tradesman trying to rip me off??

missscousemouse_2

hi all
im in the process of buying a house with my partner and after survey was told to get some quotes of people for the work needing doing as it came in as worth less than we offered. now the estate agent recommended a damp and timber firm- they were great came out quick and told me it was all fine i asked if they could give me a wriiten quote for the bank and he said he would have to charge £50 as it would have to be a report not a prob it was done.
then there was a gas man who checked everything and also did a quote for central heating and removal of dangerous appliances done great
then they recommended an electrician i rang and he said he would go in to look within a couple of days it sounded like he was busy and he didn't take my name or contact number but i assumed he would saved my number. i rang couple of days later and he said he still hadn't been out and even got the name of road wrong when he said he would again go out in a couple of days and to email him my email address and he would email the quote as we were in rush for the bank to get it.
days passed and i rang and no answer so i had another electrical company go in to do it, when i spoke to agent i told her id tried for ages to get the one she recommended and explained the issues getting him out etc.
now 2 weeks after first ringing ive just received an email saying hes been out and hes the quote and sorry it was a bit late but he had been away!! then next email was to find out about me paying for it???????? at no point was i told there was a charge for a quote and id given up on him when he ignored me. im now really worried hes going to come after me for money even though he hadnt mentioned anything.
theres nothing on his website which is a cheap looking one that says paying for quotes infact it says call now for free safety quotes
i think maybe the agent has told him ive moaned i couldnt get in touch with him she must have told him when he turned up for the keys (its a repossession) that id had someone else out to do the quote

G_M

Very hard to follow your post.

Try short sentences in short paragraphs with salient points only.

1) There is a difference between an inspection and a quote. You need to be clear when contacting contractors which you want. And you need to be clear if there is a cost

2) Contractors generally don't get paid for quotes so
i) they may not prioritise your job. If they have paid work in hand, they will do that first!
ii) the quote you get may be influenced by the fact that they will only get paid if they find work to do..... ("yes, you need a new roof. I'll do it for you for £X trillion.")

3) It is crazy to do any of this via the estate agent. He is not your friend. He works for the seller, not the buyer. He is biased, and also gets commission from the contractors.

4) Plus the EA may have told (or agreed!) the contractor you would pay - if you 'delegated' the instruction to the contractr via the agent, then you are stuck with what he agreed for you.

Lessons:
*arrange stuff yourself
*expect 50% of contractors to let you down on dates

Oh and if getting quotes, get more than one anyway!

missscousemouse_2

sorry i posted minutes after i received the emails from the electrician and was fuming so i typed fast.

we have to go through the agent as its a repossession property, when i rang them to say we had the survey back and needed quotes for the work they flagged she recommended the tradesmen they use with their rental properties. i was clear to the tradesman that i needed a quote for the bank and just needed to know if the electrics were ok before moving in and need a quote of any work needing doin.

i was not told at any point that he would be charging me for anything and until last night i didnt think he was coming due to him not being in contact for well over a week

anselld

missscousemouse wrote: »

we have to go through the agent as its a repossession property,

For access to the property, yes, but you can still choose your own contractors to ensure independence as GM suggests.

missscousemouse wrote: »

just needed to know if the electrics were ok before moving

That sounds like an inspection to me. It is not possible to assess fully the safety of an electrical installation without some inspection/test for which electricians will charge. However, this should have been clarified by the tradesman at the outset.

xyellowx

once you instructed the second company you should of sent the first a email saying thanks but know thanks you had waited to long

id get on the phone to the estate agent tell them to sort it out and if he needs paying they can pay him out the money they no doubt got off the damp and gas man

you need to slow down a bit getting the estate agent to get 3 trades men in is crazy

tip- 1,most tradesmen will let you down on keeping timed appiontments expect them to be at least late
2 a tradesman who can come straight round cant have much work on which asks the question why? normally to pricey or work not the best get a couple of quotes for each job and look for reccomendations and dont pay for quotes

missscousemouse_2

i did get other trades people in but our morg broker told us to get gas, damp and elec people in fast to get quotes in asap as we are in a rush to complete. when i told estate agent they recommended people they use in ther lease properties so i thought ideal as thought they would be trustworthy. the damp and gas people were great very quick good communication. i only had to pay for damp report the others all were free quotes.