ago.

Long story short- avoid this company like the plague if you’re smart enough to read the reviews beforehand. If not, like me, then please report them.

Overall I'm unhappy with the service delivered by Plumbforce.

Before they even had a look at the blocked sink there was comments made about how it could be tricky, sounding suspiciously like preparing for an upsell.

The plumbers plunged for 2 minutes then immediately claimed it would need an expensive 400 pound machine to resolve and there was nothing else they could do.

The invoice is factually incorrect based on the description of the job, as it states they tried rodding when they did not attempt to do so. As soon as I hesitated the 400 pound phone calls were made and it dropped to 350, then to 300 - this felt like a sales tactic to pressure me into doing the work.

The plumbers pressured be into signing an incorrect invoice and paying the "callout fee" on the spot, and scoffed when I said most invoices are payable within 30 days. The website claimed "Fixed price repairs" but they charge regardless of fixing the issue, this should read "Fixed price diagnostics" if anything and is intentionally misleading.

Service not provided with reasonable skill & care; in breach of 2015 Consumer Rights Act. Had to pay £898 but boiler is still broken & displays error code it did before.29/4 2 men arrived. 1st man (N) had broken hand and 2nd, spoke no English (cannot be certified). The 2nd did the work directed by N, I watched. Shortly after diagnosed the problem as the ‘motherboard’. I was sceptical. Later read trouble shooting Worcester Bosch code EA 227. Suggests a lock out and identifies options to be investigated. No proper diagnostic tests run, multimeter not used. Men kept speaking in Turkish. Did not see PCB fitted as was asked to run the tap upstairs. Questioned why when the radiators hadn’t come on. When returned, 2nd man unscrewed magna & water ran out on the floor. Did not know what he was doing. Was sent to run the water again. Then asked for location of gas meter, N said there was a gas supply problem, asked if I had paid my gas bill. Said metre shut off valves missing (they are not) When returned there was strong gas smell. N said he had opened the boiler valve to test if gas was going in. Despite gas smell was told no gas, so boiler couldn’t work even though fixed. Blocked from room. N had us ring to request Gas co to check the gas supply/ pressure. I was concerned the boiler was not fixed, but told had to pay the remainder. Was told the boiler would work when the gas supply was fixed. I asked for invoice as evidence. Was asked questions about personal life. V distracting. Gas man arrived as N left. Confirmed no problem with the gas. Boiler case not replaced properly. Boiler still not working. Do not think the PCB was broken. Phoned PFD was offered a refund. Told a manager would call back. Rang 4 times on 29/4. Sylvie rang 30th said someone would call between 9-10 on 1st. No one called. Poor customer service. Boiler still broken. Unacceptable treatment. Feel really ill and mistreated.

We booked a boiler repair service with them. They came and did some work, however there boiler isn't working and they charged us £1000! They are ignoring our calls, never calling back after you call them and there is no other way of contacting them. It's freezing in the house and the boiler didn't work properly at all. There are hundreds of complaints about this company, it needs to be investigated and shut down.

I had a leak in my kitchen sink so I contacted Plumbforce direct and they sent someone over that afternoon.

An engineer turns up, he takes a peak and said he knew exactly what the problem was but then didn't really tell me; he spoke for an entire hour and a half about stories endless amount of talking to distract me! I was home alone with my one year old baby and I needed to tend to her but he literally was non-stop talking but not about my sink problem - I had to keep asking him what the actual problem was and how much it would cost.

He eventually tells me that the trap was broken and made me sign T&C's but waved that in my face for one second, I couldnt read it. Then told me the deposit would be 50% so I had to pay £190 via a link which he stood over me while I did. I paid this on condition that he would do the job the next day to which he agreed. Then I wasted the whole of the next day waiting for him but I get a call from customer services at the end of the day saying that he wont be coming in the end. Then we couldnt schedule in the job and then Plumbforce direct stopped getting back to me after 10 days when passed and I asked for my money back as my leak was urgent and as they failed to schedule the job in, I had no other option. They refused to return my money and now they do not reply altogether.

I am crazy MAD and SHOCK about your THEFT staff!

