southstarplumbers Reviews 74

Booked an emergency call out on a Friday afternoon. No one showed up so after much chasing rebooked for the following day. Again, no one showed up at the allotted time, but after much chasing an engineer called Dan finally arrived. (This was a call out on behalf of a client, so I could not be in attendance.)

My experience was much like that of the other (genuine) reviewers. I was quoted £149+VAT for the call out and the repair. This was based on the repair being small in nature, which it was. The issue was describe in detail at the time of booking. I queried what small in nature meant, and what the hourly rate would be if the work over ran, but was told this was a fixed price.

On arriving at the site, I got a call from the engineer, Dan, saying that he needed my email address so that a confirmation email could be sent. It seemed strange that this was not sent at the time of booking, so alarm bells were already ringing. An email was received from a company called London Gas Plumbers, NOT Southstar who the booking was made through. The email was a quotation for work to be carried out at a cost of £249+VAT per hour or part thereof, PLUS an additional call out fee of £149+VAT. This was on the basis that the minimal price no longer applied as this was a larger procedure. Why would an hourly rate be more than the cost of a call out a repair?! Madness. (Bear in mind that the plumber had not even seen what was involved at this point.)

I then got a call to say that he would have to remove the shower tray in order to investigate, clearly having no understanding of what the problem was. (The leak was coming from the ceiling.)

I told them that the email was not in line with what was agreed and to leave the property. They demanded the £149+VAT call out fee which I refused to pay on account of the issue not having been resolved as agreed. They called me a conman and threatened to take me to court! It later transpired that they tore down half the wall to investigate the issue. This was completely unnecessary as there was an inspection panel installed, however any person with half an ounce of intelligence would have used a padsaw if he’d needed to increase the size of the access. Instead this has left us now needing to replace half of the wall.

(A plumber came out two days later and was able to fix the issue in under two hours.)

DO NOT GO NEAR THIS COMPANY. THEY ARE DISHONEST, INEPT, FRAUDSTERS THAT ARE PREYING UPON PEOPLE’S DESPERATION.

I note the large number of fake reviews posted on trust pilot by the staff themselves in many cases. These guys are crooks and to be avoided at all costs. The plumbers are inexperienced and don’t know what they are doing. We had a combi boiler problem which they couldn’t rectify or didn’t know how to rectify. They replaced a part that didn’t need to be replaced. They charge outrageous/rip off rates. The whole firm stinks to high heaven and how these guys are trading is beyond me.

I had to sack them and bring in a firm in to sort it out, who correctly identified the boiler need a number pump.

Trusting SOUTHSTAR PLUMBERS / PLUMBERS IN PUTNEY was the biggest mistake I have ever made. DO NOT USE this company and any costs - untrustworthy and dishonest.

My experience in bullet points -

1) Engineer arrived (5 hours late) after I reported boiler not working.
2) Am at my desk in next door room and the fire alarm goes off as the engineer has taken a radiator off the wall and is welding the join (no explanation of what he is doing or why).
3) Disappears for parts - comes back an hour later empty handed.
4) Tries to reattach radiator and water sprays everywhere, soaking the carpet and walls, so he covers the valve and leaves the radiator lying on the floor.
5) Disappears for parts again - comes back with nothing an hour later (I note it is after hours for suppliers to be open)
6) 11.00pm I am crying, cold and he still cant tell me the issue. He refuses to leave my property until I had paid £2800. As a single woman alone in the house I felt so intimidated I paid through the tears.
7) Realised afterwards I had been charge two extra hours - nearly £600 additional.
8) He returned the next day (again 4 hours late) and fitted a small part on boiler to make water hot work within seconds and promptly leaves after refusing to reattach the radiator to the wall, which was lying on the floor (I later found out he had welded the valve wrong so it was impossible to reattach)
9) Noticed an upstairs radiator he had removed to change the valves was leaking at both ends and the carpet was soaking - no compound had been used - a faulty job.
10) Had to get a reputable plumber to come and fix the outstanding issues at a further cost.
11) Have spoken to "Adam" at Southstar Plumbers at least 10 times he finally agreed a settlement, in writing, of a small payment, by way of a refund for the incomplete work and the "disappearing acts" of the "Plumber in Putney" which I was charged for. The engineers name was Dan. This has still not be paid despite chasing.
12) By far the worst service/experience I have ever had from a supposed "trusted supplier" - no explanation of what needed doing, what was actually happening etc Time wasting "to charge" at its finest...

