Electrician charge for collecting material

Pat26

Can an electrician charge for the travel time to fetch new/replacement parts without agreeing up front?

I contacted an electrician recently to repair list of things - an oven that wasn't heating up and replace bulbs in the bathroom, kitchen and the cooker hood. 

The quote was callout first hour 85+vat, hourly rate going forward 45+vat and materials charged separately.

They repaired the oven with the new parts I ordered. That took about 45mins.

The electrician had brought the wrong parts to replace the lights in the kitchen and the bathroom, they inspected the fitting and said they have to go out to get the correct parts. They also took an existing bulb from the kitchen with them for reference. I reluctantly agreed and immediately emailed their office to inform the electrician was out to get parts. 

The electrician returned after an hour and a half but had the incorrect bulbs for the kitchen and the bathroom. The bulbs were two small for the fitting with the light disappearing into the ceiling. I asked them to cancel the repair work. 

I emailed immediately after the electrician left to let the office know what the agreement with the electrician and the total repair work was 1hr 15mins. I expected a bill for 85 + 45 + cost of lights for the cooker hood but received a bill for 175+vat + cost of cooker lighting for on site investigation and collecting material for 3hours. 

Can a contractor charge for collecting material even if they returned with the wrong parts after initial inspection? If they are charging me double the call out charge I would expect them to have the right parts to do the repair work.

Okell

Pat26 said:

... I expected a bill for 85 + 45 + cost of lights for the cooker hood but received a bill for 175+vat + cost of cooker lighting for on site investigation and collecting material for 3hours. 

Can a contractor charge for collecting material even if they returned with the wrong parts after initial inspection? If they are charging me double the call out charge I would expect them to have the right parts to do the repair work.

I think I agree with you.  I'd have expected a bill for 85 + 45 + parts (ie call out and first hour + second hour + parts cost)

It certainly isn't reasonable to expect you to pay more than that to cover time wasted collecting the wrong parts - particularly if he'd had the opportunity to confirm what correct parts were needed.

What is their justification for charging you 2 x the callout and first hour rate?  Have you asked them?

I'd always suggest speaking to someone by 'phone to explain what has happened, and then follow up in a confirmatory email

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Tradespeople often charge for the time to go pick up parts (nice work if you can get it) but if they come back with the wrong parts why would anyone pay for that?

Pat26

Thank you Okell. I haven't reached out yet but I will certainly asked them to explain the charges better. Before I call I wanted to understand if it's usual for contractors to charge for the time spent collecting material 

Pat26

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Tradespeople often charge for the time to go pick up parts (nice work if you can get it) but if they come back with the wrong parts why would anyone pay for that?

Yes, if they had returned with the correct parts and completed the repair work I would've paid the amount invoiced. 

LightFlare

I think I would say - it depends.

They presumably would still have to go and get the parts at some stage anyway and that time does cost money.

Having gone away and returned with the wrong ones - an option would have been for them to go back and get the right ones, but only charge/pay for the one trip to wherever he/she went for said parts

Pat26

If the contractor is on labour+parts quote, charging the by the hour is it fair of them to charge me for two hours spent on the road collecting parts? I have no control over road traffic situation any more than they do nor the distance covered to shops. That is if the contractor genuinely spend time collecting parts

Okell

Pat26 said:

If the contractor is on labour+parts quote, charging the by the hour is it fair of them to charge me for two hours spent on the road collecting parts? I have no control over road traffic situation any more than they do nor the distance covered to shops. That is if the contractor genuinely spend time collecting parts

Sorry but I thought you were complaining that the contractor was charging you for a second journey he had to make to pick up parts because he'd collected the wrong parts on the first journey.

Are you now saying that it wasn't that he had to make a second journey because of the wrong parts, but that his journey was longer than expected because of traffic conditions?

Which is it?

Pat26

the contractor had the wrong parts at first
they decided to step out and collect the correct parts but returned after two hours with the wrong parts for a second time
they didn't do the repair work 
they are charging me for the time spent collecting the parts

My question was if contractors generally charge for the time spent collecting parts, even if they collected wrong parts and didn't complete the repair?

GDB2222

I’m slightly mystified why you need an electrician to replace light bulbs? And employing an electrician to buy you new bulbs is always going to be expensive.  Apart from time, there’s the cost of transport.

 If they buy bulbs that work but you don’t like the look of them, that’s going to be a problem. Likewise if exactly the correct bulbs are hard to source, they may buy what they can get. 

You are assuming that exactly the right bulbs were in stock locally, and the electrician lackadaisically chose the wrong ones. 

There must be a better way to organise this. And, I suspect that you have unfair expectations. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Pat26 said:

My question was if contractors generally charge for the time spent collecting parts, even if they collected wrong parts and didn't complete the repair?

Services must be carried out with due care and skill, if they can't source the correct parts I'd argue they didn't meet this requirement. I wouldn't be paying for the time you are disputing