On 17/07/2020, I contacted plumbforce direct for a fixing on the ideal boiler and this guy called Erhan Sendur came. He strongly suggested I get a new boiler instead of a replacement part and promised the new boiler would be much better than the old one. I trusted him and paid £2184 for the whole installation. After he installed the new boiler I found out it’s even worse than my previous one and at that time I didn’t realise they take my room thermostats. They just mentioned now I can only use the boiler to control the heating instead of every single control of the boiler. This behaviour is called theft.

The reason why I write this email at this time is because I just know they stole the room thermostats from an official ideal boiler maintenance staff. The boiler and the room thermostats are two separate systems. So there is no reason they took my room thermostats.

Hope you can get back to me ASAP. And let me if this is personal behavior or company habit. If this is how your company operate, I will call the police to sort this out. In the meantime, I should contact the journalist to report this shameless behaviour.

Encourage their contractors to rip off customers.

No after care whatsoever.

Do not pay their contractors.

Take money from customers accounts without consent.

An overall dirty company.

Never ever call this so called “plumbing” cowboy company for anything, unless you are desperate to be ripped off or have so much money you don’t care.

Jokers.

The whole TAP UNIT moves around -as u use the taps!

Tap details---NAB SERVIER MONOBLOC KITCHEN TAP NABIS 1/4 TURN MONO KITCHEN MIXER CHROME

Customer 7864P93 job done 14 Apr 2022

Paid in advance, missed two appointments I waited in for, and did not supply plumber or parts I had paid for.

Scott in their head office promised several times to refund me.

Promised he needed training to better service customers.

Then said he needed Director approval 2 weeks later, still said he would refund me but DID NOT.

COMPLETE COWBOYS DO NOT EVER, EVER USE THEM

PS. they have since blocked my number, very telling!

User's recommendation: AVIOD LIKE THE PLAGUE.
[protected]@plumbforcedirect.co.uk is a complete liar

I contacted Plumbforce Direct back in June regarding boiler issue. They said engineer will need to look at it and give a quote. I been in contact with Scott. After payment made, took 1 week before engineer went back. They did some work but did not fix problem, saying they will come again. 1 month of chasing no one has come even thou I am given different dates and time. I been on the phone talking to Scott daily and promises were been made but not fulfill. Today I made it my mission to try and sort it out.

I was told an engineer will come between 8-9am. No one came, so I called at 10.30am. They said someone will come within the hour. Waited till 1.30pm. No one came. I called them back Scott cut me off and will not pick up my call any more. I tried few more times, they have blocked my number. I sent them e-mail asking for a refund but I have not got any response.

Its seem like I have lost a full month of time and £400. Luckily it is summer and I am able to get away without my boiler just for the time been but need this sorted ASAP.

We had a problem with the boiler & told £250 for parts & labour, when they went to fit the parts they said more parts were needed & 450.00 when they went to fit them they said the boiler would need replacing £3, 500. The new boiler was fitted the end of feb 2021 but the valve wasnt working so had to call them out again but never arrived as we hadnt paid for them to visit so explained it was under gaurantee so the contacted the manufacturer of the boiler who came out & fixed the fault. The end of mach i was in the garden & noticed a very bad leak on my outside wall so called them again & again & again as they kept promising to come out, this carried on into may. I rang on the 3rd May & again on the the 7th but again they never come. Eventually we had a visit& the chap disconnected the pipe leading to the outside to stop my wall getting damaged even further which was early june. The leak has stopped since they took the pipe out but i still cant get them back to reconnect it again. I have loose pipes with water going into a bucket, a damaged outside wall & they still wont come back. I have been very patient & want the problem fixed. They was meant to come out again at 10am & again never arrived

I was quoted to have worked repaired that there was a leak in my boiler which impacted on the motherboard - no evidence supplied, but told that my boiler motherboard was expensive and needed replacing and due to brexit this is why the cost went up. They doubled charged me for the work. Not even convinced the work was done. Strange why it needed two people to do the job and yet another person called me Marcel to about the price and the work and stated that they needed card details. DON'T TRUST THEM. They don't do a good job and they go under three company names; PLUMBING FORCE DIRECT, PLUNGER AND ELITE DOMESTIC GAS. People to watch out for is Scott Hall- If you google you will see further issues with this person and mores scams. Please NEVER believe a job will cost as much. Always get a second opinion. And trust your GUT. I can only give this advice after the fact. These people are stealing money from hard working people. They are not registered with the CIPHE so they don't carry out LEGAL WORK.

