Plumber quotes free call-out but then wants to charge

bris

So you used him to find the fault then fixed it yourself, pay up.

alinwales

bris wrote: »

So you used him to find the fault then fixed it yourself, pay up.

ha ha, god bless internet forums!
No i didn't use him to find the fault as I started looking before I knew what he thought. After finding out that he spent an hour reading the manual's basic fault finding guide and poking around based on that, and still not actually finding the fault, I used him to give me the confidence that I may as well try the same technique myself. Having gone in and immediately found the broken ignition wire and worked from there I realised it's not rocket science. I assume he accidentally broke the wire as it would be gross incompetence for a pro to miss, so cannot believe that. Maybe I should charge him for the wire he broke? No, I wouldn't as that helped me find out the problem. Plus, I fixed it without actually buying any parts which he was quite happy to get for me, costing £200 with the thought it might be the PCB which would be another £200. (I'm sure when I've watched Watchdog, the guys always say things need a new PCB)

So yes, I'll pay whatever he wants for the consultation, I've already said that (happy to have more comments telling me to do that). I might tell him that it just started working again (though he knows there is a broken wire in there), I guess it'll hurt his pride if I told him I fixed it without having to spend a penny on parts (well, I did order a new wire, as I only bodged the broken one back, and a new electrode just in case, £25 total).

I'll chalk this one up to another 'live and learn' experience!

Zandoni

I'd be very suspicious of the plumbers ability if it took him 1.5 hrs to find a boiler fault. Was he Gas Safe registered?

photome

Zandoni wrote: »

I'd be very suspicious of the plumbers ability if it took him 1.5 hrs to find a boiler fault. Was he Gas Safe registered?

So would I, coupled with the fact he spent an hour reading the manual.

arcon5

halibut2209 wrote: »

Of course it's not fair. You owe him for an hour and a half.

Country_Cousin wrote: »

I always consider a call-out charge an extra fee on top of normal charges. Charged in emergency call-outs reflecting the fact it was not a pre-booked job. Why would any one imagine that a total stranger is going to work for you for an hour and a half for free.

So the guy advertises free quotes. Ops wife calls for him to quote to fix the boiler which isn't working properly.

So how have you come to such a spurious conclusion?

jonnyd281

photome wrote: »

So would I, coupled with the fact he spent an hour reading the manual.

I wouldn't to me that would be more of an indicator that he is a professional, especially if he was following the OEMs fault diagnosis charts.

Zandoni

jonnyd281 wrote: »

I wouldn't to me that would be more of an indicator that he is a professional, especially if he was following the OEMs fault diagnosis charts.

If he was experienced he wouldn't need a fault diagnosis chart. Plus he still wasn't confident on what parts to get.
I'd want proof he was Gas Safe.

ivavoucher

If I called out a plumber advertising "call for a free quote or callout"
I would expect that would involve a physical inspection and diagnosis of the problem at no cost. concluding in a quotation to fix that has no obligation.

I think it is reasonable to expect the plumber to inform you if and when charges are likely to be incurred.

My wife thinks: "call for a free quote or callout" is ambiguous enough that she would have asked him to clarify whether or not a callout charge applied.

jonnyd281

Zandoni wrote: »

If he was experienced he wouldn't need a fault diagnosis chart. Plus he still wasn't confident on what parts to get.
I'd want proof he was Gas Safe.

I'm experienced and so are the people who work for me, engineers on ships, I still expect them to get the books out for defect investigation, and use job information cards for planned maintenance. I'd be more cautious over someone who didn't use them, nobody can know everything about every boiler.

Zandoni

jonnyd281 wrote: »

I'm experienced and so are the people who work for me, engineers on ships, I still expect them to get the books out for defect investigation, and use job information cards for planned maintenance. I'd be more cautious over someone who didn't use them, nobody can know everything about every boiler.

Boilers are pretty simple and it shouldn't take all that time to diagnose, manual or not.