Dodgy Washer - was I overcharged?

Lip_Stick

Hi all

Not sure if this in the right section but I'm sure a kind mod will move it if it's not.

My washing machine had been banging for a month or so. My dad recommended a guy who came down and had a look. We thought it might be the bearings but turned out it was the suspension. He looked underneath it at the front, told me what it was, and asked if I wanted it fixing for £40. I said ok.

The guys pulls out a screwdriver and goes back to the washing machine, and about a minute later had fixed it. :eek:

Two weeks later and it's banging again! My questions are:-

1. Was this a reasonable price for less than five minutes work, which includes inspecting it, and probably climbing the stairs to my flat? lol. I realise there are transport costs etc.

2. On his business card it states that all work is guaranteed. So, will he have to fix this again for the same £40 even if it needs parts, or could I ask for my money back as it's not really been fixed? The reason I ask is because if it was going to cost much more I'd have probably got myself a new washer as it's getting on a bit, and I don't want a reoccuring problem every few weeks.

TIA for any replies.

asbokid

Can you prove that his work was substandard? He will probably say that he re-installed one of the other springs the first time, and that a different spring has come off this time.

phill99

Lip_Stick wrote: »

Was this a reasonable price for less than five minutes work, which includes inspecting it, and probably climbing the stairs to my flat? lol. I realise there are transport costs etc.

You need to remember that you are paying for expertise / knowledge, not time. If you only paid for time, then Brain Surgeons would earn the same as cleaners.

£40 seems pretty cheap. If you called out the manufacturers, you would be looking at £75 +vat minimum.

Plus, with tradesman, much of what you pay them goes on their 'on costs' ie van, depreciation on equipment, fuel, advertising, liability insurance, pension costs, sick pay, holiday pay etc etc.

Don't expect to get the money back.

If he has guaranteed the work, then there should be no cll out charge to fix the same problem. If its a different problem, then there would be another charge.

Lip_Stick

phill99 wrote: »

You need to remember that you are paying for expertise / knowledge, not time. If you only paid for time, then Brain Surgeons would earn the same as cleaners.

£40 seems pretty cheap. If you called out the manufacturers, you would be looking at £75 +vat minimum.

Plus, with tradesman, much of what you pay them goes on their 'on costs' ie van, depreciation on equipment, fuel, advertising, liability insurance, pension costs, sick pay, holiday pay etc etc.

Don't expect to get the money back.

If he has guaranteed the work, then there should be no cll out charge to fix the same problem. If its a different problem, then there would be another charge.

Yeah I meant to add that you pay for the skill as well. I do realise that it's not just the cost of someone turning a screwdriver a few times and petrol costs. Generally though, with manufacturers you get the parts free and pay an extortionate call out charge of around £80. That's with hotpoint, indesit etc. I was discussing it with a friend last week who had her washer taken away, a new part fitted and brought back, all for £20. Still think I was overcharged, especially since I didn't get a receipt.

phill99

£20? The guy must be desperate. Any tradesman will charge at least £40 for a standard call out, so there is no way you were over charged. Fool you for not getting a receipt!!

noapron

If he's supposed to be guaranteeing his skilled work, surely he'd give you a receipt. I think you should be able to call him foc because if the machine has gone wrong very quickly, then he didn't spot the problem the first time, or did, and knew he would get a recall - but then why guarantee his work? Perhaps you could call him and say he forgot to leave you a receipt, would he drop one in, when he comes to fix the machine.

I think washing machines are quite awkward, heavy things to work on and it may be far easier to do a very temporary repair than get to the bottom of the problem. Cynically, I'd say a repair man could make more money in and out of houses to repair machines at ten mins and £40 a time, than doing one repair which might take him most of a day, but only say be able to charge £150-£200 because he knows customers won't pay that much to repair an oldish machine - they'd rather replace. He might say the machine needs quite a big expensive part, which he will have to wait for, so I guess then you need a formal quote to make the decision about whether to replace your machine.

Recently we had a problem with my 8 year old Bosch. It's the brushes which DH has replaced several times now but they spark after a while and trip the electrics. Luckily I bought him a powerful torch for Valentine's (I know I'm very romantic ...) and using his new toy, he noticed why the brushes were sparking and will be filing the offending piece of metal so the brushes don't spark against it. Had I had to call out the repair man, even though they carry diagnostic software and they are very good about making sure they carry the right spare parts for your machine, it would I'm pretty sure have taken more than one visit at £70. We'd also priced a motor at £150, and that plus labour, would have been too large a proportion of the original cost of the machine. Can I say though, that when I have used Bosch to do repairs, they do issue a receipt and the work is guaranteed - the receipt being the proof that the work was carried out on the day I say. I suppose spares and repairs are a lucrative part of many businesses, and washing machine manuifacturers are no different - they know people can't go without a machine, so they make their repairs expensive enough, so that the customer might say, they'll just buy a new one.

