Disputing an invoice that could get nasty

memeweme

Hi,

I'm hoping someone can advise me on a situation that's reared it's ugly head over a year after I thought it was all put to bed.

Here's the situation - in September 2008 I had a boiler problem and asked a couple of local outfits to come round and quote for a repair job. I went with the best quote and all was fine. About a month later one of the other businesses who quoted sent me an invoice for a 'boiler inspection'. I wrote to them explaining that I would not be paying the invoice as my understanding was that the agreement was that they were coming round to quote and at no time before or during their visit did they mention a fee. (I think they cooked this up when they twigged they didn't get the job). I heard nothing back so assumed this was over.

However, last week, 13 months after my letter, they have sent me a second invoice with a covering letter with the threat of legal action for this outstanding invoice. I contacted them to politely remind them of the original situation and asked them to reconsider their stance - I kept it really nice. However, they said that they are being more than reasonable as they have invoiced me for a reduced amount (I have shredded original paperwork as assumed it was over long ago so can't confirm or dispute this) and are adamant that I should pay up.

Does anyone have any advice on where I stand on this? I don't want this to be handed over to a debt collection agency or for the company to take 'legal action' but the last thing I want to do is give into their bullying and have to pay them to get them off my back. Incidentally, the amount we're talking about is £40.

How would you reccommend I handle the situation?

Thanks, Memeweme

MrYorke

Speak to citizens advice but i dont think they have a leg to stand on personally. Have they got a website? Maybe ask a friend in a different property to give them a call and ask if they charge a 'call-out' fee or similar.

You may want to see about posting this on a more relevant page.

goodluck

dander

My feeling is that it would be an unusual way of working to get quotes in for a small boiler repair and if you are asking someone to come round and diagnose the fault, then they are doing a job for you - and it isn't unreasonable to expect payment. The majority of plumbers or heating engineers would charge for something like this.

The question is, of course, what was agreed to ahead of the visit, and as you admit you have no paperwork to clarify anything, it really comes down to a question of your word against theirs. I suspect the onus would be on you to prove an agreement was in place that meant you didn't have to pay anything, since a default position would be that a customer would pay for a service rendered.

memeweme

Thanks for taking the time to post - I've taken your advice and found a more relevant part of the form to put this on.

matimage

Hmm, I think plumbers and heating engineers are unique in this respect. They will not give you a quote until you pay them to look at the thing, therefore leaving you unable to compare quotes.

I called one out to quote me to fix my boiler. He came out and stood there and said it could be "x, y or z", anything from £40 to £1500. I asked him to be more specific but he said he couldn't touch it or he would charge me £40.

EliteHeat

You would surely have expected to pay for their skill, time and expenses in diagnosing the problem?

Would you consider it reasonable to get a garage to tell you why your car isn't running and not have to pay?

I would not expect anyone to pay me if I couldn't tell them what the problem is, but would expect a fee if I could. After that it's up to them whether to accept the repair charge or not.

I think if they decided to sue, you wouldn't stand a chance in court, as it would seem reasonable to expect to pay for someones expertise, skill and experience, assuming of course that their diagnosis was correct.

Inactive

memeweme wrote: »

How would you reccommend I handle the situation?

Thanks, Memeweme

Pay the company for the service that they provided at your request.

They are running a business, not a charity.

rachbc

I would disagree with the majority - unless they have told you there is a call out fee before hand then they can't charge you. Did any of the other companies charge you?

Inactive

rachbc wrote: »

I would disagree with the majority - unless they have told you there is a call out fee before hand then they can't charge you. Did any of the other companies charge you?

The OP has said that they have " shredded the paperwork " so who knows if they did or did not, best to just pay for the service provided by the company, or run the risk of having their credit rating damaged.

EliteHeat

rachbc wrote: »

I would disagree with the majority - unless they have told you there is a call out fee before hand then they can't charge you. Did any of the other companies charge you?

I doubt very much whether a court would agree that it is reasonable to assume that there would be no fee for an expert opinion. The onus was on the OP to establish this. Surely you cannot think that a business would not expect to charge for their services, unless they advertised to the contrary e.g. no call-out fee etc

zzzLazyDaisy

I disagree. They should have made their T&C's clear before agreeing to come out - if there was a call out charge, they should have told OP what it was, so she could decide whether to pay it or not.

It isn't as cut and dried as some posters seem to think - my own boiler broke down a couple of years ago, and I had two people come out to give me a quote. Neither charged me, even though in the end I decided to replace the boiler as the repair was too expensive.

I would contact consumer direct. They will advise you what to write to them. More importantly, if that doesn;t work, CD will then pass the matter to trading standards who will contact them on your behalf. This will probably be enough to get them to withdraw the invoice.