Roofer overcharge ?

Alderbank

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

geoffwba said:

 On the director's initial visit when he visually looked at the problem from below, I did verbally accept the quote but only because I wanted the job done quickly to avoid water ingress.  

Sounds like off premises contract?

If so they should provide cancellation rights on paper and gain express consent via a durable medium for the service to start in the cancellation period.

If not then 1 year and 14 days to cancel and no obligation to pay for service received. 

The OP has said, 'time was of the essence, there was a hole in the roof where the tile was and I didn't want the situation to deteriorate with rain or snow ingress.'

@the_lunatic_is_in_my_head Do you think the exemption in CCR s28(1)(e) might apply here?

s28(1)(e) says This Part does not apply as regards the following—contracts where the consumer has specifically requested a visit from the trader for the purpose of carrying out urgent repairs or maintenance

I agree with you that writing it off to experience is probably the best way forward.

Arunmor

Was it over the two week Christmas break?  If so you're lucky you got anyone.

geoffwba

Arunmor said:

Was it over the two week Christmas break?  If so you're lucky you got anyone.

No- the job was done two days ago !

geoffwba

TELLIT01 said:

The roofer couldn't have a totally accurate sense of the amount of work until they got onto the roof.  More than one tile may have been loosened and needed to be rebedded.  The alternative to the original quote would have been to quote lower, check for additional work, come back down and try to negotiate a new price for the additional work.  I would expect the customer reaction then to be one of being ripped off.

I don't think the charge was excessive.  There was the initial visit, then the travel time and work time for 2 men, probably with a minimum charge of 1/2 day, and finally materials.

No materials were involved- the dislodged tile was merely pushed back into place. I was surprised by this as I thought the tile would require cementing.  Have I been hoodwinked ?

geoffwba

As I mentioned in another post, the job took 10 minutes and the initial visual inspection was from ground level

saajan_12

geoffwba said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

geoffwba said:

Following recent storm and high winds, I've had a dislodged clay/concrete roof tile put back in place by a local roofing company.  They charged me a whopping £375 to do the work but all they had to do was climb up a ladder (there were two men) and do the necessary. It took less than 10 minutes.  The business is a limited company with a sole director and I have checked their Companies House credentials and that they are registered for VAT.  On the director's initial visit when he visually looked at the problem from below, I did verbally accept the quote but only because I wanted the job done quickly to avoid water ingress.  After complaining about the cost after the work was done, he tried to justify it by saying that the quote includes VAT and other business overheads.  Despite me chasing twice for a detailed breakdown of the cost, nothing is forthcoming and all I have is an initial written invoice quoting £375 but I have no idea of the amount of VAT levied.. After my initial acceptance of the quote I was asked to pay £100 up front for materials , which I thought wasn't right.    I think I have been vastly overcharged so where do I stand with regards to possible further action and maybe submitting a "poor" review ?  It is interesting that there are 25 Google reviews on this business and amazingly all but one are 5 star.  I paid the cost by bank transfer as they would not accept payment by credit card.

It's "doing the necessary" that forms much of the cost.  They need to know what to do and how to do it.  That's what you're paying for, not just their time.

What other quotes did you get, and how did they compare?

I only had this one quote because time was of the essence, there was a hole in the roof where the tile was and I didn't want the situation to deteriorate with rain or snow ingress. Another roofer I contacted wasn't available for four weeks so that ruled him out.

Well urgent work also increases the price - you got the benefit of no further deterioration and no further hassle getting quotes, wondering if the company will still be available once you've picked between quotes etc. 

geoffwba said:

I think I have been vastly overcharged so where do I stand with regards to possible further action and maybe submitting a "poor" review ?  It is interesting that there are 25 Google reviews on this business and amazingly all but one are 5 star.  I paid the cost by bank transfer as they would not accept payment by credit card.

Bottom line, there's no obligation on them to ensure the hourly rate is one you find acceptable or even competitive with others. As such, there's no 'correct' charge and hence no 'over' charge. Once you agree to a price and they perform the service, then that's all. 

You wouldn't have a successful argument for further action, and not even a reasonable reason for a poor review.. they did the work for the price they quoted. 

born_again

geoffwba said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

geoffwba said:

 On the director's initial visit when he visually looked at the problem from below, I did verbally accept the quote but only because I wanted the job done quickly to avoid water ingress.  

Sounds like off premises contract?

If so they should provide cancellation rights on paper and gain express consent via a durable medium for the service to start in the cancellation period.

If not then 1 year and 14 days to cancel and no obligation to pay for service received. 

Would very likely require small claims which is more stress so probably one to put down to experience sadly. 

The only paperwork I received was an emailed invoice and nothing about cancellation rights.

Did they do the work there & then?

geoffwba

The timeline was as follows. Day1- I called the company to ask for a quote and their rep (who is the sole Company director) called later that day to visually inspect the roof from ground level and gave me a quote there and then.  I accepted their quote as I thought that the remedial work was going to be more substantial than it actually turned out to be. Later that day an emailed invoice followed and I was pressured into sending them a £100 deposit for materials, which in the end were not needed.  The invoice stated that the work was to be completed approx 7 days later as they were busy.  Day 4- out of the blue I received a call saying that their roofing team had finished a local job earlier than anticipated and could they come round 20 minutes later !  This they did and they completed the job within 10 minutes.

Cheslea2010

If you weren't happy with the quote then you shouldn't have accepted it. You entered into a verbal contract with the contractor when you agreed to the quote. There are no hidden charges and the job has been done at the agreed price. Would you have preferred he sat there all day? Why should they give you a breakdown of cost, the job has been done. Perhaps you can do the job yourself cheaper next time.

mebu60

geoffwba said:

mebu60 said:

If it helps, my local roofer charges a minimum of £250 for going on a roof, however simple the task, due to the risk factor and loss of income should he have an accident. 

As others have said, you were quoted a price, accepted the quote, the agreed work was done and you have paid the amount originally quoted. The opportunity to attempt to negotiate was when you received the quote. I would suggest putting it down to experience and moving on. Without leaving any review. 

Does your local roofer charge VAT on top ?

Don't recall him being VAT registered but can't remember tbh. For the £250 I got him to do some non-roof brickwork repointing and clean out the gutters as well as refixing the ridge tiles and realigning some roof tiles where birds had got in that needed attention.