A sting operation by Surrey Trading Standards (STS) has revealed the shocking extent of dishonesty among tradesmen.
Officers from STS secretly filmed 44 plumbers, washing machine engineers and drainage specialists and compared their efforts with accepted standards of workmanship.
According to STS, much of what they saw “beggared belief”, as nearly one in four workman either botched work or overcharged for services.
As a result, 10 now face prosecution and another five were picked up on aspects of their work which were sub-standard.
In an extreme example, a plumber was filmed relieving himself in the loft of the house in which he was working, another was caught using a naked flame to look for gas leaks and yet another donned “fancy dress” before dealing with a blockage.
In less bizarre cases, one boiler engineer took five hours to complete a job that should have taken a few minutes, then charged four times the going rate for his work.
Another falsely claimed to be a member of CORGI and the Institute of Plumbing, while others lied about fitting parts or overstated the extent of repairs required.
Two months ago, consumer minister Gerry Sutcliffe visited the so-called “house of horrors” to see for himself how the dodgy dealers were trapped.
At the time he said: “People are justifiably appalled when they hear these stories. I whole- heartedly endorse Surrey Trading Standards who take such a direct no-nonsense approach to driving these rogues off the streets.”
Shady tradesmen are the scourge of honest businesses because they muddy the industry’s reputation. But a shortage of skilled plumbers, builders and fitters means that the cheats still get plenty of custom.
From Business Europe