Let me down badly in mid-winter
Sam Calleran of SPC Plumbing and Heating Maidenhead seemed to be a knowledgeable heating engineer when he came to quote for replacing a couple of zone valves and power flushing my heating system so I booked him to do the job (I'm in my 70s and was feeling the cold). It was then he told me he couldn't fit my job in for almost two months. Since Xmas was imminent and plumbers were hard to find, I booked him anyway. Then, a fortnight later he emailed to say he had forgotten to include the cost of his apprentice in his day rate which would have to increase from £250 to £370 plus VAT. I swallowed that rather than start over with a different tradesman. But two days before he was due to attend I emailed him to make sure he was coming and he told me he had mistakenly booked me in for a month later - although he had three times written the correct date in his emails. Since I could envisage this charade repeating ad infinitum, I told him to forget it. He knew I was elderly and suffering from my underperforming CH system and yet he kept messing me about and finding reasons not to keep his appointment, even after upping his price. So, for a reliable plumber, look elsewhere.