Plumbers Call Out Charge

MYMETERISCOMPLEX · 28 April 2017 at 4:34PM

Yes we have had various jobs carried out by this plumber and so we're aware of the call out / first half hour fee. That said it was only ever verbal, nothing in writing

The issue for us was more that far from calling him out, he was already here, doing a job under warranty. The extra job was barely a job at all. It took him longer to get the part from the van than to fit it. The toilet wasn't broken. It was more of a minor annoyance. I could have easily fit the part myself when he got it from the van

We have a good relationship with the plumber (well, had) and as he hung around chatting about football for 10 mins, at his instigation after finishing, it didn't really feel like he was counting the minutes or would seek to invoke what could be deemed a bit of a technicality to me

Still, lesson learned, there's nowt for nowt ... except possibly my PG Tips!

unholyangel · 28 April 2017 at 4:55PM

Fosterdog wrote: »

Although OP would have difficulty claiming not to know the charges and whether it is for a minimum time when they have previously contracted him to do work, called him back under that contract to repair a fault and asked for extra work to be carried out at the same time. Unless the terms had changed from when originally contracted pleading ingnorance will be impossible.

Except the requirement isn't just for the consumer to have the knowledge (whether previous or otherwise) - its for them to receive confirmation of the contract in a durable medium which includes all the information listed in schedule 2. More importantly, its for the retailer to prove they have complied with information provisions rather than for the consumer to prove they didnt.

Nor could you argue it was carried out under the original contract.

unholyangel · 28 April 2017 at 4:59PM

MYMETERISCOMPLEX wrote: »

Yes we have had various jobs carried out by this plumber and so we're aware of the call out / first half hour fee. That said it was only ever verbal, nothing in writing

The issue for us was more that far from calling him out, he was already here, doing a job under warranty. The extra job was barely a job at all. It took him longer to get the part from the van than to fit it. The toilet wasn't broken. It was more of a minor annoyance. I could have easily fit the part myself when he got it from the van

We have a good relationship with the plumber (well, had) and as he hung around chatting about football for 10 mins, at his instigation after finishing, it didn't really feel like he was counting the minutes or would seek to invoke what could be deemed a bit of a technicality to me

Still, lesson learned, there's nowt for nowt ... except possibly my PG Tips!

You could still query it with him using the points raised already (that - by law - he needs to give you certain information in a durable medium before you are bound by the contract, including total cost) and also that under the circumstances he shouldnt have charged the call out given he was not called out for the problem and was already attending.

You could also ask him for the other 25 minutes you were charged for - but not sure what purpose this would serve as you likely don't have anything else for him to do.

ARandomMiser · 29 April 2017 at 7:50AM

When it comes to quick jobs like this sometimes you just have to bite the bullet. It is all very well following 'procedure' but the next time maybe (just maybe) they will follow procedure and you mention a leaking pipe while he is attending something else and he will tell you that he will go home and send you an estimate by the end of the week and when you respond he will get out within 14 days to fix it (just keep bailing out every half hour until then).

While I know that legally things should be done in a particular way there can be a lot of benefit in cutting corners for smaller day-to-day activities - also, he is a plumber and not an expert on all things legal and may well have thought 'well you know my charges'.

Generally I expect to be at the mercy of someone when I ask for a 'quick favour'.

MYMETERISCOMPLEX · 29 April 2017 at 9:16AM

"When it comes to quick jobs like this sometimes you just have to bite the bullet"

I kind of agree with what you say and I'm all for being fair to the plumber and not trying to escape via the letter of the law. However given the circumstances of his attendance in the first place (other work under warranty) and given the other circumstances (chat, drink, chat, chat, chat), I think I just had an idea of exercising some form of discretion that was clearly different to his

I say again, we would have never called him out purely for the toilet issue. This was in part due to being aware that there would be a disproportionate fee and also that it was a minor annoyance rather than a must fix problem

I accept I could and should have sought clarity in advance, but by the same token he could have said in advance that he would charge a labour fee akin to being specifically called out and he most certainly did not

unholyangel · 29 April 2017 at 5:01PM

ARandomMiser wrote: »

When it comes to quick jobs like this sometimes you just have to bite the bullet. It is all very well following 'procedure' but the next time maybe (just maybe) they will follow procedure and you mention a leaking pipe while he is attending something else and he will tell you that he will go home and send you an estimate by the end of the week and when you respond he will get out within 14 days to fix it (just keep bailing out every half hour until then).