I have read that this company is being investigated which I am not surprised at. I am looking into fraudulent investigation to try and make this right.

How these people can sleep at night, i do not know...

Complete robbery and dishonesty, they just take advantage of people. They also operate under London Gas Plumbers.
I called on a Friday evening as my boiler broke down and asked how much would it cost for someone to come and repair it. I was told £149 all inclusive - the call out and repair - I asked 3 times to confirm that this was the price and the guy reassured me that this was the case. The guy was supposed to come at 8 p.m., he showed up at 11 p.m. After 3 minutes of looking at my boiler said that I have to pay £500 plus the £149 for the call out cause supposedly my boiler required some very expensive parts and very complicated installation. And they wanted the payout upfront which is the first time I came across something like this but later I realised why. The parts where 2 tiny pieces of plastic and the 'very complicated' installation took the guy literally 3 minutes! Absolute robbery and such a dishonestly I'm still boiling with anger.

Worse company ever. Seriously dodgy.
Their lack of honesty is reflected in their comment. You have been warned

My boiler had broken down so I looked online which company had the best reviews I’ve found Southstar plumbers I read the reviews and also I asked my friends and families they also did recommend Southstar plumbers as they used them before anyhow I called them the same day and they said to come over and have a look for me they had a look and gave me a fixed price quotation so once we agreed to fix price quotation the they carried the work out but the work was more than what they estimated and I offered them additional money as I felt it was fair but anyhow I didn’t have to do that didn’t accept the money but I could say I called out three companies before and they couldn’t fix my boiler but five star plumbers they did a fantastic job they fixed all my problems and now I’ve got hot water and central heating as I’ve got an elderly parent that needs extra care and attention I have also read allNegative reviews about South stars and I’ve asked him about it and I am convinced now the negative reviews are all fake because the amount of professionalism I found from this company is unbelievable vape of use as a estate agent have used plumbers many times and I have never found a company that is so professional clean tidy van is before and I will mention to everybody that tries them out and do not believe in the negative reviews he could read okay thank you

The worst service I've ever gotten! Stay away from them. They are a company of liars and frauds. They say one price over the phone and charge 4 times that price plus vat. They make up stories about part needed to be changed and charge a lot of money for the part, even though there was nothing wrong with the part you had.
On top of that, they create additional damages to other parts and appliances.
On my case they refuse to come back to fix the damage they caused until I pay to electrician to come by as well (there was no need to call the electrician!).
They never fix the problem that was before they came over and they never fixed the damage they caused. They never gave me my money back.
Over the phone they just that they need to investigate the case.
That is a 1000 pound I'll never see again.

Great company and very helpful would recommend

Please avoid this company. Like many people, I trusted the reviews and was left with a damaged sink. I called them in over a blocked kitchen sink and was quoted £149. When the plumber came in I explained to him what the issue was and he then said he'll send me an email which I have respond to in order to get the job started. After I read the email I was shocked at what I read "Our charge for this procedure is £229 per hour or any part of an hour, plus VAT. Additional callout fee of £149 plus vat. There will be additional charges for any materials." Of course I was never told this prior to booking and told them I would not pay that. We then negotiated a price at £200, cash upfront and he got on with the job. I intended to watch him carryout the job but my baby was being fussy and I had to tend to her. When he finished, he said he sorted out the blockage but I have a leak and if I want him to fix it. I was very confused because I never had a leak and then he was telling me I could only use one part of my kitchen sink due to the leakage. Again, I explained we had issues in the past with a leak but that was no longer the case, so how is it now I have a leak? I turned the tap on and didn't see a leak. Anyway, I told him I did not want him fixing anything and my partner would sort it out.

I couldn't help that something didn't look right after he left. I didn't notice at the time but he damaged a tube pipe connector by twisting it and puncturing holes in it. I was second guessing myself thinking I know that tube was not like that as tube is linked to the washing machine and with that I wouldn't have been able to use the machine beforehand. After that I went on to wash up a few dishes and before I knew it a huge puddle of water was gathered by my feet.

I emailed them and after the second email they responded by saying the plumber said the tube was already like that. I emailed them back with a picture and never got a response so I called. I explained everything to this patronising individual and he said someone would come out the following day or the day after. I'm still waiting. Anyway I don't even want them back at my flat.

I spent the whole Sunday trying to find a replacement for the tube connector and getting someone to fit it on.

That 1 job for a blocked sink cost me £200 as well as a damaged tube connector and without that I would've been able to use my washing machine.

These people are no good. Please make sure you read as much reviews on them as you can before making any decisions.

