Should I pay this electricians bill?

moneyangel22

Hi,

Recently I got an electrician to visit a property I rent out to investigate a problem with a light.
I have used this electrician before and know he charges a fixed callout fee of £50. I had asked him to have a look and call me from the property when he knew what needed doing. I didn't hear anything from him so I called and called and eventually spoke to him and he said its all fixed now the bill is in the post. So there I was expecting a bill for £50 and today guess what....a bill for £280 arrives on my doormat!!!
I am annoyed to say the least. I did not agree to this cost. He told me he was there for 4 hours so I can understand charging me a bit more but that seems a bit excessive to me! They did not provide any parts etc so I know it's not that. I will of course question him about it but I would just like to know where I stand with this if he sticks to his guns. I would not have agreed that much cost for the work!!
My budget was only £100.
Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

SAHD_Jim

If you did not request him carry out the work then he had no right to go ahead and do it and then bill you such a seemingly exorbitant amount to boot. I certainly wouldn't pay up, not unless I was absolutely convinced it was totally necessary and a reasonable cost for the work.

nickj_2

i can't believe fixing a light could be £280 -
what you do depends on whether you rely on the sparks to do a proper job and will want to use him again , i would ring him and say you wanted to be informed of any costs before you gave him the go ahead . if he comes up with a plausible explanation then you might just have to bite the bullet this time and then if you want his or anyone else's services you will need confirmation of costs or a quote next time

keystone

As you knew you would be liable for a callout fee of £50 it would be unreasonable not to pay that. Send a letter with your payment to ask him to justify the balance in time and materials seeing as you were not asked neither did you authorise anything above the £50. Then you have a negotiating position from which to move forward. If he is a reasonable person then he will also negotiate from there. There is no doubt that if he has done some work then he should be recompensed for it even though he's gone about it the wrong way. Bear in mind that a vist / report, authorise and second visit to fix may actually cost more.

Cheers

iamcornholio

It depends whether you have had (and needed) £280 worth of work doing

If you are happy with the explanation, even if you did not request the work to be done, then I can't see why it should not be paid

Otherwise, either agree a figure or refuse to pay.

Check what has been done first though

keystone

and then when its all settled down send him this:



Cheers

ListysDad

only spell it correctly...

moneyangel22

You wont believe what this idiot has done now...

I sent him a stern letter with a cheque for £60 in full settlement of his bill as that was all I deemed due. He wrote to me saying thanks for the cheque in part payment!, and attached a copy of his mobile phone bill showing his guys phone call to me explaining the work that needed doing and that it would take 2 men, blah, blah. This was the phone call I got after making several to him chasing him for info on what had happened because I did not receive one on the day of the visit to the property.
All the guy said was that he had fixed the problem, he explained what they had done and his boss would be billing me, no mention of a second guy there too, or how much they were charging me!! It did take them 4 hours but I explained to them BEFORE THEY WENT OUT that I needed a QUOTE before any work was done!
They have sent me a copy of the court papers they have prepared and are going to file them if I dont pay the balance!
I cant believe the cheek of it!!

What should I do??

DevCoder

So what work have they actually done? You don't state this.

If its easier, just state whats on the invoice.

moneyangel22

The invoice just says "for work carried out at (property address)" and a total. Not even a breakdown of hourly rate, time taken etc.
He said in his letter that he has charged £25 per hour for 2 men and 4 hours.

The work he said he actually did possibly would have taken 4 hours, thats not the problem. My problem is if they had told me it was going to be £25 per hour and may take several hours I would have told them NOT to do the work!! There is no way I would have agreed to pay that much!!

keystone

moneyangel22 wrote: »

What should I do??

When you have answered krisd's question then is the time to think. FWIW right at the moment my view ('cos I don't like seeing people bullied) would be a signed4 letter in reply saying:

1. You failed to advise me what additional work was required.

2. You failed to provide me with the (prior to your visit) requested quotation if additional work was required.

3. You failed to provide me with an explanation as requested to enable me to consider the additional costs and have thus far not received one.

4. I have explained that I will compensate you for reasonable costs for work required.

5. I am advised that I have a robust defence to your claim in its current state and supporting documentation and for the avoidance of doubt please understand that I will be present at any eventual hearing to present my defence.

Assuming, of course, you can write such a letter in all honesty.

It won't go to court yet. They are trying to put the frighteners on you. Be reasonable. They are seemingly being unreasonable. Call their bluff.

In the alternate do we have the whole story?

Cheers