Tradesman Invoice is higher than agreed with hidden charges?

Jason.rangou

Our boiler broke down and I got a company in to fix it. It needed a new pressure relief valve and a a pressure gauge the boiler is an (Ariston Clas HE condensing boiler)
When I contacted this company I explained the boiler wasn't working and they sent someone to look at it within a couple of hours. The man looked at it and said it needed a couple of parts and I heard him on the phone ordering them and he said someone will come tomorrow to fit it. I asked him how much it would be and he said about £130 shouldn't be any more than that. Any way the guy came fitted the parts the next day within 1 hour and promptly left. Now I have received the invoice today for £144.
I am not questioning the amount as I know tradesman charge high prices. However, what I am questioning is the fact that they are charging me £45 +vat hour when they originally quoted £30 + vat and the fact that they are charging me a hidden fee of £36 which is a fault finding fee.
When I spoke to the company about this fault finding fee even though it says 'free estimates' on their web page I was told that I should have assumed that there would be a fault finding fee and the women I spoke to was very rude and defensive and I din't want to have an argument.
I normally use check a trade verified tradesman but unfortunately at the time there was no one that could help us out as they were all busy, so I consulted my local Yell pages online, I have never had any problems at all with anyone else but I can't help feeling I am being taken for a ride.
As a consumer where do I stand on this issue>?

southcoastrgi

so are they charging you £36 + £45 for labour & the rest is materials ?

keystone

Jason.rangou wrote: »

......I know tradesman charge high prices.

Thats an endearing attitude.

However, what I am questioning is the fact that they are charging me £45 +vat hour when they originally quoted £30 + vat and the fact that they are charging me a hidden fee of £36 which is a fault finding fee.

Where did the £ 30 come from? The maths doesn't add up. Do you honestly expect service within an hour and not to have to pay a call-out fee?

When I spoke to the company about this fault finding fee even though it says 'free estimates' on their web page I was told that I should have assumed that there would be a fault finding fee and the women I spoke to was very rude and defensive and I din't want to have an argument.

Being rude on the telephone is inexcusable. Make a complaint.

I normally use check a trade verified tradesman

Thats a mistake. You might just as well stick a pin in the 'phone book. Oh you did.

As a consumer where do I stand on this issue>?

In terms of what? Make a formal complaint to the company if you believe you were misled or they didn't explain their charges properly.

Cheers

olly300

Jason.rangou wrote: »

I asked him how much it would be and he said about £130 shouldn't be any more than that.

Anyone who uses the word "about" with a figure is giving you an estimate.

If you wanted a fixed price that is legally binding then you need to ask for a quote in writing. And make sure when you receive it states it's a quote.

Estimates aren't legally binding and are the best guess figure of the workman. This means if the workman finds more work that needs to be done to fix a problem they can charge you more to do it.

If you are upset about the fault finding fee then you need to complain as Keystone said. Though if you haven't paid a call out charge you are complaining about nothing.

baldelectrician

Jason.rangou wrote: »

When I spoke to the company about this fault finding fee even though it says 'free estimates' on their web page I was told that I should have assumed that there would be a fault finding fee and the women I spoke to was very rude and defensive and I din't want to have an argument. >?

I can see both sides of the argument;

• You see an ad that says free estimates- I say this as well, but I charge for fault finding (and make this clear on the phone call and my website). Were you expecting someone to come out, diagnose a fault and identify parts for free?
• an estimate is a guess, and the guy said £130 (which is £156 inc vat- they charged you £144 so it was less than the rough price ; unless the rough price was inclusive of VAT
• I can't understand why people ask a tradesperson to carry out a task of work and then get surprised when a bill arrives- most people don't go to work on a Monday and say to their boss "I'll work for free until lunch", no such thing as a free lunch

I think this boils down to a lack of communication on both sides, and failed assumptions.
In the first visit they diagnosed the fault and, ordered parts and (presumably) picked them up at a wholesalers to bring to your house. There is also the time spent running around for materials which clients don't see.

londonTiger

some people are so arsey, i do web marketing on a freelance basis. each business has some tricky situations, some more than others. A lot of business owners contact me and want an exact figure for the work. The nature of the industry is you can never know how much work is required, some jobs might look tough but are surprisngly easy, other jobs go well over the alloted hours. This makes me reluctant to work for small business and just focus on corporate clients. Let the small business owners hire some amatuer to run their campaigns

nickj_2

so your bill was £14 higher than what the engineer said it would be about. £144 is about £130 in my book

plumface

nickj wrote: »

so your bill was £14 higher than what the engineer said it would be about. £144 is about £130 in my book

Totally agree.
You were told the job would be 'about' £130 and it came in at £144.
So you were given a verbal 'guesstimate' and it took 2 visits to fix the fault.
I think you got off lightly only being charged £14 more.

alleycat`

baldelectrician wrote: »

I can see both sides of the argument;

• You see an ad that says free estimates- I say this as well, but I charge for fault finding (and make this clear on the phone call and my website). Were you expecting someone to come out, diagnose a fault and identify parts for free?
• an estimate is a guess, and the guy said £130 (which is £156 inc vat- they charged you £144 so it was less than the rough price ; unless the rough price was inclusive of VAT

Generally i agree with everything you've said.
The problem with these things tends to be trades talk in a price (ex VAT) where as most people "at home" don't even consider VAT as an item excluded from a price.