Avoid or pay the price!
£300 an hour or part of an hour, a great incentive to charge for 2 hours when only on site for 1 hour and 5 mins.
Inexperienced plumbers, total scam really. Fake 5 star review on trustpilot.

We were affected by water flooding in to our flat from outside, when there was really bad weather. As it was an emergency we didn't have time to check the reviews, otherwise we never would have called these. They confirmed an employee would attend with a pump to remove the water from our back garden and we had to pay a call out fee first. The employee arrived on a bike without a pump, just a long pole. The water had already drained away by the time he got here, but he stuck the pole down anyway. That was it.

The following day, Thames Water came to look at the drains and I was advised that a/ the drain was not the issue, it was extreme rainfall that took longer to flow away from the property and b/ the implement their employee brought and left with us was not sufficient to unblock a drain, in any event.

While I understand that part of this cost was an emergency call-out fee, I can't believe I have had to pay £1000 for nothing. I have emailed them twice and had no response. Do not use these.

Didn't turn up. Didn't call to let us know.

The company gave me a time slot between 10 to noon. Another company turned up at 2:40pm; a company called London Plumbers London Ltd. I was asked to agree to a contract sent by a company called London Gas Plumbers. I quickly noticed the per hour prices where exorbitant. At this point I negotiated a fixed price. They demanded £1k upfront payment to clean a boiler, so the boiler would stop being noisy. Noise didn't stop. I was told to buy a new boiler. Bottom line: I lost £1k. P.S I checked the Gas safe register after I paid £1k. There is no such company called London Plumbers London Ltd in the register (gas safe register). Why South Star Plumbers is subcontracting my job to a company called London Gas Plumbers who is also subcontracting the job to London Plumbers London Ltd, which appears to be operating illegally (since not in the register) is beyond me.

No show. Stay away

Initially booked for a visit of boiler engineer and then called them back within half an hour to cancel due to original date no longer works.

Was told of cancellation fee (something about £69) which wasn’t mentioned in first call. Yep should have filtered through the ‘bad’ reviews and read them instead of getting scammed by the good ones. Stay away please.

I had a very bad experience on Friday 8th October where I was charged in total £907.15 for a simple job to unblock the sink. I explained exactly what was required to be done and an inexperienced plumber spent 3 hours leaving my sink in the same condition and my kitchen in a mess. The plumber disappeared for over 30 minutes to buy a part which was not needed. At this point I was suspicious and made a number of phone calls to the office. The plumber took videos in my home without my permission and I was also threatened with court on the phone if I did not pay up. I ended up paying in the end as I just wanted the plumber to leave. I called up my local council emergency services the next morning and they were able to clear the blockage within less than 1 hour. I sent a written email of complaint on 10th October after doing research on them and reading a lot of negative reviews South Star Plumbers / Plumbers in Putney have refused to investigate my complaint as I have reported them. I am now taking appropriate steps in hoping to receive my money back after seeking legal advice.

Please avoid at all cost and not fall victim of South Star Plumbers / Plumbers in Putney.

Update!!

I had received a phone call in December 2021 and they are being investigated by Trading Standards. I had an email exchange with these cowboys and I find it all laughable now they believe I was home alone snd they came with the right equipgment that night. My brother was there and my neighbour popped in who I have a written statement from to confirm this. They also said they filmed me requesting for the plumber to leave. I asked for the cowboy behind the computer to describe what I look like, what was I wearing and what does my house look like. No response from the cowboy on that one. I was going to start a claim against them but after paying to run a report on the number of CCJs they have against them, I have chosen to allow karma take its course. They will deny this, they have a few CCJs against them and have not paid back on the claims made against them!!

Dire experience following a callout to ‘Plumbers in Putney‘ (South Star Plumbers). Problem was a faulty stopcock valve which had cut off water supply to flat. Their callout out fee increased from £ 79 to 149 (£179 with VAT) being early Saturday evening but was said to cover small repairs. Plumber went off to get replacement valve which took 40 minutes. He returned to fit valve (cost £15) and repair took him 20 minutes; he indicated that the job hadbeen uncomplicated.

Before plumber’s return with the stopcock valve I received an email direct from the Company outlining charges: £1219 inclusive of VAT! (£ 867 for the repair plus callout fee £149); Parts were extra. I rang the company in shock at this extortionate charge which I told them I could not pay.

When plumber returned it was stated the callout fee £ 179 had to be paid and I would still need to pay more to get the repair done elsewhere, to restore water supply .

