Electrician Overcharge Complaint

Aylesbury_Duck

Mr.Generous said:

£300 is a reasonable day rate for an electrician why on earth agree this per hr plus vat plus admin 10%? No light fitting needs changing on a Saturday evening for that much, even if the inlaws are coming on Sunday.

I've never seen my in-laws in a good light.

user1977

Aylesbury_Duck said:

I can see that the hourly rate is £295 

I'm obviously in the wrong line of business, being a mere lawyer!

HillStreetBlues

A  call out fee, an admin fee and nearly £300 ph to change a  light fitting!

Hopefully with the new light  you will see them coming next time.

tightauldgit

The fees seem excessive but they were spelled out and agreed to by you. I think you're probably lucky that they're willing to knock them down for you.

The one thing I would challenge is the VAT - that is charged at 20 percent of what they actually charge you. So if they're only invoicing you for an hour's labour then you should only be paying VAT on an hour's labour.

Aylesbury_Duck

tightauldgit said:

The fees seem excessive but they were spelled out and agreed to by you. I think you're probably lucky that they're willing to knock them down for you.

The one thing I would challenge is the VAT - that is charged at 20 percent of what they actually charge you. So if they're only invoicing you for an hour's labour then you should only be paying VAT on an hour's labour.

I think they have done that correctly, according to the first of the screenshots, which was the invoice OP eventually paid.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

The callout fee should be £69 including VAT and the hourly rate £295 including VAT.

The invoices appear to have it added on afterwards making the call out fee £82.80 and the hourly rate £354.

Their admin fee is not presented in a way I think the average person would understand.

I'd pay them £364 hghlighting

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3134/schedule/2

the total price of the [F2goods, services or digital content] inclusive of taxes, or where the nature of the [F2goods, services or digital content] is such that the price cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the manner in which the price is to be calculated,

and that net + VAT prices can not be given to consumers plus the admin fee is presented in a misleading manner (10% would be typical) which is a breach of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations so if they want to sue you for the extra £120 go for it and you'll be ready to defend the claim. 

tightauldgit

Aylesbury_Duck said:

tightauldgit said:

The fees seem excessive but they were spelled out and agreed to by you. I think you're probably lucky that they're willing to knock them down for you.

The one thing I would challenge is the VAT - that is charged at 20 percent of what they actually charge you. So if they're only invoicing you for an hour's labour then you should only be paying VAT on an hour's labour.

I think they have done that correctly, according to the first of the screenshots, which was the invoice OP eventually paid.

Yeah that's a good point though at odds with what the OP says happened as I understood it. 

tightauldgit

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

The callout fee should be £69 including VAT and the hourly rate £295 including VAT.

The invoices appear to have it added on afterwards making the call out fee £82.80 and the hourly rate £354.

Their admin fee is not presented in a way I think the average person would understand.

I'd pay them £364 hghlighting

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3134/schedule/2

the total price of the [F2goods, services or digital content] inclusive of taxes, or where the nature of the [F2goods, services or digital content] is such that the price cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the manner in which the price is to be calculated,

and that net + VAT prices can not be given to consumers plus the admin fee is presented in a misleading manner (10% would be typical) which is a breach of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations so if they want to sue you for the extra £120 go for it and you'll be ready to defend the claim. 

They couldn't be quoted the actual total price because it was a per hour rate but they've been clearly told how the final price would be calculated. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

tightauldgit said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

The callout fee should be £69 including VAT and the hourly rate £295 including VAT.

The invoices appear to have it added on afterwards making the call out fee £82.80 and the hourly rate £354.

Their admin fee is not presented in a way I think the average person would understand.

I'd pay them £364 hghlighting

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3134/schedule/2

the total price of the [F2goods, services or digital content] inclusive of taxes, or where the nature of the [F2goods, services or digital content] is such that the price cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the manner in which the price is to be calculated,

and that net + VAT prices can not be given to consumers plus the admin fee is presented in a misleading manner (10% would be typical) which is a breach of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations so if they want to sue you for the extra £120 go for it and you'll be ready to defend the claim. 

They couldn't be quoted the actual total price because it was a per hour rate but they've been clearly told how the final price would be calculated. 

No, you can not display x per hour + VAT to a consumer, the manner in which the price is to be calculated must be gross. 

£100 per hour + VAT not acceptable, £120 per hour acceptable.  

tightauldgit

Which legislation are you referring to there because it's one that apparently every solicitor in the UK breaks every day when quoting their fees.