<p class="mol-para-with-font" style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">&nbsp;A pensioner claims she and her husband were ripped off after a plumber charged her &pound; per minute to fix a leak.</p>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font" style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">Mary Cross, , was hit with a repair bill of &pound;, for an hour and minutes work &ndash; with the tradesman refusing to leave until it was immediately paid.</p>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font" style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">Her husband, Anthony, , spotted water pouring from the kitchen ceiling when he went to make a late-night drink.</p>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font" style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">Mary rang an emergency plumber who she claims said he would be with them within minutes &ndash; but arrived hours later.</p>
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<p class="imageCaption" style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">Mary Cross, , was hit with a repair bill of &pound;, for an hour and minutes service</p>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font" style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">The couple pulled up the floorboards and removed kitchen cupboard units to discover a T-joint was leaking and turned off the stop cock.</p>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font" style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">The plumber repaired the bathroom leak &ndash; costing &pound; &ndash; and replaced the stop cock for &pound; &ndash; claiming it was also dripping.</p>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font" style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">They were also charged &pound; to fix the leaking stop cock, &pound; to remove and install the basin, &pound; for parts and a further &pound; call out fee, with an additional &pound; VAT slapped on top.</p>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font" style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">I do feel like a fool because we have paid it when we really shouldn&rsquo;t. My husband went into the kitchen to make a drink and the floor was flooded.</p>
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<p class="imageCaption" style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">The plumber repaired the bathroom leak &ndash; costing &pound; &ndash; and replaced the stop cock for &pound;</p>
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<p class="imageCaption" style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">The couple were also charged &pound; to fix the leaking stop cock, &pound; to remove and install the basin, &pound; for extra parts, a further &pound; call out fee, and &pound; VAT on top of that</p>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font" style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">We took up the floorboards in the bathroom and pulled the kitchen units out to see if we could fix it, but we couldn&rsquo;t so turned off the stop cock.</p>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font" style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">A plumber from Expert Plumbing Ltd arrived at am on November , after Mary, , called the helpline at pm on the previous night.</p>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font" style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">She said: It wasn&rsquo;t much of a quick response emergency call-out. A T-joint was leaking badly under the floorboards in the bathroom. It was pouring through the ceiling.</p>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font" style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">We had stripped everything out for the plumber so all he had to do was replace the parts. All he needed was a hack saw and the connectors, so it doesn&rsquo;t take long at all.</p>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font" style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">The former bookkeeper added: He was there less than an hour and minutes. And to be charged a total of more than &pound;, is ridiculous.</p>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font" style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">Mary, from Preston, Lancashire, said the plumber was scared of her dog Scruffy &ndash; a Jackapoo &ndash; and so took him out and wasn&rsquo;t home when Anthony paid the bill.</p>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font" style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">She said: I left it to my husband who was in a panic at this point and he got ripped off. He is suffering for it now because when the plumber had gone he looked at the bill and thought what have I done?</p>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font" style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">He is so depressed about the whole thing. You get to a point where you think you are old and clever and you feel like a right idiot.</p>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font" style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">Mary said she has phoned and emailed the Bolton-based company to complain but has not received a response.</p>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font" style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">She continued: What is really sad is that if you look online to see what you would expect to pay, it comes to about &pound;.&nbsp;</p>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font" style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">I had the money to pay for it but it just means I can&rsquo;t die at the moment because that was my funeral fund. I&rsquo;ll have to stick around a bit longer.</p>