I was then offered and accepted in my huge predicament, a reduced fee of £ 798 inclusive of repair and callout. I additionally paid the plumber £ 20 in cash for the valve /VAT, to avoid further inflated costs.

The total I paid of £ 818 represents gross overcharging by company, out of all proportion for the job, and there appears to be manipulation in producing an even higher initial, extortionate charge. I was asked to make payment was to ‘ Southstar S/S plumbers’, the umbrella company for
‘Plumbers in Putney Ltd ’ incorporated in 2020 . My cash payment of £20 was never acknowledged by receipt.

Subsequently noted there are many negative internet reviews for ‘S/S plumbers’ mentioning extortion, overcharging, scammers, conmen and thieves etc and to avoid this company.

I also realised that the company that I should have approached, ‘Putney Plumbers’ has put out an internet appeal to not confuse them with SS Plumbers and their subsidiary.

From my experience as of others; Do not fall victim to this plumbing and emergency callout service. Avoid, avoid ‘PLUMMERS in PUTNEY/ ‘SS PLUMBERS’ .

*************

Update: You'll see below SS plumbers replied asking me to email them to find a solution. I emailed them several days ago but they never replied. This tells you everything you need to know about the company.

**This company is a scam and they are using Trust Pilot to do it!***
I saw the 4.7 star rating and thought this was a good choice. Didn’t read the actual reviews until after they arrived on site and realised this was a scam. Loads of obviously fake positive reviews and an abundance of detailed negative 1 star experiences similar to mine.

I did an emergency call out for a blocked toilet drain. Was quoted £350+Vat (£414) callout fee to be paid upfront. Was told the hourly fee would depend on the job which I clearly explained several times. I was desperate and stupid enough to pay it. Once the plumber was onsite they demanded £796+Vat(£955.20) per hour, (yes that’s per hour) to start work, and claimed the job would take 3 hours. That’s a total of £3279 for a blocked toilet drain. Again insisting I pay this upfront. Of course I refused and sent them away. Called another plumber who rodded the drain and cleared it. Really clever scam taking advantage of people in desperate situations.

****11/11/2021 update****
Despite the trust pilot response and me sending them all the details, below is the only response I ever recieved from them. This is a direct copy and paste from 'Plumbers in Putney' email address recieved on 1/11/2021

I'll let you draw your own conclusions
----‐------------
Hi Jason
Just to inform you, we are not happy with the incorrect information you have posted online.

Please remove this immediately.

If you do not ?

Our company is a level 8 local google guide , with half a million views in london .

The below British standards plumbing at the premises and conditions , with third world drainage ,and health hazard .

I’m sure different platforms and departments will like to know ? And your competition?

We offered you a service based on the procedure will found at the premises,but you didn’t accept .

Organised scam. Reviews below are fake, the fees are 10x what they claim on the phone, your issue won't be fixed. Look up other genuine reviews

- Over the phone, they tell you it’s 69£ for an hour and no extra charge if fixed within an hour. The reality is very different
- Initial 69£ does not cover anything. Real hourly cost is 189£/hr (2-3x the average plumber cost in London)
- The plumber comes in a motorcycle without equipment. He goes away shopping for one hour (he says it will take 20min) to buy basic equipment (I live in central London next to shops) and the 189£ clock starts ticking
- they made outrageous mistake while fixing my small leak, resulting in (1) hot water being plugged to my garden hose and (2) water sprayed in the area, leaking and damaging my neighbours wall
- I negotiated the fees down to £600 for just fixing a small issue like this. They charged me £98 for equipment they bought that was worth 35£
- I threatened to sue once I realised the above mistakes and that I would still need to call a plumber. They apologised over the phone, said they will give me back half of the money, once I remove the review that their outsourced provider saw I posted. I removed the review and they got back the money
- I brought a good plumber after who fixed the issue and other issues in my house and serviced my boiler for 210£ inc. VAT.

- check out company house - this organised scam has 2 employees. Their office is a council estate.You won't know the name of anyone you deal with - plumber or receptionist.

Edit reply 29/11/2022:
Well tried! You report 1.5years later that my review as fake. I have the invoice is 1846 and your last answer on august 1 2021 and you never followed up from the last email.

See below
“Our engineer has disputed what you have said and will be giving his statement and will be dealing with it accordingly.

Any further communications should be done through emails.

Thank you,

South star plumbers. “

Thank you so much on the bathroom renovation, my bathroom looks fantastic. I was very happy with the response time an how quickly they rectified the issue so
quick and easily. Good job.