While I know that legally things should be done in a particular way there can be a lot of benefit in cutting corners for smaller day-to-day activities - also, he is a plumber and not an expert on all things legal and may well have thought 'well you know my charges'.

Generally I expect to be at the mercy of someone when I ask for a 'quick favour'.

Ignorance is no excuse - if you run a business you need to know what your legal obligations are. If you don't want the hassle then become an employee. Its one thing to know you have obligations and misunderstand them, its another thing entirely not to even be aware those obligations exist.

Argos/Currys/Asda/Tesco/Next etc arent experts in law either - and as competent businesses usually do, if they do not have the expertise themselves, they'll get advise from/hire someone who does.

As for needing to cut corners...where the visit is specifically for urgent repairs, the right to cancel does not exist (although they still need to provide the necessary information) so there would be no 14 day cooling off (although again, they'd need to inform the consumer of this).

macman · 2 May 2017 at 11:50AM

unholyangel wrote: »

OP said no charge was ever mentioned - let alone accompanied by a description of any kind.

OP called the plumber out to do a warranty repair. Plumber did that, and was then asked to carry out 'while you're here' a further job, which was clearly chargeable. So the call out charge/minimum labour charge is perfectly valid. Yes, the plumber should have said 'I can do that but it will be chargeable', but equally the OP failed to ask, perhaps hoping it would be done FOC.

Pennywise · 2 May 2017 at 2:04PM

It's called "scope creep" and can happen in any business. It's up to each individual business how they deal with it. Unfortunately the "while you're here" card is often abused by people expecting something for nothing.

You'll often find that trades-persons often have ways of avoiding doing it, such as saying it needs a particular specialised spanner that they don't have because they only brought their normal toolbox, not expecting to have to work with water etc., or that they're already late for another appointment so have to rush etc.

You're unreasonable not expecting to pay for it because all those short jobs add up.

It's not his fault that the equipment was faulty either is it? If it's manufacturer warranty, he may not be able to charge the manufacturer his normal rates for his time coming out - they may only have given him the replacement part.

I think you're confusing all the different issues here. Every single thing you've mentioned is a different "job". If he's been negligent on one thing, then fair enough, pursue him on that, but you can't start setting one job off against another.

unholyangel · 2 May 2017 at 3:18PM

macman wrote: »

OP called the plumber out to do a warranty repair. Plumber did that, and was then asked to carry out 'while you're here' a further job, which was clearly chargeable. So the call out charge/minimum labour charge is perfectly valid. Yes, the plumber should have said 'I can do that but it will be chargeable', but equally the OP failed to ask, perhaps hoping it would be done FOC.

However, while it may have been wise for the OP to ask they are under no legal obligation to do so. On the other hand, the trader is under a legal obligation to provide that information.

We're quick enough to point out when something isn't a legal obligation of the retailer, it appears not so quick when its on the consumers end though.

MYMETERISCOMPLEX · 2 May 2017 at 6:05PM

Not much more that I can say really, other than .....
Yes I asked him to have a quick look at my toilet and yes I let him fit the part (didn't actually ask him to but that's a minor point)
Yes I expected that 2 minute labour charge to be FOC and yes that expectation was based on him being here anyway sorting the other issue (which while the failure of the part may not have been his fault, it most definitely wasn't mine either) and I'd had to take time off work. I expected to be charged for the part for the toilet
Yes I offered him and made him 2 cups of tea while he worked. I thought that would be the courteous thing to do, though of course I wasn't obliged to
Yes I listened while he hung around after finishing the job (or jobs if you prefer) talking about the state of the Premier League etc for 10 minutes. Maybe he was just using up some of the half hour which he knew he was going to charge me

I clearly had an expectation that was outdated. A bit of give and take and discretion. Most responses on here suggest that was unreasonable. If so then it's a lesson learned for me

Maybe I'll invoice him for the tea

Plumbers Call Out Charge

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