Hi John. We are inundated with family and friends at present, and I will PM answers to questions as soon as I have some time. Our installation has same problem as yours, but even more!!
James, I respect your wishes, and will not divulge the name of person or company on here, but will by PM very soon to all who have asked!
John,
If Karen wants to divulge that information to you via PM that's fine with me, I would rather the name didn't appear publicly though.
Thanks
James
Are we permitted to know the name of this installer, we have recently had our chimney swept for the first time and the sweep advised us that the chimney instalation was not satisfactory and a liner was required,putting the recomendation on the certificate for the insurance to see , it puts a whole new light on the problems we have been having with the stove not drawing properly, the guy who fitted the fire was a Brit installer from over in the Lot et Garonne, this isnt the first time we have been had by a so called British tradesman, the problem was summed up perfectly by a builder friend who said when they come over on the ferry they learn a trade in the hour and a half it takes to get to France
I would get a quote from a bona fida installer - sounds like repair or re installation work is required in any case in order to make the system 'legal' so it keeps your insurance company happy. Find out from the installer what work is required by way of a 'devis' etc, and present this info to an avocat who will tell you if it's worth pursuing legally. Ask friends or neighbours to recommend a decent avocat.
Thanks Mark, and yes we are already in contact with them!!! Watch this space..........!!
Excellent! Then yes, you are in a position of strength. You may be aware that the "cowboy builders" TV crew are putting together a French version....
Couldn't agree more! We bought our first house from an English couple and where assured that the log burner and the chimney where in good order, we did our usual safety precautions getting the chimney swept twice a year etc by a local chimney sweep who didn't signal any particular problems to us. By our second winter we started having problems , again got it swept asked them to check for problems etc. By the third year It was only by sheer good luck a passer by knocked us all awake saying there was a chimney fire and to get out quick. ( smoke alarms went off shortly after and all pandemonium broke out) We got a well known professional retail / repair company from the next big town to come and check it out and they condemned it right away saying all the tubing was fitted back to front etc, The burner itself was fine but the chimney was dangerous. Cost us 1.300 Euro to put right but you can't put a price on safety, fire carbon monoxide is no joke and it doesn't do to cut corners, i wouldn't rely on local village sweeps , it's worth it to get fully qualified professionals in.
Mark, chimney sweep is qualified professional installer, who also offers a maintenance service. We have had two further opinions from qualified professionals, all stating the same opinion!
I would really like to know if your chimney sweep is a qualified professional installer who also offers a maintainence service or an unqualified "man & van" who arrives with a hoover & a brush (& may also offer to remove the moss from your roof). How do you know which of these two is right? I had a customer who had been told that his car had "major" problems by a home mechanic & I was asked to take it back to a specialist in the UK. Before doing so I thought I would have a look. After a diagnostic check the spark plug caps were pushed home properly after which the car ran like new & the misfire with fault light disappeared. Horses for courses.
It is a shame that bad traders cannot be named although good ones can be. My sister is currently in dispute with a builder who demanded money up front "to buy materials" but failed to provide a devis. She eventually told the builder that, due to his failure to provide a quote for the job, she was not going to proceed. The materials money was then turned into a deposit by the builder which became forfeit although initially my sister was told that it would be returned.
LOL doesn't come close Vic!
"would you be prepared to hold his coat?"
Damn right I would, especially if he'd left his wallet in it!! ( not that I'm condoning theft you understand )
If there was a LIKE button, Vic Evans and David Mollett would have been awarded one.
I will send some PM's answering various questions when I have some time. Still busy with friends and family!
Thanks everyone, and Happy New Year.
While I fully condone your Policy of non violence, would you be prepared to hold his coat? :)
Sounds like a case where a baseball bat could sway the argument. Before anybody wants to ruin my good start to this year I'd like to make it clear that in no way would I become involved in violence. I do however know a bloke down the road .......
Funny old thing this libel bit. I don't know if France is the same but I had it explained to me by my ex-brother-in-law (who was Editor of Punch magazine) that as long as you used the prefacing words of 'in my opinion......' you are usually pretty safe. I admit this was in the days before Political Correctness, so it would be interesting to know if it still applies.
Going to Law/Court or whatever only helps the lawyers and if you initiate an action then all costs are down to you which can only be 'redeemed' by the judgement going in your favour. I once had an open and shut case against a crooked debtor, for an amount in excess of £8,000. One would have thought this was a worthy amount to pursue until a remarkably honest QC explained the realities of life:
1) debt in excess of £2,000 was a High Court matter - at the time lesser amounts were County Court.
2) Only QC's operate in High Courts - ie expensive
3) Patently the case would be won by me, and costs awarded against the defendent.
so far so good? Then came the douche of cold water........
The Defendant (assuming he turned up anyway) would immediately claim inability to pay.
Court would ask for an offer of Restitution to be made over time. Whatever derisory offer the Defendant made would have to be accepted by law.
ALL costs to that point would still have to be paid by me.
In reality the Defendant would probably make at best one or two payments and then vanish. At that point he would be in Contempt of Court, and could be arrested on 'that ground alone' - and nothing to do with the debt.
IF he could have been found, I would have to re-start to Debt proceedings against him - with again all costs down to me.The cycle would start again - and IF he was send to prison for contempt of Court he wouldn't be working would he?
The expression of bite the bullet was apposite, and convinced me that the Law has nothing to do with Justice, and has very little to do with protecting the injured party.
These were lessons learned over forty years ago, and I suppose it is possible the laws have changed. I have never gone down the route of trusting the Law ever since and apart from house-purchasing have never employed a legal person since.
The point often overlooked in cases like these is the principle that anyone employing a professional person to carry out work for them has a responsibility / duty of care to ensure that the person is qualified to carry out the work. Preferably before, not after the work has been carried out. An incorrectly installed or maintained log burner could lead to carbon monoxide poisoning not just fire. So it's not just a case of not having a rubber stamp on your insurance document. I'm also pretty sure that under French law if you have employed an incorrectly registered person you could be liable for proscecution in the event of any injury or death he may cause. When dealing with your own safety it pays to have things done properly.
Our Insert was condemned by the ramoneur when he discovered cracks in the unit which would have allowed flames to escape. On our previous house it was condemned because the metal flue did not go right to the top of the brick flue and I have seen wood burners with the pipes put in "upside down" where they join.
So there are several things that could be wrong. As has been said you need a second opinion.
@ Hugh - AI stands for AngloInfo - a (franchised) expat forum and information site.
beware of rubbishing on social media sites.. it could be taken as libelous.. choose your words carefully
"Don't tell him Pike"