overcharged by electrician

MobileSaver

melb said:

he replaces the part with one that costs £7.59 from screwfix

If you had ordered that £7.59 one from Screwfix it would have been the wrong part (RCBOs are typically around three times that price); at best you would have had to make a second trip to buy the correct part, at worst you could have made your EV charger into a potentially fatal safety hazard. There's a reason you pay for the expertise of a qualified electrician.

Even if it had been the correct part does the £7.59 price include Screwfix coming out to your home to replace it if it fails in three months time?!?!

You may have won in court on previous occasions but using the arguments you've put forward so far would get you very short thrift in this particular case.

melb

oh no forgot to say he didn't replace it with a rolec part at all.  In fact he fitted a wylex main switch.  work that one out!  Anyway I'm bowing out now and thanks for all your views - some of you actually read what I wrote which was a bonus.  As for charging him for trespass - I can make up any charges that I want can't I?  Or is that only for certain trades?

grumbler

MobileSaver said:

melb said:

he replaces the part with one that costs £7.59 from screwfix

Even if it had been the correct part does the £7.59 price include Screwfix coming out to your home to replace it if it fails in three months time?!?!

And what's the probability of it failing within three months time (assuming that it's the correct part for the job)?

Let's say it's 5% and a visit costs £300.

£300*5%=£15 - that's about what can be added to the price.

That said, the 'warranty' can be longer than 3 months, but both 5% and £300 are huge overestimations too.

andyhop

Common sense if a trades arrives after normal working hours that it’s been classed as a emergency and as such deems a premium rate. We are not sat at the phone waiting for you to call ! 

You sound like a absolute nightmare to deal with, we can’t be expected to keep endless amounts of stock in the average van, nor can we be expected to take you on your diagnosis, at the end of the day we have probably forgotten more than you think you know . 

Pay the man, dealing with the public as a tradesman is difficult enough at the best of times without dealing with folk who think they know what a job should take and cost . 

dil1976

melb said:

oh no forgot to say he didn't replace it with a rolec part at all.  In fact he fitted a wylex main switch.  work that one out!  Anyway I'm bowing out now and thanks for all your views - some of you actually read what I wrote which was a bonus.  As for charging him for trespass - I can make up any charges that I want can't I?  Or is that only for certain trades?

Hang on this is completely different from what you have said, if he hasnt swapped the part like for like then that is different and the job is incomplete and unsafe. But think you are just making things up now for attention

Section62

dil1976 said:

melb said:

oh no forgot to say he didn't replace it with a rolec part at all.  In fact he fitted a wylex main switch.  work that one out!  Anyway I'm bowing out now and thanks for all your views - some of you actually read what I wrote which was a bonus.  As for charging him for trespass - I can make up any charges that I want can't I?  Or is that only for certain trades?

Hang on this is completely different from what you have said, if he hasnt swapped the part like for like then that is different and the job is incomplete and unsafe. But think you are just making things up now for attention

The first post did say a new RCD was fitted.... but I don't think we can say the job is "incomplete and unsafe" without knowing exactly what the electrician did, and why they did it that way.

dil1976

Section62 said:

dil1976 said:

melb said:

oh no forgot to say he didn't replace it with a rolec part at all.  In fact he fitted a wylex main switch.  work that one out!  Anyway I'm bowing out now and thanks for all your views - some of you actually read what I wrote which was a bonus.  As for charging him for trespass - I can make up any charges that I want can't I?  Or is that only for certain trades?

Hang on this is completely different from what you have said, if he hasnt swapped the part like for like then that is different and the job is incomplete and unsafe. But think you are just making things up now for attention

The first post did say a new RCD was fitted.... but I don't think we can say the job is "incomplete and unsafe" without knowing exactly what the electrician did, and why they did it that way.

My point was that if parts haven't been swapped like for like then it is unsafe, car chargers have lots of sensitive electronic equipment in them and are plugged into a large  battery bank if a part isnt suitable then yes it is unsafe for continued use. I am pretty sure Volec will be very stringent on what parts can and cant be fitted within one of their units for a very good reason

Section62

dil1976 said:

Section62 said:

dil1976 said:

melb said:

oh no forgot to say he didn't replace it with a rolec part at all.  In fact he fitted a wylex main switch.  work that one out!  Anyway I'm bowing out now and thanks for all your views - some of you actually read what I wrote which was a bonus.  As for charging him for trespass - I can make up any charges that I want can't I?  Or is that only for certain trades?

Hang on this is completely different from what you have said, if he hasnt swapped the part like for like then that is different and the job is incomplete and unsafe. But think you are just making things up now for attention

The first post did say a new RCD was fitted.... but I don't think we can say the job is "incomplete and unsafe" without knowing exactly what the electrician did, and why they did it that way.

My point was that if parts haven't been swapped like for like then it is unsafe, car chargers have lots of sensitive electronic equipment in them and are plugged into a large  battery bank if a part isnt suitable then yes it is unsafe for continued use. I am pretty sure Volec will be very stringent on what parts can and cant be fitted within one of their units for a very good reason

Again, without knowing exactly what the electrician has done - and why - we can't say it is "unsafe".

Sometimes swapping parts which are not like-for-like has the effect of improving safety.  We shouldn't second guess the electrician based only on the information the OP has been able to provide so far.

If there is a question mark over the safety of the installation then the OP should get advice from a suitably qualified person who is able to inspect and (if necessary) test the system.

Money_Grabber13579

dil1976 said:

melb said:

oh no forgot to say he didn't replace it with a rolec part at all.  In fact he fitted a wylex main switch.  work that one out!  Anyway I'm bowing out now and thanks for all your views - some of you actually read what I wrote which was a bonus.  As for charging him for trespass - I can make up any charges that I want can't I?  Or is that only for certain trades?

Hang on this is completely different from what you have said, if he hasnt swapped the part like for like then that is different and the job is incomplete and unsafe. But think you are just making things up now for attention

How do you know it isn’t like for like? Loads of different manufacturers make products that do exactly the same thing - they might be called something different but if the specs are the same, there should be no issue. I recently replaced my old CDA oven with a Beko oven - accordingly to you, my new oven is unsafe…

Based on what the OP has posted, it seems like they are a serial after the event complainer and specialises in suing people…

MobileSaver

grumbler said:

MobileSaver said:

melb said:

he replaces the part with one that costs £7.59 from screwfix

Even if it had been the correct part does the £7.59 price include Screwfix coming out to your home to replace it if it fails in three months time?!?!

And what's the probability of it failing within three months time (assuming that it's the correct part for the job)?

£15 - that's about what can be added to the price.

I see where you're coming from but that's missing the point...

It doesn't matter whether the probability of the part failing is 1% or 100%, the possibility of Screwfix coming to the OP's home to re-fit the replacement part if it fails is 0%!

While you could of course use your calculation for what you think would be an acceptable mark-up, I can also see an electrician plausibly stating they add £30+VAT on to any part they supply because they offer x months replacement warranty against the part failing. In other words the OP is not comparing like for like which is why I think they would lose in court if that there was defence for not paying.