Dodgy plumber must pay customer back after shoddy work

A cowboy plumber who lied about being part of an approved trader scheme must pay 2,620 after a customer reported his shoddy work.

Roger Dunham, of R Dunham Plumbing and Heating, was reported to Bracknell Forest Councils Trading Standards team by one of his clients, complaining about work he had carried out in December 2013.

The customer had employed Dunham based on claims that he was a member of the Trading Standards scheme, Buy With Confidence (BWC).

Appearing at Reading Magistrates Court on Monday September 1, Dunham, of Gravetts Lane, Guildford, admitted he lied about being a member of the scheme as well as two other charges contrary to the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

The plumbers membership to the trading standards scheme had expired in 2012.

He also made false claims that he was a member of the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering (Ciphe) and that he was qualified by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB).

Dunham was fined 1,400 and ordered to pay council costs of 1,100 as well as a victim surcharge of 120 a total of 2,620.

In mitigation, the plumber said he had not got round to renewing his paperwork for the BWC scheme and had enquired about joining Ciphe but accepted he should not have been displaying the logo.

He also claimed he was Gas Safe-qualified and said this was the same, if not better, than any CITB qualification, which he had simply forgotten to remove this from his paperwork.

However, the magistrates did not accept his excuse, saying the complaint was made more than a year after his BWC membership lapsed and he had not even applied to Ciphe. They added making such statements was misleading and fraudulent.

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Dodgy plumber must pay customer back after shoddy work