PlumbForce Direct charged me for a job they never completed! I paid 500pounds and have spent the last 8 months chasing them with phone calls and emails trying to get them to go round and finish the job. I had a leak in my bathroom which is still leaking and have now had to call another company to fix yet PlumbForce Direct withdrew money from my bank account without fixing the issue, they quoted for work they never did and they are so incredibly rude when you raise these issues with them, they don't seem to care. They gave a fake warranty which was useless because for the past 8 months I have been telling them that the issue has persisted but they have never gone to fix it yet charged my account. I want a full refund of the 500pounds because the issue has persisted, they never completed or fixed the issue and never honored the warranty they gave me. I have had to booked another plumbing company to fix an issue PlumbForce direct charged me for which is unacceptable. I have written numerous emails, made phones calls and was even on one occasion hung up on by the manager. He has not responded to my emails, they never called me back and have made no attempts to resolve this issue despite me spending several months highlighting the issue to them, so I want a full refund from PlumbForce Direct.

I contacted with boiler pilot light going off after few hours of working. I had got their number from their website where it mentions that servicing and minor repairs are done in £70 plus VAT. First on call guy mentioned it will cost 90 + VAT, then went down to 80 + VAT. Then I told I saw your website, then he agreed to do the job in 70 + VAT. Please note, their website also mentions get £25 off the first job, there was no consideration of that.

The person did not come on agreed date, I waited and had cancelled my commitments. Post calling, I was informed they don't have my bookings. I called again and was given next day date. The person finally came but brought an apprentice as well (total 03 in COVID times). They had a look and just mentioned that fan is not working right as boiler is old. I mean boiler is old, I agree, however they didn't even want to clean the boiler. They charged me full amount for 10 mins. When I asked if you should try to clean it a bit, they said that will charge me extra.

So in a nutshell they didn't do anything and my boiler was not fixed and I ended up paying £85. I would have appreciated if they would have done a bit of serving or cleaning. Their website or at time of booking they don't clarify that charges are just call out and they won't do any actual servicing in this amount. I should have read the reviews first.

Date of incident: 26th Oct 2020
Invoice number: 46624

The work that has been completed does not align with the amount charged on the invoices;
The work that was completed did not deal with the issue (ie the leak) which they were asked to resolve (the leak returned in less than 3 months from when the work was done)
The overall service and communications received from Plumbforce Direct has been inadequate, e.g. over 2 months taken to receive the report of the work done

On 17th March 2021. We had a leak from the kitchen waste pipe, Plumbforce direct was contacted, a plumber went to the property to inspect the work and then charged £900.00 for the job invoice number 48608. The plumber said they require two workmen as the job will require the bath to be taken out and all the pipes that are rusted changed completely. He requested half payment to be made and the other half paid after the job. We made a payment over the phone, however, they took full payment immediately without our knowledge and did not do the job until the next day. On inspection of the job they did, it was discovered that the bath was not removed and the job was not done the way they said it will be done. We called their office several times after the job speaking with Scott Hall, who is the operations manager, each time he promised the plumber will go back to rectify the problem and do as they quoted for, but they never showed up again. We kindly request plumbforce direct to comply with the quote/invoice or refund half of the money paid for the job.

To anyone who wants to take a CCJ out on Plumbforce as I did - do NOT issue to the London address on their website. The bailiffs on my case went there to find that it was just a forwarding address (quite obvious in retrospect). They appear to be based in Scotland - the only address I could find was for their director in Dumfries so I think it's probably best to issue it there

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/04757506/officers

It seems you may need to go through the Scottish small claims court instead of the English one - I can't find a 100% solid answer on this but seems to be the case https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/taking-action/small-claims

Don't let these utter scumbags win! Don't give up!

