Are quotes free or do you pay for them?

AFK_Matrix

Hi,

Right its the first time I have had a boiler go on the fritz and need to get an engineer in. Now what I wanted to do is get 3 quotes and then decide who I wanted to do the fixing. But the companies I have phoned so far want a fee for doing a quote, is this correct? I obviously wouldn't know as I haven't done this before. Or should I just pick one engineering company and get them to fix it?

Thanks.

southcoastrgi

it always used to be the case that you pay for a quote but an estimate is free, it takes the same amount of work to do both it's just that the company is tied to the quote price, there are thousands of RGI that will give you a free estimate & with something like a boiler change that's really all you should have to pay if they have looked at the job properly.

Edit, sorry i misread your post, yes to find a boiler prob is going to take time so they will charge you for that time, once it has been worked out what the prob is then you can get a price for the work & get three quotes, however by the time the prob has been found it may just be as easy to get that guy to fix it & he may do it while he's working it out if it doesn't req new parts.

A1P

For a repair most local Gas Safe engineers would charge an hourly rate + parts.A typical rate would be £40 first hour £25/30 next hour.Evenings/weekends often 50%+ more.He would normally ask for details of boiler and a description of the problem when you phone.He should then have a possible idea of what is required when he arrives,My son can access any boiler manual on his phone and experienced engineers have a good knowledge of most boilers so you would be unlucky if it was a long job.