Niko the plumber - thumbs down!

[Hickory]

We saw plenty of glowing posts about Niko but have to say I would never use him again. I just don't get it.

He made me feel very uncomfortable about my choices, like I was a silly woman who didn't know what she wanted. Granted I had a toddler at my ankles who must have been annoying but it wasn't frustration he displayed, just a huge dose of patronising.

I also had to chase 3x for a quote. When he did eventually give me a cost, he was very reluctant to do so by email or letter (only text), making me wonder just how watertight (excuse pun) his business affairs are!

To be honest, it wasn't so much that as he just made me feel stupid & uncomfortable in my own home.

[jojol13]

I'm so pleased that somebody else feels the same way as I do. I contacted Niko last year to price up some work. He came round to give me a quote very quickly. I accepted the quote there & then & we agreed that I'd call him to arrange a date. However, after I left a few messages/sent texts he never ever responded. The thing is that it wasn't an urgent job so I was happy to wait for him, but after a few weeks I found somebody else & I'm all done now. Good job really....as it's nearly 6 months since I left the last voicemail message!!! Perhaps he's just too busy???? Personally I just don't understand the hype over this guy??!!!

[KalamityKel]

As a potential customer you should never have to do the chasing especially for a quote! They either want your business or not. If they can't respond within good time it usually means they can't time manage generally.

[smb12]

Sadly, I am beginning to agree with this review. We had a pretty horrendous plumbing incident very recently and called niko out. He was supposed to come back a day later to sort out the cause prior to fixing the damage via home insurance but no word, and have tried to call him but no luck in getting through. So our signfificant plumbing issue is still not rectified and we will now have to look for another plumber.

[kaparte]

I join all of the above, plus for a tiny little job he insisted we leave good feedback on the forum. He was really insisting, that's why I suppose he gets all the positive feedback here.

[Giacomelli]

Similar experience of him not getting back to us... think he is quite popular so he can pick and choose his jobs I suppose. I don't have much patience, so after 5 days of no response I got someone else to do the job.

[jimbo1964]

Goes to show how feedback can be misleading. Last week he was a plumbing god. Now not so great. I think it's bad form for people to insist on good forum feedback.

[NewWave]

Encouraged by the many glowing reviews on the forum we decided to call him regarding some work needed in our bathroom.

Left several messages he never responded so we asked a neighbour and used someone she recommended and were delighted with the results and cost and now he's our 'go to' for any plumbing work.

[85volga]

I would like to say that my experiences with Niko have been really positive, he has got me out of a bind a few times at late notice to fix leaking radiators which were ruining my ceilings. I have found Niko to be honest and has really gone out of his way to help, he is very well priced for the quality of works completed.

I had a reasonably large renovation completed by a registered master builders company, and some of the works completed were frankly extremely poor but however that's another issue altogether. Perhaps Niko as a one man band is run off his feet and cant be everywhere at the same time, but this is his business so can understand the frustrations raised with no reply to emails and calls. I however would use him again and again.

[HelBel65]

85volga Wrote:

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> I have

> found Niko to be honest and has really gone out of

> his way to help, he is very well priced for the

> quality of works completed.

Same here. I'm surprised to hear that he asked for Forum recs - he never mentioned the EDF to me. He is very very busy though - the really good ones always are unfortunately!

[NewWave]

Yes, we reasoned that he hadn't responded to our calls because of sheer volume of work, which as you say is a good sign.

[Huggers]

thumbs up from me. He's twice sorted us out in emergency situations at very short notice.

[just_browsing]

Niko came round to ours a while back - came very quickly, fixed the problem, didn't charge the earth. My impression was he's a very good plumber indeed.

The drawbacks would appear to be personal style and haphazard admin. For the latter, he's likely overwhelmed with work and may not be the best at planning out his workloads and callbacks. And on style, Niko was very (perhaps too?) personable when he came to ours - he certainly isn't a quiet, get on with it, quickly in and out sort of plumbder - he likes to talk and explain.

Would I use Niko again? Yes, definitely, because he's a reasonably priced, and seemingly excellent plumber. But if I didn't hear back for a few days I might hedge my bets and see if someone else were able to commit sooner.

The forum is by its very nature a platform for polarised views - we're all more inclined to write about someone who is brilliant, or terrible, as we're more excerised about it, than if someone is good but with a couple of foibles.

[Sue]

jojol13 Wrote:

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Personally I just

> don't understand the hype over this guy??!!!

xxxxxxx

Perhaps it's because, as somebody else has said above, he asks everybody to big him up on this forum.

That is probably why - if I recall correctly - there are a number of first-time posters whose first post is recommending him.

I felt very uncomfortable at being asked so explicitly.

[steve 1975]

I have used Niko and I think he is fantastic and would defiantly use him again.

Reccomdndations are very imprortant to gaining more work so that would explain why he asks.

If he does a good job what's the problem? Leaving negative feedback about him asking for feedback? Really?

Too much time on ones hands me thinks (just saying)

:-)

[Mustard]

steve 1975 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I have used Niko and I think he is fantastic and

> would defiantly use him again.

> Reccomdndations are very imprortant to gaining

> more work so that would explain why he asks.

> If he does a good job what's the problem? Leaving

> negative feedback about him asking for feedback?

> Really?

> Too much time on ones hands me thinks (just

> saying)

> :-)

defiantly use him?

