This week we've had our eye on the company Property Care Solutions Ltd (PCS). They're based in Hatfield, Hertfordshire and have engineers able to deal with everything from plumbing and drainage to gas work.
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We've been receiving complaints from PCS customers unhappy with their standard of service. One of those came from David Dowsett. He called out PCS because his mother, Violet, who's 84 years old, had a broken boiler. David's an engineer himself but he's not 'Gas Safe' registered so he couldn't do any work on the boiler.
A PCS engineer arrived the next day. After taking a quick look at the boiler he discovered the problem and said he would need to go and get some parts to fix it. David explained there was a local shop only five minutes away which stocks boiler parts.
David and Violet waited for the engineer to come back. After a while David called the office concerned that the engineer had got lost. An hour and half later he finally returned with the parts and started to repair the boiler.
When David was eventually presented with the bill he was shocked. It was over £500. Of that more than £250 was just for collecting parts, David felt this wasn't fair.
He told us "It's wrong what they've done, they're just out there blatantly ripping people off"
He complained to the company and after a number of emails and letters PCS finally refunded him the cost of half an hours labour, just £88.13.
Gillian West from Barnes also got in touch with us about the company. She had a waste disposal unit which was blocked up and causing her drain to overflow, so she called out PCS to take a look at it.
The engineer arrived and quickly started to work on the drain. Midway through the job he told Gillian that he would have to use an expensive "degreasing machine" in order to get it cleared out. Gillian felt because had started working she had no choice but to let him continue.
The bill came to a massive £687. Gillian was so shocked she thought she'd phone another company to check what they would charge. Their quote was nearly £500 less.
After speaking to Gillian and David we decided we needed to witness Property Care Solutions' work first hand. We found a house in North London, filled it with hidden cameras and asked our expert Mike Griffin to set a simple fault on the boiler.
Mike let the water out of the pressure relief valve which caused the boiler to stop working, it's a straightforward problem which shouldn't take more than an hour and a half to fix, and should cost under £200.
PCS engineer Ricky Cade arrived to look at our boiler. Barbara, our actress, showed Ricky where it had been leaking. Despite the obvious clues Ricky starts inspecting the wrong side of the boiler. After a quick look, Ricky says we've got lots of leaks which have been dripping on the electrics. The solution according to Ricky is to replace the whole boiler. This is completely unnecessary the boiler is in good condition apart from the fault we set.
Ricky rings the office and gives them his diagnosis but it's a bit of a strange phone call, and we quickly realise why. As he's discussing the problem and prices with the office he whispers "She's listening, she's listening". It seems Ricky's not being as helpful as he'd like us to believe.
Soon after Barbara also gets a call from the office, they explain they can attempt to fix the electrics at a cost of £1200, but this is not guaranteed to work. They suggest Barbara should really consider a new boiler which they could fit for £3,360. During the phone call Ricky interrupts to offer further diagnosis. He explains that he's had another look and it's the heat exchanger that's causing the leak, this is a major part at the heart of the boiler. Expert Mike Griffin confirms this is definitely not the case and that Ricky could not possibly know whether there is a problem with the heat exchanger as he has not gone near it to examine it.
Then Ricky takes it one step further. While Barbara's still on the phone to the office he walks back to the boiler and flicks water on it.
Despite the fabricated evidence Barbara decides not to make a decision about the boiler on the day and says she will be back in touch with the company. Ricky does not put the boiler back together, saying he would need to charge Barbara extra for that. Instead he gathers his tools together and asks to be paid for half an hour's work, this is despite not fixing anything, and the company advertising no call out charge.
We decide the next step is to find out exactly how the company operates. We ask a plumber to go undercover for us and to apply for a job at the company. He is invited for an interview by James King who claims to be PCS's Contract Manager.
After a few pleasantries James gets straight down to business. He explains that as an engineer at PCS our man would be encouraged to get as much out of a job as possible.
James says "We try and pull it over a little bit basically...So if it's going to take you half an hour, we'll tell you to make it last an hour and a half... and then we can add things into that like chemicals, things like that which will knock it up"
Our engineer then asks what he should do if the customer decides they don't want anything doing, James explains his role is also as to be a salesman.
"It's our job to turn around and say yeah, but what it is it's putting pressure on a certain part. It's gonna blow, it's gonna go all over the floor... we talk them into having the work done."
James goes on to say "we have to be a little bit underhanded, if you see what I mean, otherwise we just don't make any money."
Our engineer had heard enough and decides not to take PCS up on their offer of a job.
Although it seems that Ricky could be following company orders, he needs to take responsibility for his actions himself. Matt catches up with Ricky on a job in Enfield. Ricky admits he didn't check the boiler over thoroughly but he's adamant there was evidence of water in there. Matt's quick to point out that the only water he found was as a result of Ricky's own sprinkler techniques. Ricky says he does not fix the prices, and he just works for the company
We've also written to the man behind Property Care Solutions Ltd, Neal Martin, who unfortunately has been unable to meet us. He says his company is not the type of company we think it is. He claims that Ricky was a new subcontractor and not following company procedure. He says James King is a trainee and should not have been interviewing anyone. He's promised us a refund on Ricky's "diagnostic" fee which we're yet to receive.
James has also been in touch saying this was his first ever interview and he was very nervous. He says his mind went blank and he was lost for words.
Property Care Solutions - but do they?
