overcharged by electrician

Ibrahim5

I think people expect the forum to be inhabited by like minded consumers where in reality there are more from the trade. So people have a problem with a tradesman and they get a response from another tradesman rather than getting good consumer advice. I feel sorry for people who register just to ask a specific question. They often get very poor advice.

melb

I didn't get the impression that many of the replies on this forum were from electricians either, although I can see that you are. he has now confirmed that it was an emergency call out hence the inflated charge.  We called his office.wife in the morning, he rang back lunchtime to say his electrician would call some time after 4.30 and we said great thanks.  Also he is now saying he quoted £60 for the parts on the phone - if he knew which part would be being replaced (how else would he know the price) why didn't he make sure the electrician attended with the part on his van?

his actions today prove to me he is a bully.  

Risteard

melb said:

I didn't get the impression that many of the replies on this forum were from electricians either, although I can see that you are. he has now confirmed that it was an emergency call out hence the inflated charge.  We called his office.wife in the morning, he rang back lunchtime to say his electrician would call some time after 4.30 and we said great thanks.  Also he is now saying he quoted £60 for the parts on the phone - if he knew which part would be being replaced (how else would he know the price) why didn't he make sure the electrician attended with the part on his van?

his actions today prove to me he is a bully.  

An RCD needs to be made by the correct manufacturer, as well as the correct rating and type. So there is no way that I would have stock of all the different makes and types, which could only be ascertained following investigation of the fault. Was it known that the EVSE was a ROLEC unit?

Also many of the older ROLEC units do not have DC Leakage Protection built in, which would necessitate the installation of a vastly more expensive Type B RCD over a Type A device. I presume it's an RCBO inside the unit rather than an RCCB. A double pole Type B RCBO is a rare device indeed. EVSE installation is much more complex than you probably appreciate - in fact there is a whole section of the Wiring Regulations specific to EV Charging installations.

Grumpy_chap

melb said:

We have disputed the amount and apparently this debt will now be given to a debt collection agency and we will be incurring late payment charges of 7% per week.

Late payment at 7% per week is not correct.  It has to be fair and reasonable.

The rules for late payment charges in B2B are at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/late-commercial-payments-interest-debt-recovery/charging-interest-commercial-debt

Rules for consumers are usually tighter than B2B, though I can't find anything specific.  The following suggests that nothing can be charged unless it was in the Ts&Cs advised upfront:
https://www.freeagent.com/blog/charging-for-late-payments/

Section62

Ibrahim5 said:

I think people expect the forum to be inhabited by like minded consumers where in reality there are more from the trade. So people have a problem with a tradesman and they get a response from another tradesman rather than getting good consumer advice. I feel sorry for people who register just to ask a specific question. They often get very poor advice.

I think that is an unfairly negative comment about other forum members.

Tradespeople also deal with other tradespeople and experience things in exactly the same way a "consumer" does.

What tradespeople bring to this forum is the knowledge and experience of dealing with other people - often from both sides - and will have a better understanding than the average "like minded consumer" of which battles are worth fighting, and which are lost causes.  Several of us detest rogue traders, some of us are also aware that bad 'consumers' are making life harder and more expensive for decent consumers.

There's a balance to be struck in the advice given on a forum like this - that's what makes this site a good source of information.  People who only want to hear the views of other 'consumers' have other options where the advice is more like an echo-chamber.  But IMV those echo chambers are the places where the worst advice is often found, the advice on this site - especially from the traders - is of excellent quality.

NSG666

melb said:

I didn't get the impression that many of the replies on this forum were from electricians either, although I can see that you are. he has now confirmed that it was an emergency call out hence the inflated charge.  We called his office.wife in the morning, he rang back lunchtime to say his electrician would call some time after 4.30 and we said great thanks.  Also he is now saying he quoted £60 for the parts on the phone - if he knew which part would be being replaced (how else would he know the price) why didn't he make sure the electrician attended with the part on his van?

his actions today prove to me he is a bully.  

In some of your posts you have told us what the electrician claimed to have said on the phone and your tone implies what he claims is incorrect. As a matter of interest, following the initial phone call what was your understanding of his charges, how long the repair might take and the suggested course of action?

NSG666

Ibrahim5 said:

I think people expect the forum to be inhabited by like minded consumers where in reality there are more from the trade. So people have a problem with a tradesman and they get a response from another tradesman rather than getting good consumer advice. I feel sorry for people who register just to ask a specific question. They often get very poor advice.

Didn't you actually mean they were posting in the wrong section of the forum instead of below?

Consumer Rights — MoneySavingExpert Forum

melb

NSG666 said:

melb said:

I didn't get the impression that many of the replies on this forum were from electricians either, although I can see that you are. he has now confirmed that it was an emergency call out hence the inflated charge.  We called his office.wife in the morning, he rang back lunchtime to say his electrician would call some time after 4.30 and we said great thanks.  Also he is now saying he quoted £60 for the parts on the phone - if he knew which part would be being replaced (how else would he know the price) why didn't he make sure the electrician attended with the part on his van?

his actions today prove to me he is a bully.  

In some of your posts you have told us what the electrician claimed to have said on the phone and your tone implies what he claims is incorrect. As a matter of interest, following the initial phone call what was your understanding of his charges, how long the repair might take and the suggested course of action?

After carrying out research online before and after the phonecall, we thought the problem was probably caused by the RCBO in the unit which is known to fail.  The part is cheap and quickly replaceable by an electrician.  We have now been told that is wasn't an emergency call-out but an out-of-hours call-out.  Presumably we are supposed to know when one starts and the other ends when at no point did we say we needed the job done as a matter of urgency.  he has also given details of the 2 parts which he fitted, neither of which are in our unit but heyho just pay up

rob7475

melb said:

NSG666 said:

melb said:

I didn't get the impression that many of the replies on this forum were from electricians either, although I can see that you are. he has now confirmed that it was an emergency call out hence the inflated charge.  We called his office.wife in the morning, he rang back lunchtime to say his electrician would call some time after 4.30 and we said great thanks.  Also he is now saying he quoted £60 for the parts on the phone - if he knew which part would be being replaced (how else would he know the price) why didn't he make sure the electrician attended with the part on his van?

his actions today prove to me he is a bully.  

In some of your posts you have told us what the electrician claimed to have said on the phone and your tone implies what he claims is incorrect. As a matter of interest, following the initial phone call what was your understanding of his charges, how long the repair might take and the suggested course of action?

After carrying out research online before and after the phonecall, we thought the problem was probably caused by the RCBO in the unit which is known to fail.  The part is cheap and quickly replaceable by an electrician.  We have now been told that is wasn't an emergency call-out but an out-of-hours call-out.  Presumably we are supposed to know when one starts and the other ends when at no point did we say we needed the job done as a matter of urgency.  he has also given details of the 2 parts which he fitted, neither of which are in our unit but heyho just pay up

If you knew for certain what needed doing and you weren’t in a rush, why did you not ring around a few sparks to get a quote for the repair before agreeing a visit. 

You’ve not mentioned until now that he’s invoiced you for incorrect parts - what’s he said about this. 

You only seem to be looking for people that agree with you - i thought the idea of a forum was to get a balanced opinion.

Section62

melb said:

...he has also given details of the 2 parts which he fitted, neither of which are in our unit but heyho just pay up

What are these parts?

Where people have suggested paying up I think it is without the knowledge that the electrician is trying to charge you for parts you don't believe have been fitted.  If he hasn't used the parts then he shouldn't be attempting to charge you for them - if that is the case, and you can prove it, you might want to contact your local trading standards department.

This story, from start to finish, revolves around poor communication and a lack of detailed information.