A couple of weeks ago my cellar flooded and after calling out the plumber, he confirmed that my hot water tank needed to be replaced.
The replacement would need to be a heat pump model, due to environmental rules in Basel Stadt.
A couple of days later a guy from the company came to assess what needed to be done and make an offer.
I agreed to the offer providing it included everything, namely removal and disposal of old tank, electrical works, plumbing works and replacement of the pipe insulation, if required and checking/replacing of the expansion tank, which didn't sound correct when hit (it should make a hollow/ringing noise).
I accepted the offer (verbally) so as to secure an installation slot in 2 days.
The workers arrived Friday morning, removed the old tank, installed a new tank and as they were leaving I asked about the expansion tank. They also knocked it and said "no problem" and left.
One hour later I noticed water on the laundry floor and on further investigation, discovered that a couple of valves were leaking.
I immediately called the company and explained the problem, to which the lady responded "Someone is on his way and will know what to do, as he is a heating specialist and not a plumber!!!"
Guy arrives and determines that the expansion tank should have been drained and re-pressurised and this is what was causing the water leak.
So he fixed this and left.
A few hours later the heat pump was making a noise and after reading the user manual, it said that the cause could be due to the condensation line being blocked. On further investigation I realised that the pipe that carries the condensation from the heat-pump to the drain, was inclined upwards which from my understanding is incorrect.
In addition while reading the manual, I discovered the "Anti-legionnaires" setting had not been activated, which poses a health risk.
And finally the plumbers had not replaced the insulation on pipes ... They removed it and took it away!
I've emailed the company, including the head of customer services, but so far zero response. I called them, but they didn't understand my broken German and said someone would call back (still waiting).
I've yet to receive the invoice, but will not be paying until everything is fixed, but then I guess this could get me into hot water (no pun intended).
I also contacted the heat pump manufacturer to verify the anti-legionnaires setting and the draining of the condensation and they agreed that the installation is not correct.
So what do you think? Is a registered letter the way to go?