A homeowner has revealed how he suffered a potentially deadly electric shock following a 'botched bathroom' makeover by a well-known home improvement retailer.
Ian Young, 52, has opened up about how he suffered a 'hellish' nine weeks living after Wickes installed a faulty light switch in his new bathroom - which he spent £7,500 on.
The fault meant surface screws were registering a high electrical current, which gave Mr Young a heart-pounding electric shock after he touched it himself to turn on the light.
He thought that since he paid the well-known retailer such a significant amount of money, the work done at his home would be up to standards and safe.
But speaking about the ordeal, Mr Young said: "The bathroom project installation was well below acceptable workmanship.
"They've not done what we asked - there are wonky tiles, things aren't level, and the electrics have been badly done.
"There was a damaged wire in the lighting circuit, so because of the unchecked fault, the switch plate surface screws were registering 230 volts when an electrical meter was attached, so it gave me an electric shock when I touched it.
"The shock stunned me and my heart was racing. It went right through my body."
And upon getting the issue fixed, the electrician who came by worryingly said that if a child had touched the switch - it could have killed him, with Mr Young adding: "The electrician said because it was 230 volts, if a child had touched the switch then it would have killed them."
Having splashed out £8,297.35 on the most expensive bathroom quote he found, the 52-year-old has admitted that the father of the electrician responsible for the work drove 50 miles from London to Sittingbourne, Kent to apologise for his "unqualified" son's work.
Despite this, when a second electrician came to fix the problem, he flagged multiple harmful issues - including the fact that live conductors were not made safe, and some were still live.
However, he has said that some of the faults which were picked up by the second electrician were pre-existing, they were not identified by the Wickes electrician before they began the job.
Although he spent nearly £10 grand on the bathroom renovations, Mr Young said he believes this ordeal was due to fitters at Wickes' wanting to use "money-saving tactics" on their end.
And Mr Young said that right from the start, he knew 'something wasn't right' and by the final stages, 'everything looked awful.'
To compensate for the shoddy work, the homeowner admits that, "They've given us about a grand back, because we had to buy our own toilet system as they didn't have it in stock.
"I also had to buy tiles on top of the quote price, which were an extra £309. The emergency electrician said that he'd never seen anything like it.
"Wickes came back to me and said I should have paid more if I wanted the floor levelled, but that's one of the things they'd agreed to do. They did offer to change the door, only up to £100.
"There's been no recognition of the electric shock from Wickes. The shower has been unusable for seven weeks, luckily we have another one in the house."
The homeowner also adds that the build took a terrible turn when he and his wife were left with one less shower, and were forced to call an emergency electrician to fix the work.
Despite the call, the couple were left with a long wait to rip out the botched bathroom and start again.
It has been claimed by Mr Young that Wickes have since told that he may need to wait until next year for someone to fix the job, adding: "I wish they would just rectify it.
"When I did eventually get through to Wickes, I got told someone high up would give me a call back, but all I got was a generic email and no phone call.
"The bathroom needs ripping out and starting from scratch, and I've got my solicitor on hold."
Wickes apologised and offered a full refund for the electrical work, but Mr Young said he has not yet received any payment.
A spokesman for Wickes said: "We are extremely sorry to learn about Mr Young's recent experience and have fully refunded all costs paid to the Wickes installer regarding the electrical work.
"We arranged for our regional installation manager to visit Mr Young's property to fully review the installation and discuss further concerns.
"Following this visit, we will work with Mr Young to ensure that any issues are rectified as soon as possible and to discuss compensation for the damage that has been caused."
The spokesperson added: "Our Regional Installation Manager visited Mr Young’s property on August 23 to fully review the installation and discuss further concerns.
"We are in contact with Mr Young to ensure that any issues are rectified as soon as possible and to discuss compensation for the damage that has been caused."
