Call out charge wasn't previously mentioned

NatalieG_2

Hello,

I recently found a company on the internet who carried out leather sofa repairs. I emailed them with the problem, that the springs needed replacing. Although the website stated that no reply would be received out of working hours, I received a reply within the hour, which I thought was very good. They did not ask for more details about the repairs, they said it would be £185, and gave me a date for a workman to come to my home and carry out the repairs.
When he came, he turned the sofa upside down, and then said we could have the springs replaced but it would only be half the job. The other problem, he said, was that the cushion padding had gone. I said to him that this was where the problem was - the springs were sticking through the cushions, causing discomfort. He felt them, and told me about the coils etc, and that repadding them would also be required, but he said it would be expensive. I asked him to find out how much, and he rang the office. I meanwhile rang my husband, who was working away, to tell him. The repair man said it would be £350 for the cushions to be resprung and repadded, and they would need to take them away for a fortnight and repair them at the office and bring them back. My husband and I decided against it, and to be fair, the repair man also said it was a very expensive job which probably wasn't worth doing, best to get another sofa.
After this, I asked him (as a matter of course really) if he wanted anything for coming out. He said it was a £40 call out charge. I paid this, but on looking through the company's emails to me, this wasn't stated at all.
I have emailed them, but have heard nothing back. I suggested two things to them, one, that they should have an initial visit to correctly identify the work that needs doing and so price it correctly, and two, they should mention the call out charge beforehand if we did not decide to have the work done.
I plan to email them again, to request the money back, but I don't think I can force them to pay it back. Their website states good things about them from happy customers, but if they are charging £40 a time for work not carried out, then they are making a good living.
Any advice is much appreciated, thank you

hairymonkey

No legal advice here, as I am not lawyer. But surely he could have just changed the springs leaving you with a sofa that still was not comfortable.. Instead he gave an honest appraisal. So rather than ripping you off, he gave you some options.

Now you would have to look at their terms and conditions to see if you were required to pay a call out fee. Unless they took the money beforehand I think they would struggle to enforce these. However, you chose to offer to pay him... I hardly see how you can complain after making the offer. I am sure that if you point out that you were not informed beforehand, then a reasonable company may refund you this amount to keep future custom.

However, this man still has to pay his bills. £40 may seem like a lot of money, but once you have taken into account his travelling time and fuel, it's probably not unreasonable. You also have to assume he has tools and insurance and other costs... Personally I'd rather pay a modest sum for an honest appraisal from a profesional rather than paying for a repair that won't fix the problem.

Hintza

Sounds pretty good to me.

He could have just done the springs taken your money and left.

You used his time and his professional opinion, is that not worth £40?

NatalieG_2

Thank you both for your opinions,

I understand where you are both coming from, and yes, in hindsight, I would not have asked him if we owed him anything for coming out. He may have asked, in which case I could have pointed it nothing had been mentioned previously. The chap who came out is not a part of the company I emailed originally. As I understand it, he is an independent agent who does work for them. I do not know where his office is, if he has one, or if he works from home. I understand he has costs to cover, and if the call-out charge was something I knew about beforehand, I could accept that. For all I know, this chap could have taken my £40 knowing full well he had no right to do so, and he could have done that to other people. Yes he was honest about the work that needed doing to the sofa, but if he's going to earn a guaranteed £40 from every call out, which seems a safe assumption as they do not come out to view the repair and quote beforehand, then he can afford to be honest. If they then want the work doing, great, but if not, he can earn £400 a week if he just attends 10 repair jobs without doing the work.

If they had the right to take the charge, I feel sure they would have emailed me back by now stating where it says so. As I have not heard from them, I assume that they had no right, and just hope I go away.

From my point of view, I am not a sofa expert and I emailed them with the problem that the springs needed replacing. If I'd ordered a carpet I am sure that the seller would not automatically expect me to have measured my room correctly, and so I would have expected that the company firstly arrange an appointment to quote.

visidigi

If he turned up and you said to him 'can you fix this' and he said 'no' then I would agree with you that £40 is unfair.

But he's come in. Informed you correctly, sought an updated quote and advised alternatives etc. £40 for such a service is really quite reasonable.

Given you have already paid I would forget it and move on, if you hadn't paid and they had posted you an invoice you may have been in a position where arguing it a little move might have turned out favourable, as it stands I really wouldn't waste your time.

Fosterdog

Don't forget you didn't ask them to come out to give you a free no obligation quote, you agreed for the repair to be carried out for £185, that most likely already included the £40 cost of the workman attending.

The workman attended and told you more work would be needed on top of what he was there to do to make your soda right, he could have just carried out the spring repair and charged the full amount and then told you more work was needed. He instead chose to get you a new quote for the extra work and when you declined only charge you his "call out fee"

Not everyone offers free quotes and they don't have to, you had already agreed to work being carried out so it's not unreasonable for them to charge you for their wasted time when you chose to not go ahead with the pre-agreed or the new work.

NatalieG_2

Yes visidigi,

But what I'm getting at is, do you think he had a right to take £40, bearing in mind it wasn't pre-arranged that was the call out charge?

He did take it, and although it sounds daft of me, I did offer payment (not £40 though) as a gesture of his time. He said it would be £40. Whilst at my house, he made one phone call, lasting about a minute, to find out a price for repadding and new springs for the cushions. I wouldn't say that was worth £40.

The fact that the company has neglected to email back, tells me that he should not have taken the money, as there is no call out charge, otherwise they'd be quick enough to email back pointing me to the relevant literature advising of such policies.

I can't do anything about it, I cannot prove he asked for the money or that I paid it. I just want to know for my own peace of mind whether he should or should not have asked for a call out charge, given the circumstances.

visidigi

NatalieG wrote: »

Yes visidigi,

But what I'm getting at is, do you think he had a right to take £40, bearing in mind it wasn't pre-arranged that was the call out charge?

He did take it, and although it sounds daft of me, I did offer payment (not £40 though) as a gesture of his time. He said it would be £40. Whilst at my house, he made one phone call, lasting about a minute, to find out a price for repadding and new springs for the cushions. I wouldn't say that was worth £40.

The fact that the company has neglected to email back, tells me that he should not have taken the money, as there is no call out charge, otherwise they'd be quick enough to email back pointing me to the relevant literature advising of such policies.

I can't do anything about it, I cannot prove he asked for the money or that I paid it. I just want to know for my own peace of mind whether he should or should not have asked for a call out charge, given the circumstances.

Yes he had the right, in the same way the guy I called out to look at a boiler problem a few months ago asked for £60 total, for a quick internal inspection and clean (the latter of which fixed the issue I was having)

Did I have a price before he came to me? No because I am not an expert - did I expect to have to pay? Of course. And not some nominal donation, the guy is a professional and deserves a reasonable fee for being so.

The fact they have not replied to your email is probably because they have more important things to be doing - that might sound harsh, but you had them out, they looked at the problem and then advised you, you then turned them down for the work.

The company doesn't have to have literature to say it charges a call out fee, those who don't merely 'find' a way of making money out of a visit. £40 is cheap, try taking a BMW or AUDI in for an hours diagnosis and see what they charge!

halibut2209

You are not paying just for his time. You are paying for his experience and expertise

Slowhand

£40 is a good price. The guy will also have had travelling expenses which have to paid for as well as the above.

bod1467

halibut2209 wrote: »

You are not paying just for his time. You are paying for his experience and expertise

The charge also goes towards his travel time to reach you.

As others have said, a £40 call-out charge is very reasonable.