Thats exactly what i keep trying to say to him but he wont have it. even my plumber friend said to me, even if you did wire up the controls wrong it still wouldn't do the fault that he is describing to me.
Chris
Ultimately, mate, he's the customer, and YOU are the expert. He's not the one that went to college, and he isn't the one signing off the cert.
This "friend" - is, frankly, a leach, and an idiot. So is this invisible electrician of his.
The EIC you issued is not a guarantee - those would be in the terms and conditions you supplied (?) when quoting and doing the work. Except, I'm willing to bet you didn't. No matter, even with cash jobs, and jobs with nothing written down, you still have something called "implied" terms.
Implied terms are what any judge would use to decide who'd screwed who over too, in the absence of fair written terms.
Essentially, the criteria is this: Your customer is entitled to, and you are expected to provide, work of a standard equivalent to the average industry level for that task, at a reasonable cost for that work.
It seems from what you have said, that these terms were initially met. You did the work, issued the cert, took the money. That's what the contract, albeit verbal, expected, and delivered.
In law, your "customer" doesn't have a leg to stand on, for several reasons. So your recourse is to push him to make a bigger idiot of himself and spend the money finding that out.
What you don't do, is panic, and you don't get wound up. That's him winning.
What you do, is as others have said, write down
(a) the original job,
(b) date it was done,
(c) date cert issued and any number
(d) Price Charged
(e) Date customer paid you
Then you write down date of first complaint, action you took. Second complaint, action you took, and so on til you have it all covered.
Then you write this idiot a letter.
In it, you attach a copy of the above.
Essentially, you tell this guy that you attended and did the job you were paid to do. Upon his notification of a fault with the boiler, you attended out of goodwill, as a gesture to see if you could help, although the heating system was in no way within the remit of your work. You explain briefly that testing stopped at the fused spur, or socket the boiler is connected to, and as such, the boiler was not, and never would have been, part of any EIC as it does not form part of the fixed wiring.
You then write that you replaced the heating controls (Primary PCB?) part number, obtained from, on date, for which you would normally have charged £---.xx. On this occasion, you did not charge, as part of that goodwill gesture.
Then, you make it clear that you have gone way beyond the remit of the original job, in an attempt to satisfy the customer, that you are disappointed he is unhappy with the work he has had done, and point out to him that he is free to have independent inspections carried out on the work you charged him for, the results of which you stand by.
Finally, you make it clear that you consider the matter closed, but that if he wishes to pursue his claim in court, then you will defend yourself with the fact of the matter, and will counter claim for the cost of the extra visits and the control board, plus time and costs for the extra administration and the claim.
All good if he goes away at this point, and equally so if he doesn't - I don't think the courts will find against you, and he will have to pay costs too in that case.
Above all, don't stress, and don't be swayed by his bluff - because that's what it is. He's taking advantage of your inexperience, pal. That's all.
