Question on tradesman labour charges outside item guarantee period

tiptop77 · 8 September 2017 at 4:20PM

I'm a tradesman and fitted some items for a customer in their house 2 years ago. There is no issue with my own workmanship, which I guarantee for a year (but will try and sort out any rare issues longer than that on a case-by-case basis). Most materials that I fit also have a 1 year guarantee as standard but the particular ones in this case have a free extended manufacturer warranty of 5 years.

One of these items has gone faulty after 2 years, so under the normal manufacturer's terms and conditions the customer would contact them directly to obtain a free replacement and the customer would just pay us for our labour if we were needed to swap any items over. However, unfortunately in this case the customer is (and always has been) particularly difficult. He is refusing to 'go to the trouble' of contacting the manufacturer and wants us to deal with it. I'm perfectly willing to contact the manufacturer for him and get a replacement sent to him, but he also wants us to go back to his property to fit the new one free of charge. The location is not in our usual area and is nearly 2 hour's drive away each way so while I would usually pop in to a local customer to fit the item as general customer service I don't feel inclined to help this particular customer any further than I absolutely have to, due to both the distances involved and the terrible bullying attitude that seems to be standard practice for this guy.

Am I obligated to go back to his house free of charge to fit replacements supplied under a manufacturer's extended warranty once my original 1 year workmanship guarantee has expired? Surely a tradesman can't be expected to provide free labour for however long a manufacturer decides to offer extra guarantees for (up to 25 years in the case of some building materials)?

Lomast · 8 September 2017 at 4:37PM

Did you supply the items and fit or did the customer supply and you fit?

This makes a big difference as if you supplied then your legal obligations out weigh an guarantees you give

bris · 8 September 2017 at 7:42PM

You can ignore the warranty if you want to be as difficult as him. Make him get an independent report that the item is inherently faulty at time of purchase, that's all you need to do at this stage. That's if you supplied and fitted.

If you just fitted the item then tell him to take it up with the manufacturer. You don't need to do anything in this scenario.

You are only obliged to fit the item for free if they can prove you are liable as the fitting would be seen as a consequential loss that you would be liable for.
To get to this stage though as I said above they would need to take court action to force you.

scd3scd4 · 8 September 2017 at 7:47PM

Wish I knew more tradesmen's like you. I had one for a few years. Worth he's weight in gold but returned to Latvia when he's wife died.

Some customers are not worth having he use to say to me. ;-]

There is no way in my view he can make you refit it for free. Maybe yes do the decent thing and get a replacement sent to him and then call it a day. Forget about him. He is too far and that's that.

unholyangel · 9 September 2017 at 4:54PM

As above, if the goods didn't conform to contract and you supplied them then you would be liable to the customer for any costs involved in refitting (such as postage or labour).

However, unless the customer has moved home since you sold him the goods, how far away he is shouldn't come into it. If he really was too far away then you should have had this in your mind at the time of entering the contract (that you may need to return if something went wrong with the goods or service) and refused the job.

scd3scd4 · 9 September 2017 at 6:21PM

unholyangel wrote: »

As above, if the goods didn't conform to contract and you supplied them then you would be liable to the customer for any costs involved in refitting (such as postage or labour).

However, unless the customer has moved home since you sold him the goods, how far away he is shouldn't come into it. If he really was too far away then you should have had this in your mind at the time of entering the contract (that you may need to return if something went wrong with the goods or service) and refused the job.

If you fit a part and it fails due to no fault of your own under warranty you are under no obligation to refit it for free. Do people really think the manufacture will reimburse the builder. Sent him the part and move on. Honestly some posts sound great but are meaningless.

He never said that he was not returning because of distance. Sometimes it does not matter who's right if the job is fast, local and a good customer but does when the customer is ungrateful and far.

C_Mababejive · 9 September 2017 at 6:45PM

Just blank him. The item is out of guarantee. I wouldn't touch him with a barge pole as he sounds like bad news however if he wants you to undertake work then he needs to pay you the standard rates in advance with this one.

bris · 9 September 2017 at 6:48PM

scd3scd4 wrote: »

If you fit a part and it fails due to no fault of your own under warranty you are under no obligation to refit it for free. Do people really think the manufacture will reimburse the builder. Sent him the part and move on. Honestly some posts sound great but are meaningless.

He never said that he was not returning because of distance. Sometimes it does not matter who's right if the job is fast and local but does when the customer is ungrateful and far.

We are not talking about warranty we are talking about a consumers statutory rights. You should really look up and read them as your the one with the meaningless post.

z1a · 9 September 2017 at 7:05PM

C_Mababejive wrote: »

Just blank him. The item is out of guarantee. I wouldn't touch him with a barge pole as he sounds like bad news however if he wants you to undertake work then he needs to pay you the standard rates in advance with this one.

NO, it isn't out of guarantee.

scd3scd4 · 9 September 2017 at 7:16PM

z1a wrote: »

NO, it isn't out of guarantee.

You are right...........its in the manufactures guarantee but NOT the builders/fitters. Its over two years and he's workmanship has a 1 year warranty.

The product has a 5 year warranty are people honestly saying they think the builder has to return within 5 years!!! And refit it for free!!

I would not and you can lump it.

z1a · 9 September 2017 at 7:25PM

scd3scd4 wrote: »

You are right...........its in the manufactures guarantee but NOT the builders/fitters. Its over two years and he's workmanship has a 1 year warranty.

The product has a 5 year warranty are people honestly saying they think the builder has to return within 5 years!!! And refit it for free!!

I would not and you can lump it.

I agree, my reply was to C_Mababejive, who said the item was out of guarantee.

Question on tradesman labour charges outside item guarantee period

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