We need an electrician. How do we avoid the Cowboys?

Question

Power shower is busted (short circuts the whole house when we turn it on) but I dont want some dodgy cowboy to come in and charge us a fortune and add on extra charges at the end (this happened to us with a removals company, we are wary!)

What UK qualifications should I check for? How much should i expect to pay for a call out?

Answer 1

My dad is a time served electrician, I'm sure he can help you :)

Answer 2

make sure you   hide the horse trough, get rid of any hay and  dont play any country or western music.....

Answer 3

you need to find someone local otherwise there is usually a call out fee 80 quid plus before they even start, find someone local and it usually is free call out. ask around a neighbour or a friend someone usually can recomend someone, even if u look in the local paper ask before they even start a job what the price is (not estimated) the final price once you are happy with the work and happy with the price do you hand over any cash and always pay by cheque as if your shower dosent work properly the time they have left you at least can stop the cheque, good luck

Answer 4

you should check for s spark who is a member of "select" , its a bit like corgi for sparks, you could also check out a web site called " myhammer.com". on this site you say what the job is, and if the tradesman needs to be qualified or not , and whether he has to have liability insurance or not, then the tradesmen bid for the job. the trabesmen have a comments section so you can see how the previous customers rated them, so its realy a win win situation, quality tradesmen at a quality price. good luck

Answer 5

You are less likely to get ripped off if you know your **** from your elbow, and don't talk rubbish.

For example, a main switch never operates on overload. If it's taking out the whole house, it's because there is an earth fault and the main switch is RCDd. Main switches have absolutely no capability to operate on short circuit. If there were a short circuit; then it would take out the shower breaker.

Your shower unit is naffed. Buy a replacement of the same size and configuration (incoming wires & pipes in the same place) and the call-out should be way under 100 quid. New shower should cost 150 though, and I would point out that you may DIY it as it is a like-for-like replacement of an existing fitting.

You should expect to be given a minor works certificate upon completion of the work. It is NOT notifiable to Building control.  

Answer 6

Ask your friends or relatives for a recommendation

Answer 7

This applies to any trade you are wanting. Try web site called checkatrade, typed into any search engine will bring it up. All the people on here have been vetted, checked out for certificates, right qualifications and insurance etc and open to further monitoring. On the web site you can read other customer comments etc and the ratings of the companies. Checkatrade collect all thier customer reports themselves and the companies do not see them.

So this is about as near as you'll get to avoiding the cowboys.

Have used the site often and always been happy with the people selected. Hope this helps