Money Moral Dilemma: Should I report shoddy service from an engineer?

Former_MSE_Nick

This week's MoneySaver who wants advice asks...

I had a TV engineer visit recently and he did a poor job, unnecessarily telling me I needed someone else to come out (at extra cost). I feel like complaining and asking for the call-out fee to be refunded, however he told me if he gets anything less than perfect feedback from customers his pay gets docked. Should I complain?

Unfortunately the MSE team can't always answer money moral dilemma questions as contributions are often emailed in or suggested in person. They are intended to be enjoyed as a point of debate and discussed at face value.

If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply!

[purplesignup][/purplesignup]

gran3

Yes. Cant do the job....................

flyingflea

Yes, I wouldn't hesitate to make a complaint if the work carried out wasn't up to standard. The fact his pay is affected is not your concern. Hopefully he'll be more inclined to provide a better service in future after you complain.

kazt2006

Definitely.

Although have you thought this might be a form of rogue traders where the 2nd engineeer is part of the company's upselling process and always part of the plans? Google the company and see if there are similar reports!


On a slightly different note, I bought a user car from a well know national dealer 2 months ago. Once the sale was provisionally agreed, it was a pain up the backside. When they were doing the handover, I was asked to rate the process and the sales person (bearing in mind I had dealt with 4 different people in the branch). I said I would only give a 4/5 and was told that the team and sales person would have to justify that to management. I refuse to budge despite significant pressure, as to me 5 is outstanding! With the problems since, the process would be lucky to get a 1 or 2 as many failures on basic checks, due care and attention!

consumers_revenge

Would you pay a garage if they didn't fix your car?


Same principal.


If engineer was self employed he would be in same or worse position.

John_Gray

The engineer is combining incompetence with emotional blackmail, and thus appears to have no principles.

Debris62

Whether he gets paid or not is not your problem-you've paid for a service he's not provided. Maybe if he loses money he'll learn to do the job properly next time!!!!

terill

No brainer. Yes you should complain. Why should you be out of pocket because someone can't do their job. Sounds like his pay's been docked before

spikyone

Apart from the fact that he's not actually an engineer in the first place (please stop devaluing that title), surely rather than being a case of his pay being "docked", it's the case that he gets a bonus for perfect feedback. His employer wouldn't be able to pay him less than the minimum wage after any "deduction". So if he didn't do the job properly, then give him the appropriate feedback.

The point of this feedback scheme is so that the technician and his employer can improve their performance. Tell them everything's OK when in reality it wasn't, and they'll keep on providing sub-par service.

brewerdave

I was similarly "pressured" when I had my car serviced recently - the main dealer garage asked me to rate everything as a "5" as otherwise they would get flak from the actual manufacturer (Kia) - the agent was quite upset when I told her that I would rate the various aspects of the service experience as I saw fit!!
To the OP - If it wasn't a satisfactory job then have a moan!

newpuppy

Complain. Never mind what he tells you about getting his pay docked. If he couldn't do the work because he needs more training, then his employers need to know. If he couldn't do the work because he's useless at it, then he's in the wrong job. If you didn't get the service you paid for, don't just fret to people who can do nothing about it - tell the person who can make a difference.