So I asked a green energy plumbing company to come and have a look at my grandmothers heat pump to provide a quote to either remove and replace or to
repair it as it was leaking refrigerant.
The big boss dropped in and was there for about 15 mins to look things over, he then said he would need to get his refrigeration guy to come and have
a look the next day. This chap turned up and set about looking for a leak, using nitrogen to pressurize the system. I guess he was there for about 2
hours total.
The guy found a small hole but wanted £500 to fix it, so I said no and decided to scrap the machine as it simply wasn't worth the cost to repair
it.
This morning I receive an invoice for "attend site to locate leak, advise client that unit is beyond reasonable economic repair" £74. Plus
£5.22 for nitrogen plus VAT.
Now at no point what so ever was any cost/price/fee mentioned or discussed, had he told me it was going to be nearly £100 to do the above I would have
told him to do a runner...
I'm pretty peeved that he has decided to invoice me.... we had no agreement or contract and I do not feel that I should be paying him anything!
Am I being naive? Should I have expected a charge to look for the leak?
What should I do?
[Edited on 25/4/16 by tegwin]
"So I asked a green energy plumbing company to come and have a look"......
Did you expect them to work for free?
quote:
Originally posted by owelly
"So I asked a green energy plumbing company to come and have a look"......
Did you expect them to work for free?
no not at all, I expected a quote, I was given one (£500)... decided it was a crazy price to repair a tiny hole and declined to accept it... so I am basically being invoiced to provide the quote...
Not sure why you'd expect someone to spend 2 hours of his time and effort for nothing? Would you work for free? I would of asked how much before anyone walked through the door.
I would expect to pay a call out fee
David
I asked for a quote to repair it, if there was to be a charge for this I would have like to have been told...
Buy if the guy was there 2 hours? Yes I agree should have been verbally agreed but you can't expect 2 hours labour for free? If it was a quick look-see I agree I'd tell em to bugger off.
Its a fair comment but when he turned up to have a look I would have expected a "I can look further but it will cost X/Y".... At which
point I would have said no....
Clearly a lesson here for me that I should ask several times about costs...
Its a shame because had he not wanted a crazy figure to repair the leak I would have hired him...
I would have expected Big Boss man to say: "mmm. I'll need to get my refrigeration guy to come and take a detailed look but just to let you
know there will be a charge for this as it could take a couple of hours and use up some consumables. After that we can give you quotes as you've
requested."
Doh - too slow.
[Edited on 25/4/16 by SeaBass]
quote:
Originally posted by SeaBass
I would have expected Big Boss man to say: "mmm. I'll need to get my refrigeration guy to come and take a detailed look but just to let you know there will be a charge for this as it could take a couple of hours and use up some consumables. After that we can give you quotes as you've requested."
Doh - too slow.
[Edited on 25/4/16 by SeaBass]
Did you ask how much it would cost to turn out and test the system? Did they tell you it was a free service? Do you think the big boss wasnt paying
his engineer?
Unless I was told otherwise, I'd expect to be charged for a call out.
Whats the difference between a callout and a quote? I summoned the chap to give me a quote....
Plumber needed to be more forthcoming about what was going to cost what.... and I should have been more pressing to find out what was going to cost
what....
I guess I am going to have to pay, rather reluctantly, for my error....
Whilst its reasonable to expect to pay someone, equally you should be told.
If I walked in to an electrical store and talked to advisor for half an hour about TVs or PCs etc, I wouldnt expect them to charge for that.
pay up and be thankfull they came out without charging you first !
i wouldnt come out to your boiler without a level of authorised payment first.
Both the charge and the quote seem very reasonable.
If you put a car in for a diagnostic you pay for that even if it is beyond economic repair.
There is a difference from getting a quote and getting an expert to do a diagnosis.
quote:
Originally posted by britishtrident
Both the charge and the quote seem very reasonable.
If you put a car in for a diagnostic you pay for that even if it is beyond economic repair.
There is a difference from getting a quote and getting an expert to do a diagnosis.
From my point of view, I give free estimates, don't have a call out charge, but charge for a Quote.
quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
Whilst its reasonable to expect to pay someone, equally you should be told.
If I walked in to an electrical store and talked to advisor for half an hour about TVs or PCs etc, I wouldnt expect them to charge for that.
From what I have read, the OP asked for a quotation, and at no point was he told a charge would be made. I would be very miffed to be landed with a
bill under those circumstances.
OK, the bloke took a while to do the diagnosis, BUT he should have explained that a charge would be made.
The "boss" should have been clear, and said he couldn't see anything obvious, and a diagnosis would be £50 or whatever.
As an aside, it seems boiler fixers are doing this now, they charge for a diagnosis if you don't get them to fix the boiler. It seems people get
them in to find the fault, don't have it done but buy the bits off ebay 
I thought most businesses quote for free on the basis they may get work from it.
How many are charged to sit through hours, listening to crap, getting a double glazing quote.
It's the risk the business takes.
Though a bit unfair to call them out for free, but the charges should of been made clear from the start.
Whats a heat pump?
quote:
Originally posted by ReMan
Whats a heat pump?
Ideally in a business scenario, all costs should be explained, and preferably, put in writing beforehand. At a minimum I'd want something verbally, that'd I'd confirm in writing. Otherwise next time I stop to have a chat with someone at the pub, I'll leave them an invoice for my time on the way out.... But in respect to the OP's question, I'd be a bit miffed at receiving an unwarranted bill without prior agreement or notification. Most companies will charge for a diagnosis and sometimes deduct it from the cost of remedial work carried out by them. I wouldn't just pay it, but call the company back and express your disappointment - then see if you can negotiate a mutually agreeable fee to pay.
Think the confusion was answered further up the post. An "estimate" is normally free and is a ball park figure. But a "quote" on a mechanical problem like this requires the engineer to analyse the problem before coming up with detailed "quote". But the engineer should really have pointed that out before getting tools out.
What cliftyhanger said, I would expect the business or 'expert' to mention any cost up front.
They are doing this everyday, you probably aren't.
I would not expect to pay for a quote, whenever I get someone in to do building repairs etc at work, they always give a quote for free &
presumably add the cost to come out & quote onto the actual job they are quoting for.
My brother in law is a seasoned builder & doesn't charge for a quotation.
I think this chap has been a bit out of order, he should have said something about an expected charge.
quote:
Originally posted by britishtrident
Both the charge and the quote seem very reasonable.
If you put a car in for a diagnostic you pay for that even if it is beyond economic repair.
There is a difference from getting a quote and getting an expert to do a diagnosis.
+2 but they should have told you there charges before hand as I would (I don't work for free ) .
How's abouts this:
You asked the first bloke to come round for an estimate to see if the pump was worth fixing. He then called for the second bloke. You didn't call
for the second bloke so try that angle?!
Sometimes you have to find or solve a problem BEFORE you can even guess at the final cost.
I had a bloke a while ago spend an hour and a half discussing a job, then went away to think about it.
Came back two weeks later and spent another hour with me. Finally decided what he wanted, then
asked how much to do the actual welding if he cut the material off ? I said that the welding would
take only an hour, but the job would take much longer.
He replied, "I only want to pay for the welding."
I didn't do the job and will not do jobs for him in the future. (Polite version)
Paul G