[HelBel65]

Sue Wrote:

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>

> Perhaps it's because, as somebody else has said

> above, he asks everybody to big him up on this

> forum.

No, he doesn't. He didn't mention it to me once during 3 visits to my property. No connection, just correcting a factual error. H

[smb12]

Just an update on my experience and thoughts. Niko does seem like a nice person and personable (although maybe a little too much perhaps but that is entirely subjective I suppose) and he did help us out with a minor plumbing problem before however our recent major plumbing disaster (wet room pump stopped working, flooded bathroom and whole ceiling collapsed below) was really quite inadequately dealt with by him. He seemed to panic and then disappeared with promises to come round and fix what he thought to be the cause of the issue (which I subsequently thought through and realised even with my non-existant plumbing knowledge couldn't be right) within the next two days. Absolutely no word from him and no call back after I called. Giving him the benefit of the doubt and waiting for him to call delayed moving forward with diagnosing the problem by 1 week. Quite a length of time when you have no bedroom to sleep in due to flood damage.

Another plumber has since come in, spent time diagnosing the problem in a much more thorough way and recommended we use a specialist engineer to fix the solution - which is now happening.

So I think Niko maybe good at minor plumbing fixes - but basically fled the scene when a major issue cropped up. If he had told me it was beyond his expertise I would have had a lot more respect for him and wouldn't have wasted so much time waiting.

One thing to note though - I didn't pay him for his visit and since he hasn't been back in touch, I am assuming doesn't want payment...

I don't normally do any form of review on here - but I was completely flabbergasted at how many positive reviews he had considering our direct experience with him on this issue. Or maybe he was having a bad day?!

[Sue]

HelBel65 Wrote:

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> Sue Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> >

> > Perhaps it's because, as somebody else has said

> > above, he asks everybody to big him up on this

> > forum.

xxxxxxxx

>

> No, he doesn't. He didn't mention it to me once

> during 3 visits to my property. No connection,

> just correcting a factual error. H

xxxxxxxx

Fair enough.

He asked me, at the end of a very short visit and after carrying out an extremely simple job.

Judging by the number of first time posters registering on here to sing his praises, I assumed he asked everybody to recommend him on the forum.

I stand corrected!

[Sue]

steve 1975 Wrote:

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> I have used Niko and I think he is fantastic and

> would defiantly use him again.

> Reccomdndations are very imprortant to gaining

> more work so that would explain why he asks.

> If he does a good job what's the problem? Leaving

> negative feedback about him asking for feedback?

> Really?

> Too much time on ones hands me thinks (just

> saying)

> :-)

xxxxxxx

You also appear to have time on your hands to post on here, steve 1975, as do all the other posters.

So the difference in my case is ..... ??

I will happily recommend somebody on here if they have done a good job. I just don't expect to be asked to do it, and nobody else every has.

[kaparte]

And he asked me and my husband insistently, why would I have wanted to say this otherwise?

If he didn't ask you it might be that perhaps he collected enough feedback already for the next ten years...

HelBel65 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Sue Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> >

> > Perhaps it's because, as somebody else has said

> > above, he asks everybody to big him up on this

> > forum.

>

> No, he doesn't. He didn't mention it to me once

> during 3 visits to my property. No connection,

> just correcting a factual error. H

[HelBel65]

kaparte Wrote:

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> And he asked me and my husband insistently, why

> would I have wanted to say this otherwise?

No one is suggesting that didn't happen. I was just adding my own experience, in the interest of balance. Someone said he asks ALL his customers to rec him on the forum - I just happen to know that he doesn't. H

>

>

> HelBel65 Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > Sue Wrote:

> >

> --------------------------------------------------

>

> > -----

> > >

> > > Perhaps it's because, as somebody else has

> said

> > > above, he asks everybody to big him up on

> this

> > > forum.

> >

> > No, he doesn't. He didn't mention it to me once

> > during 3 visits to my property. No connection,

> > just correcting a factual error. H

[beebee]

I ve used him 3 times and he has always been quick and reasonable. He came round on a sunday night to fix a leak and charged very fairly and a lot less than I expected, he even txted the next day to make sure there were no further problems.

[Tuca22]

This is a huge relief to know that I am not alone in regards to my thinking of of Niko the plumber.

He did some work for me sometime last year, it was a pretty simple job (well now that I know how) it took Niko the best part of 5 seconds to do.

He charged me an astronomical price of which I paid as I felt I had no choice.

In my opinion he is an opportunist of whom I would never use again.

He asked me to leave good feedback and of course I didn't.

[BSH]

steve 1975 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I have used Niko and I think he is fantastic and

> would defiantly use him again.

> Reccomdndations are very imprortant to gaining

> more work so that would explain why he asks.

> If he does a good job what's the problem? Leaving

> negative feedback about him asking for feedback?

> Really?

> Too much time on ones hands me thinks (just

> saying)

> :-)

Totally agree Steve1975! Its starting to sound a bit undeserved. Niko fixed my shower earlier this week, he was very quick and did it for a very reasonable cost when two other expensive plumbers could not.

He seemed very personable and easy to deal with, I couldn't fault the service.

Tradesmen rely on feedback & I would use him again and would definitely be happy to recommend him to friends - I've had a terrible experience with another tradesman in the past so wouldn?t do this lightly!

Oh and just to add...he made no mention of the forum or ask me to leave feedback!