On 21/9/20 they told me they needed to buy some spare parts to fix my leaking toilet. They took £598.80 on that date and they said the job would be done by 23/9/20. After many appointments that they failed to turn up to, on 10/10/20 their scott agreed to refund my money. He said the refund had been approved and would be in my account within 3 days. On 20/10/20 I spoke to them again as there was no sign of my money. And on 21/10/20. They just keep making excuses saying that scott is not in or their accounts department is not in. This company is a complete fraud.
User's recommendation: stay completely away from this company.

I called with the boiler pressure issue / boiler not working. On the phone they said it will cost me £70 plus VAT all in. When the guy game, he said that the valve needs to be replaced with would cost a minimum of £495 plus VAT, but better to get a whole new boiler for £2800 plus VAT, which they can get installed the next day. I started to feel that there's something off with this, and read the reviews (after the booking unfortunately) and saw that they provide false information about the 'issue' to overcharge people and saw that they even charge credit cards for the full quote of the job. I was worried they'd charge me £2800 they quoted for the new boiler, so I cancelled my credit card immediately, although their 'call out' fee of £70 plus VAT was already charged. Bottom line, my boiler was not fixed and I ended up paying £85 for nothing.

To whom it may concern,

Yesterday we were scammed by a company which operates under different names all over UK, we dealt with Plumbforce Direct. Do check https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/search?q=plumbforce as these are similarly named companies which are all scammers. They traded under London Plumbers Direct and so on. They cleverly chose/change name similar to well established companies such as Plumbingofrce LTD to distract customers.

We received a quote to fix toilet (80+vat), but had to chase the company all day for our plumber. They were all 'busy' so we were offered discounted rate for next day. Two blokes came round and had a look, claiming all toilet had to be removed to fix the problem. Parts had to be ordered as well.
Main bloke called his scammer colleague, had brief chat with him over the phone in front of my husband and we were quoted £350. Deposit (half of it) had to be paid there and then which we did, unfortunately, by giving card details over the phone. No invoice or receipt provided.
We were told they will get parts and come back today or tomorrow. Obviously no one did, we called their office three times to be told 'someone will call you back'. Nothing. At this point we realised something is fishy, checked bank account to see they charged us twice.
We called back straight away and are awaiting funds to come back, however, after this we read online reviews and found 1 star reviews all over Internet. this is how we found out a lot of people have been scammed by this company which keeps changing name, charging people twice without ever doing the job or refunding.

After some digging, we found that their London address is registered to 4 Old Park Ln, Mayfair, London W1K 1QW, a virtual office space. 'Have your mail sorted and forwarded daily to any worldwide destination from our business address from £60/month'. Used to cover tracks.
Stuart Hall is officer for both Plumbforce Direct LTD and Plunger LTD (another scam trader name), also registered to a virtual office in East London.
This company has fabricated tons of fake reviews to appear genuine.
https://directory.thesun.co.uk/11912141
https://www.reviews.io/company-reviews/store/plumbforce-direct

They have scammed hundreds of people for hundreds of thousands of pounds. I urge you to do some research into this company as they are a disgrace to any tradesmen/plumbers. They have a system where they force people to pay a deposit, a 'glitch' in their back of house means they charge everyone twice. They keep customers' card details.
I posted a review last night about them and it has been reported by them 5hrs ago to be taken down. Other genuine reviews for Plumbforce direct have been removed from trustpilot because it looks bad for them, whilst their fake reviews are always 5 stars and no less.

Please look into this before more vulnerable people get scammed by these individuals. This could happen to anyone in the country, including our friends and relatives. I feel like they found a loophole to run this business for this many years (since 2003) as their offices are 'virtual' and you cannot trace owners. They also do not pay their engineers to avoid having any tracks discovered by the public. Perhaps a good expose story can bring more attention and we can put these people in jail?

Please let me know if I can provide any more information.
I look forward to hearing from you.

Made a video of them reporting /deleting reviews online, including mine - https://www.dropbox.com/s/wjjtaqgdzd6i58z/IMG_9210.MOV?dl=0

Best wishes,

Maiya