(Do you have something to say about this story? Tell us what you think by emailing us here. Don't forget to include 'Rogue trader' in the subject line. Watchdog will publish a selection of viewers' comments underneath each story, both throughout and after the programme is on air. Please remember to include your name as you would like to see it published).
We've been receiving complaints from PCS customers unhappy with their standard of service. One of those came from David Dowsett. He called out PCS because his mother, Violet, who's 84 years old, had a broken boiler. David's an engineer himself but he's not 'Gas Safe' registered so he couldn't do any work on the boiler.
A PCS engineer arrived the next day. After taking a quick look at the boiler he discovered the problem and said he would need to go and get some parts to fix it. David explained there was a local shop only five minutes away which stocks boiler parts.
David and Violet waited for the engineer to come back. After a while David called the office concerned that the engineer had got lost. An hour and half later he finally returned with the parts and started to repair the boiler.
When David was eventually presented with the bill he was shocked. It was over £500. Of that more than £250 was just for collecting parts, David felt this wasn't fair.
He told us "It's wrong what they've done, they're just out there blatantly ripping people off"
He complained to the company and after a number of emails and letters PCS finally refunded him the cost of half an hours labour, just £88.13.
Gillian West from Barnes also got in touch with us about the company. She had a waste disposal unit which was blocked up and causing her drain to overflow, so she called out PCS to take a look at it.
The engineer arrived and quickly started to work on the drain. Midway through the job he told Gillian that he would have to use an expensive "degreasing machine" in order to get it cleared out. Gillian felt because had started working she had no choice but to let him continue.
The bill came to a massive £687. Gillian was so shocked she thought she'd phone another company to check what they would charge. Their quote was nearly £500 less.
After speaking to Gillian and David we decided we needed to witness Property Care Solutions' work first hand. We found a house in North London, filled it with hidden cameras and asked our expert Mike Griffin to set a simple fault on the boiler.
Mike let the water out of the pressure relief valve which caused the boiler to stop working, it's a straightforward problem which shouldn't take more than an hour and a half to fix, and should cost under £200.
PCS engineer Ricky Cade arrived to look at our boiler. Barbara, our actress, showed Ricky where it had been leaking. Despite the obvious clues Ricky starts inspecting the wrong side of the boiler. After a quick look, Ricky says we've got lots of leaks which have been dripping on the electrics. The solution according to Ricky is to replace the whole boiler. This is completely unnecessary the boiler is in good condition apart from the fault we set.
Ricky rings the office and gives them his diagnosis but it's a bit of a strange phone call, and we quickly realise why. As he's discussing the problem and prices with the office he whispers "She's listening, she's listening". It seems Ricky's not being as helpful as he'd like us to believe.
Soon after Barbara also gets a call from the office, they explain they can attempt to fix the electrics at a cost of £1200, but this is not guaranteed to work. They suggest Barbara should really consider a new boiler which they could fit for £3,360. During the phone call Ricky interrupts to offer further diagnosis. He explains that he's had another look and it's the heat exchanger that's causing the leak, this is a major part at the heart of the boiler. Expert Mike Griffin confirms this is definitely not the case and that Ricky could not possibly know whether there is a problem with the heat exchanger as he has not gone near it to examine it.
Then Ricky takes it one step further. While Barbara's still on the phone to the office he walks back to the boiler and flicks water on it.
Despite the fabricated evidence Barbara decides not to make a decision about the boiler on the day and says she will be back in touch with the company. Ricky does not put the boiler back together, saying he would need to charge Barbara extra for that. Instead he gathers his tools together and asks to be paid for half an hour's work, this is despite not fixing anything, and the company advertising no call out charge.
We decide the next step is to find out exactly how the company operates. We ask a plumber to go undercover for us and to apply for a job at the company. He is invited for an interview by James King who claims to be PCS's Contract Manager.
After a few pleasantries James gets straight down to business. He explains that as an engineer at PCS our man would be encouraged to get as much out of a job as possible.
James says "We try and pull it over a little bit basically...So if it's going to take you half an hour, we'll tell you to make it last an hour and a half... and then we can add things into that like chemicals, things like that which will knock it up"
Our engineer then asks what he should do if the customer decides they don't want anything doing, James explains his role is also as to be a salesman.
"It's our job to turn around and say yeah, but what it is it's putting pressure on a certain part. It's gonna blow, it's gonna go all over the floor... we talk them into having the work done."
James goes on to say "we have to be a little bit underhanded, if you see what I mean, otherwise we just don't make any money."
Our engineer had heard enough and decides not to take PCS up on their offer of a job.
Although it seems that Ricky could be following company orders, he needs to take responsibility for his actions himself. Matt catches up with Ricky on a job in Enfield. Ricky admits he didn't check the boiler over thoroughly but he's adamant there was evidence of water in there. Matt's quick to point out that the only water he found was as a result of Ricky's own sprinkler techniques. Ricky says he does not fix the prices, and he just works for the company
We've also written to the man behind Property Care Solutions Ltd, Neal Martin, who unfortunately has been unable to meet us. He says his company is not the type of company we think it is. He claims that Ricky was a new subcontractor and not following company procedure. He says James King is a trainee and should not have been interviewing anyone. He's promised us a refund on Ricky's "diagnostic" fee which we're yet to receive.
James has also been in touch saying this was his first ever interview and he was very nervous. He says his mind went blank and he was lost for words.
Property Care Solutions - but do they?