Good luck though - there's nothing worse than seeing mounting dirty laundry.

Lip_Stick

phill99 wrote: »

£20? The guy must be desperate. Any tradesman will charge at least £40 for a standard call out, so there is no way you were over charged. Fool you for not getting a receipt!!

It wasn't me that was charged £20, it was my friend, which included her washer having a replacement part. All seems good with her washer which had the problem months ago, unlike my repair.

Lip_Stick

noapron wrote: »

If he's supposed to be guaranteeing his skilled work, surely he'd give you a receipt. I think you should be able to call him foc because if the machine has gone wrong very quickly, then he didn't spot the problem the first time, or did, and knew he would get a recall - but then why guarantee his work? Perhaps you could call him and say he forgot to leave you a receipt, would he drop one in, when he comes to fix the machine.

I think washing machines are quite awkward, heavy things to work on and it may be far easier to do a very temporary repair than get to the bottom of the problem. Cynically, I'd say a repair man could make more money in and out of houses to repair machines at ten mins and £40 a time, than doing one repair which might take him most of a day, but only say be able to charge £150-£200 because he knows customers won't pay that much to repair an oldish machine - they'd rather replace. He might say the machine needs quite a big expensive part, which he will have to wait for, so I guess then you need a formal quote to make the decision about whether to replace your machine.

Recently we had a problem with my 8 year old Bosch. It's the brushes which DH has replaced several times now but they spark after a while and trip the electrics. Luckily I bought him a powerful torch for Valentine's (I know I'm very romantic ...) and using his new toy, he noticed why the brushes were sparking and will be filing the offending piece of metal so the brushes don't spark against it. Had I had to call out the repair man, even though they carry diagnostic software and they are very good about making sure they carry the right spare parts for your machine, it would I'm pretty sure have taken more than one visit at £70. We'd also priced a motor at £150, and that plus labour, would have been too large a proportion of the original cost of the machine. Can I say though, that when I have used Bosch to do repairs, they do issue a receipt and the work is guaranteed - the receipt being the proof that the work was carried out on the day I say. I suppose spares and repairs are a lucrative part of many businesses, and washing machine manuifacturers are no different - they know people can't go without a machine, so they make their repairs expensive enough, so that the customer might say, they'll just buy a new one.

Good luck though - there's nothing worse than seeing mounting dirty laundry.

Thanks for your reply. Thing is, this guy is a friend of my brother's from way back when they were in high school, hence the recommendation from my dad, who has had no problems with his service.

Wonder if this guy has thought because I'm a single woman he'd take advantage, or just not do a thorough job. No person would want a five minute fix for a machine and end up with the same problem a few washes later.

He could be ok, but to me, as a designer, who spends a lot of money on programmes, and spends a lot of time on research etc, I wouldn't charge such a large sum of money that could be fixed, with the most very basic of equipment which every one has, in less than 2 minutes.

lagaaa

A couple of years ago I had a problem with washing machine, called out someone who fixed it in 30 seconds, charged me £80. One month later it broke again, different problem...got a new machine. Worst £80 I ever spent. I would ring the gut, he might be totally reasonable and just take a look for nothing. It could be just bad luck, his original charge sounds ok and it could just be something else but he might take a fresh look for a smaller charge out fee...

asbokid

i pulled the top off our washing dryer.. a hoover.. made back in the late 1990s in merthyr tydfil.. it's stamped inside with the names of all those who were working in the plant!... it's still going strong.. it's had a few minor repairs over the years.. none have us cost more than a fiver.. the electrical switches are underrated for use in a tumbler with quite a heavy load..these periodically burn out, and there's the occasional perished pipe, but that's about it. all credit to welsh engineering!

what i quickly realised is how little shielding there is on the electrical wiring and components. Since i was having a peek to resolve a water leak with the machine still turned on, this was a startling if not shocking revelation!

When poking around inside a live washing machine, it's probably worth plugging the machine into an RCD socket, just in case something nasty happens with the water and the electricity.

As for the OP and her problem with the suspension on her machine... is the drum retained in position by a number of springs pulling in counter directions? if so, these presumably stretch over time, allowing them to dismount from their fixings. if that's the problem, can the springs be replaced or, failing that, cut short to re-tension them again?