Lack of communication and understanding on both sides but there is little excuse for the company to be rude about it.

Jason.rangou

Hi,

I have been away from my PC hence the lack of communication. I wanted to clarify some of the points that I made as re reading what I wrote I can understand some of the replies I had, for which I thank you for your interest.

The entire bill came to £144,

The break down of charges are roughly:

• £40 parts
• £75 labour
• £29 fault finding fee

I understand that there are tradesman out there that charge high rates, really I do but my gripe is not so much for the high bill, for I am grateful that they came to my house and repaired my faulty boiler. My gripe is the fact that no one ever communicated to me at any time about the fault finding fee. I usually use tradesman on check a trade who have been vetted however, on this occasion it was not possible because they were all busy and when I found this company they were only down the road.



After the initial visit I phoned this company as things were being taken out of my control quite quickly i.e the man who came round to the house was in a hurry, a little standoffish and wouldn't engage in conversation, before I knew it he was on the phone ordering the parts without agreeing any costs with me accept saying that it shouldn't cost any more than £130 incl £30 for today? and then left after saying someone would come tomorrow and fix it.



Now you must understand that I have 3 one year old babies that need to be warm and looked after, therefore, my main concern is for them so, to get this fixed in 48 hours was good I thought..



Anyway, I contacted this company after he left and queried the £30 for today, the woman I spoke to was very rude and said that I should have assumed that there would be a fault finding cost and that even though there is no mention of fault finding fees on any of their adverts it is down to the customer to assume this even though the adverts say free estimates? I asked how much they charge and she said about £30 an hour. I didn't want a confrontation on the phone so I left it at that.



The next day another man showed up, again a little stand offish, clearly didn't want to speak to me (probably because of the phone call) and he duly fitted the spare parts which took no more than 50 minutes


A week later the invoice arrived.



I have sent a letter to the company via recorded delivery asking them to outline the costs and asking them to confirm with me that is their company policy to pass the responsibility of assumption on to the consumer in regards to the 'hidden' fault finding fee.



I have also asked them to explain why the labour charge is so high considering it took less than an hour to fit both parts.



Please understand it is not the money per se that I am querying if they had told me on the phone initially that there would be a fault finding fee and if they had told me I was looking at £144 there wouldn't be an issue and they would have received the payment by now


Pare of me wants to just send a cheque and be done with it But another part of me is saying I should have been told about this fault finding fee and to say I should have assumed is just plain wrong. I used to be a headstrong person and was not easily taken for a ride.I don't know if its because I am now a dad of triplets and softening up and easier to push around or whether because now I have other responsibilities? I suppose a part of me also wonders how many people have been subjected to this companies inflated invoices in the time they have been trading and perhaps because no one has actually challenged them this is the reason they are so blas! about it.


I will let you know how it develops.











.

Jason.rangou

baldelectrician wrote: »

I can see both sides of the argument;

• You see an ad that says free estimates- I say this as well, but I charge for fault finding (and make this clear on the phone call and my website). Were you expecting someone to come out, diagnose a fault and identify parts for free?

In answer to your question, Yes, I do if the advert says free estimates and there is no mention of any fault finding fee, then I expect someone to come out, take a look at my boiler and say how much its going to cost. Otherwise, why put 'free estimates' on the advert? surely this is misleading? I am like many other people out there who are not in a trade and I of course surely its down to the company to say if there are any

additional costs?

• an estimate is a guess, and the guy said £130 (which is £156 inc vat- they charged you £144 so it was less than the rough price ; unless the rough price was inclusive of VAT

I agree, as I have now clarified, the money is not the main issue here it is the fact that I wasn't told about this fee and also the fact that the labour rate doesn't add up?

• I can't understand why people ask a tradesperson to carry out a task of work and then get surprised when a bill arrives- most people don't go to work on a Monday and say to their boss "I'll work for free until lunch", no such thing as a free lunch

If I had used a check a trade verified person I do not believe that the majority would have charged me this fee or at least the people I spoke to on the phone last week anyway. As I have said the money side of things is not the issue. If I had called you and you had said there would be a fee and then you said that the parts would cost X amount and then you would have said a price then there wouldn't be an issue and I would have paid you straight away.

I think this boils down to a lack of communication on both sides, and failed assumptions.In the first visit they diagnosed the fault and, ordered parts and (presumably) picked them up at a wholesalers to bring to your house. There is also the time spent running around for materials which clients don't see.

I forgot to mention that the price for parts incl fuel costs. The place to buy the parts is a couple of miles away from our area. not too far.