Electrical Certificate overcharge

Ealing1977

Hi everyone my electrician completed an electrical certificate for me at £140 plus vat. He phoned me the next day to tell me that a couple of diodes needed replacing. He went back to the property the following week and changed the diodes for further £100 plus vat. Shouldn’t the electrician have had diodes in his van and therefore changed them during the first visit and not charged me for a second visit. 

TELLIT01

What were the terms of the original visit?  Was it simply to check compliance and issue the certificate or was it check, repair any faults and issue the certificate?

grumbler

What diodes?

Risteard

Assuming that this was a periodic inspection of the installation I would never carry out repairs as part of the job without prior agreement. (Incidentally, this is a report and not a certificate.) Not sure what diodes you're on about though. LEDs -  light emitting diodes - or what?

Ectophile

Ealing1977 said:

Hi everyone my electrician completed an electrical certificate for me at £140 plus vat. He phoned me the next day to tell me that a couple of diodes needed replacing. He went back to the property the following week and changed the diodes for further £100 plus vat. 

I'm with the other posters on this ... what diodes?

Shouldn’t the electrician have had diodes in his van and therefore changed them during the first visit and not charged me for a second visit.

An electrician can't carry the entire stock of an electrical warehouse in the back of their van.  Sometimes they have to go away to a wholesaler to get stuff.

tacpot12

Ectophile said:

Shouldn’t the electrician have had diodes in his van and therefore changed them during the first visit and not charged me for a second visit.

An electrician can't carry the entire stock of an electrical warehouse in the back of their van.  Sometimes they have to go away to a wholesaler to get stuff.

An electrician will only have so much space in their van as they need to carry tools as well as common materials. For example an electrician will only carry one brand of sockets. If he finds a broken socket on an inspection, he can only replace it with the brand he has. If you want all your sockets to match throughout the house, you will have to pay him to go to get a matching socket and fit it. Remember you are also paying something towards the warranty that comes with anything he supplies. It the 'diodes' (r socket) fail within their manufacturers warranty period, you can call the electrician and he will deal with the warranty replacement for free.

Homer_home

Ealing1977 said:

Hi everyone my electrician completed an electrical certificate for me at £140 plus vat. He phoned me the next day to tell me that a couple of diodes needed replacing. He went back to the property the following week and changed the diodes for further £100 plus vat. Shouldn’t the electrician have had diodes in his van and therefore changed them during the first visit and not charged me for a second visit. 

Huh?

Diodes?

If this was a house inspection then there is no such thing as "diodes"

You have just been ripped off by the sounds of things, if he was genuine he would of taken you through the report and explained things to you there and then not phoned you the next day lying to you and touting for business

I'm concerned about the validity of the entire report

Risteard

Homer_home said:

Ealing1977 said:

Hi everyone my electrician completed an electrical certificate for me at £140 plus vat. He phoned me the next day to tell me that a couple of diodes needed replacing. He went back to the property the following week and changed the diodes for further £100 plus vat. Shouldn’t the electrician have had diodes in his van and therefore changed them during the first visit and not charged me for a second visit. 

Huh?

Diodes?

If this was a house inspection then there is no such thing as "diodes"

You have just been ripped off by the sounds of things, if he was genuine he would of taken you through the report and explained things to you there and then not phoned you the next day lying to you and touting for business

I'm concerned about the validity of the entire report

You cannot explain the report "there and then". It has to be compiled, and amounts to several pages. Realistically the report may arrive a number of days after the inspection. Then a list of proposed remedial actions can be provided. (The report should not suggest means to correct issues, but merely highlight what the issues are.)

rach_k

Ealing1977 said:

Hi everyone my electrician completed an electrical certificate for me at £140 plus vat. He phoned me the next day to tell me that a couple of diodes needed replacing. He went back to the property the following week and changed the diodes for further £100 plus vat. Shouldn’t the electrician have had diodes in his van and therefore changed them during the first visit and not charged me for a second visit. 

No.  He probably had another booking after you.  You paid for an electrical report and got one.  You can't reasonably expect him to keep his whole day clear for £140, and it's not fair for him to delay going to his next customer.  

fenwick458

i'm intrigued to find out what diodes he replaced. £140 +VAT isn't overpriced for an EICR. 

Jack_Cork

The diodes protect the flux capacitor and therefore need to be maintained. Yes he should have had some on his van but if he didn't have his sonic screwdriver there is no way he could have changed them there and then.