SIR – I recently visited the home of nice old lady, her son had brought her a gas cooker to ensure their Christmas dinner could be cooked.

Somehow a fly-by-night gas installer convinced the family to pay his fee of £20 to install it.

Clearly the installer cut so many corners in a bid to fill his pockets he forgot to perform any of the normal safety checks – he even forgot to use a new hose.

The lady realised something was wrong when she smelt gas. The family were without the means to cook for several days and, as she said, fish and chips three times a week gets not only expensive but boring.

As I corrected this situation, her son, a mechanic, mentioned a client had brought a van in that had had brake problems.

I think it was about this point he said, “you pay for what you get” when he realised that someone charging a couple of pounds for what was a job that could affect their safety wasn’t the best selection criteria.

This is not the first gas cooker I’ve found that is incorrectly installed in the last week.

We are all keen to save cash but, as I said to this lady’s son, would you buy cheap brakes to save money?

It was then he confirmed that he paid for quality, plus the guarantee, perhaps others should think likewise.

IVAN CARTER

Worcester