Been charged for a drain call out, but nothing was fixed

Scooby_Man

Hi All,

My sewerage drain is blocked and I called a reputable firm (at least from the website) to come and fix it. One hour later I got a bill for 200 pounds and advice that it will cost me 1000 pounds to fix. So I am 200 pounds down and still with the same problem.

I have been charged for labour and usage of the equipment which didn't solve anything.

Is this normal? I feel quite annoyed with this. I had to give my credit card details prior to work commencing so I am a bit stuck. I even called the firm up to confirm whether this is standard practice and he said yes.

Is there anything I can do?

Anihilator

No

Of course they will charge you a call out fee and to analyse the problem. Given its cost of course they would consult before doing the repair.

Scooby_Man

it was not a call out fee - in fact they state no call out fees. It was a charge for the labour and use of equipment, which was to discover i need to spend another grand on getting things fixed.

Surely, this goes against the UK core values of fair play?!

McKneff

Who do you think should pay them for the time used and the machinery used to diagnose your problem?

Scooby_Man

McKneff wrote: »

Who do you think should pay them for the time used and the machinery used to diagnose your problem?

I didn't want diagnosis, I wanted a fix.

It is an economically flawed model if companies are allowed to charge without fixing because they earn as much money as they would if they'd fixed the problem plus the chance that someone would pay extra to actually get the problem fixed. This needs regulation in my opinion.

Scooby_Man

Also, since the drain blockers are the experts, they can say anything and get away with it because the average Joe will not know whether they are blagging for more business.

olly300

Scooby_Man wrote: »

I didn't want diagnosis, I wanted a fix.

It is an economically flawed model if companies are allowed to charge without fixing because they earn as much money as they would if they'd fixed the problem plus the chance that someone would pay extra to actually get the problem fixed. This needs regulation in my opinion.

I'm actually surprised that you or one of your neighbours doesn't know a plumber who will deal with drains as an emergency.

Unless you get recommendations from people you risk getting ripped off in anything to do with housing.

McKneff

If they had just gone ahead and fixed it and then gave you a bill for £1k
you'd probably be on here telling us you'd got ripped off too.

I agree with you up to a point, ask them if they will knock the £200 off the price and see what they say.

i suppose its worse because they had split the price up.

They would have been better saying to you, (before even looking at it = mmmmmm it will cost you somewhere around £1200 would that have been better?

Anihilator

Scooby_Man wrote: »

I didn't want diagnosis, I wanted a fix.

It is an economically flawed model if companies are allowed to charge without fixing because they earn as much money as they would if they'd fixed the problem plus the chance that someone would pay extra to actually get the problem fixed. This needs regulation in my opinion.

The company incurred expenses to examine and diagnose and have fairly charged you to do this. They have also offered you the fix which you are free to take up.

The fact is if they had done £1200 worth of work and not told you no doubt you would have been moaning about that.

fiddiwebb

Not much you can do about the £200, always ,always get a quote/price first before asking for any work or inspections done.

The £1000 for the work to fix the problem seems a lot, did they say what the problems was?

Are the drains blocked or do the drains need re-placing?

I would certainly try and get other quotes first.

pinkshoes

If they advertise as no call out fee, then I would expect them to come out and discuss the problem with me, then explain EXACTLY what they were going to do to diagnose the problem.

Why don't you buy a set of DRAIN RODS, then have a good poke. My dad has unblocked his drain with these twice in 20 years, and no drain expert required.

That must be quite some drain problem for £1000. For the £200 diagnostic, I would want a breakdown of what equipment they used, and for the £1000, I would want to know EXACTLY what they'd diagnosed, and an exact break down of the costs.

Who were the company you used?