Boiler Engineer - 20% weekly increase??

DorsetJoe

Hi,
Recently had our boiler serviced under our YourRepair plan. The engineer said it had failed and that it would cost £180 to repair. I duly paid and he fixed it but the next day the boiler was not working (Note: it was working fine before this engineer came to service it).

He said it needed another part and we agreed a date for him to come round. He didn't come and then over two weeks later, he's just messaged me to say he has the part and it will cost me £150.

I asked for a full detailec quote as I was becoming suspicious and wanted a second opinion. He became rather defensive and messaged that I had to factor in his visit (after I reported the boiler not working after his initial repair) and that if I did not pay him for the work, he would pass on the charge of the part to me. I have never been quoted this cost before - I thought it was all part of the original £180.
He then said that if I did not agree to the £150 job on Tuesday then it woudl be £200 on Wednesday an dtaht he would be charging me an extra 20% for ever extra week.

Sorry if thsi is rather muddled but can he do this??/ I feel like I am being bullied and that he is being completely unfair. Any thoughts?

pramsay13

I'm not familiar with YourRepair but a quick google and reviews seem decent enough. 
According to their website you should be paying £9 per month but there shouldn't be any other costs.
What have YourRepair themselves said about it? Speak to them directly and report what you have said here.

DorsetJoe

YourRepair cover the cost of the service but any repairs are up to me to pay. I am not concerned with their role in this. It's not the fact that I am paying for repairs that alarms me - more the fact that the engineer feels that he can just charge me what he likes without any quote and then almost threatened me with extra costs if I dont just do what he says. I am pretty sure that 20% a week extra charge is just ridiculous.  I think it is perfectly fair of me to question this extra £150 charge and to request an itemised quote from him before agreeing to the work

pramsay13

DorsetJoe said:

YourRepair cover the cost of the service but any repairs are up to me to pay. I am not concerned with their role in this. It's not the fact that I am paying for repairs that alarms me - more the fact that the engineer feels that he can just charge me what he likes without any quote and then almost threatened me with extra costs if I dont just do what he says. I am pretty sure that 20% a week extra charge is just ridiculous.  I think it is perfectly fair of me to question this extra £150 charge and to request an itemised quote from him before agreeing to the work

Inform YourRepair that their engineer charged £180 for a repair that wasn't obvious before the service, and that they are now wanting to charge £150 for another issue, rising to £200 the day after if it is not paid. 
See what they say.

rjmachin

Looking at the YourRepair website, I would expect a free service and then a fee of £60 for each repair required.
Whether £60 should be charged a second time, I am not sure, but £180 and then another £150 I would not be happy with.
Did you pay the engineer direct for the repairs rather than going through YourRepair?

DorsetJoe

rjmachin said:

Looking at the YourRepair website, I would expect a free service and then a fee of £60 for each repair required.
Whether £60 should be charged a second time, I am not sure, but £180 and then another £150 I would not be happy with.
Did you pay the engineer direct for the repairs rather than going through YourRepair?

Yes - I did. Wish I hadn't now. I have just reported it to YourRepair and think I will go to Trading Standards tomorrow. Pretty sure that I am being conned here. He became quite aggressive (IMO) when I asked for a quote

DorsetJoe

DorsetJoe said:

rjmachin said:

Looking at the YourRepair website, I would expect a free service and then a fee of £60 for each repair required.
Whether £60 should be charged a second time, I am not sure, but £180 and then another £150 I would not be happy with.
Did you pay the engineer direct for the repairs rather than going through YourRepair?

Yes - I did. Wish I hadn't now. I have just reported it to YourRepair and think I will go to Trading Standards tomorrow. Pretty sure that I am being conned here. He became quite aggressive (IMO) when I asked for a quote

Although, in my defence, he had said our boiler could not be used and turned it all off so I needed to get it fixed pretty quick! So i just agreed to get him to fix it the next day. Which, of course, may have been the plan all along...🙄

macman

What were the alleged faults and parts replaced?

DorsetJoe

macman said:

What were the alleged faults and parts replaced?

Condense trap? Then it was the harness and spark cable(?) for the extra £150 but seeing as he won't give me a detailed quote I am in the dark.

DorsetJoe

Update: I spoke to Trading Standards today about this. On their advice, I wrote to the engineer and restated my request for  a quote as I was entitled to one under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. I also requested full schedule of work to be done and time breakdown. Also I now know that he cannot charge me extra if I do not agree to his work being done tomorrow. I also told him that I had discussed the issue with the Trading Standards office
I have not heard back from him as of yet. I wonder if I will.
Thanks to everyone who replied - I will update if there are any further developments

macman

If you do not agree to the charge quoted, he cannot charge you anything: either of you can simply decline to proceed further.