Gpplumbingandheating Reviews 2

Gavin goes above and beyond On everything he does . Thank you Gavin for such excellent work.

I am reviewing GP Plumbing & Heating on behalf of my 91-year old mother, who lives in a McCarthy & Stone assisted living flat and had a leaking hot water cylinder. McCarthy & Stone engaged GP Plumbing (who boast a McCarthy & Stone Award for Excellence in Customer Service & Support) to carry out the repair, but following an attempted repair in September 2024, it was not possible to obtain the required part.
After an inspection of the tank by a McCarthy & Stone employee with a plumber in late October, it was established that a new cylinder was required. There was a delay whilst a decision was made on who was going to pay for it, which was agreed in November.
GPP was first expected to attend regarding this on 24th November. The plumber did not turn up due to bad weather, my mother was not informed. Subsequently there were multiple further postponements and delays throughout December, with reasons including the tank not fitting in the plumber's van and the wrong tank having been delivered (GPP says this is not the company's fault, which I accept). A new tank (the correct model) was finally delivered on 15th January and installed on 18th January. An electrician was supposed to attend, but did not and the plumber lacked the skills to connect it up. So it did not provide any hot water !
There was then a period of 12 days when my mother was without any hot water in her flat. During this time, prompted by almost daily phone calls from my mother and myself, there were five further visits from plumbers and electricians (sometimes an electrician was promised but a plumber turned up). On each occasion, some adjustment was made to the system and it was promised that the problem was now resolved, yet the water remained stone cold. An immersion heater was also connected and switched on, but this too failed to heat the water. Reasons given included that a valve had not initially been opened and that there was actually no water in the tank !
Finally on 30th January, on the 6th technician visit this month and the 10th in total, a plumber attended again and now my mother has hot water at last. Apparently the problem was an air lock.
During this time, my aged mother was having to carry kettles full of boiling water through her flat to fill a bathroom sink, with a walking stick in the other hand . She has poor eyesight, this was a disaster waiting to happen (thankfully it did not). Not ideal !
My mother had to phone GPP on countless occasions (certainly in double figures). Whilst it must be said that one of the staff in GPP Customer Service department was very courteous and understanding throughout, and did her best to help, my mother thought another was not - and ultimately, they had no power to influence events. Whilst we were repeatedly assured that the managers and directors were aware of and engaged in tackling the problem, it proved very difficult to actually get to speak to a manager - they were always out of the office or out of mobile signal range. The impression is that the Customer Service staff, however pleasant they are, are employed to absorb end user difficulties rather than to address them.
When on the final day, I insisted on speaking to a manager, I was promised he would call me back within an hour. His call was actually received after 5 hours and, ironically, a few minutes after the problem was finally resolved. He was not particularly apologetic about the situation my mother had been experiencing, but it seems that he did at least engage with the problem and got things moving, albeit only in the final day or two, after we made our displeasure clear and hinted at litigation. With hindsight, we should probably have done so considerably sooner. This company is hired to plumb in major sheltered accommodation housing developments, and we had the impression that a little old lady with a leaky cylinder wasn't a big priority for them.
It seems that this was ultimately a technical problem caused by a new model of cylinder whose complexity apparently defeated a series of plumbers and electricians over a prolonged series of visits - although an air lock does not sound like an issue that ought to have been beyond them. I suggest this company provides further staff training on Gledhill cylinders.