Robin Banks helps Drain Doctor customer get £70 refund

Jun 15 2008 by Mr Justice, Sunday Sun

A CUSTOMER of a plumbing franchise is in line for a refund thanks to a bloke called Robin Banks.

Neil Wright said he had paid almost £150 to get his drains cleared only for the same problem to develop again.

But when I spoke to Robin, operations manager for the Drain Doctor, there was some good news. He said: “I am sure Mr Wright be offered some kind of refund. Clearly something has gone wrong.”

Neil, of Fawdon, Newcastle, called the Drain Doctor to clear flooding in a drain at the bottom of the garden.

He said: “He said there was a standard charge of £149.80 no matter what the size of the job.

“He plunged the drain and poured some liquid down. A month later exactly the same thing happened but they said I would have to pay if I wanted them back.

“The man I spoke to said there was a 28-day guarantee on the back of the receipt but I checked and there was no mention of it all.”

Mr Banks said Neil was given the office copy of the receipt instead of the customer copy. He said: “I arranged a meeting with the franchise holder. I feel he will make some refund.

“We have 3500 emergencies every week and there are less than one per cent of complaints.”

Later there was good news for Neil. Robin said: “The franchise holder is happy to go with a £70 refund on that job. The fact of the matter is that he did not do things exactly how they should have been done by our systems.”

He said there was also a change in policy since the job was carried out. He said: “We will now carry out one return trip free of charge.”