Boiler Repair Work - Fair Enough or Rip Off?

[edgers]

Thanks for your advice.

I live in south London, a bit rough round the edges so these prices are a shocker!

He did tell me that the repair was 'very unlucky' because nothing he tried worked out - but then shouldnt he be taking some responsibility for that?!

I'll give him a call and try to negotiate down. I'll start with saying that the 2nd job should be free because he was resolving issues that should have been sorted in the 1st job and I'll update this thread with how it goes. He's on email so I can direct him to your replies on this forum!

Good point re:the VAT, think you have to be turning over £73k nowadays to have to claim it? not bad for some.

Thanks again for your replies, as a layperson these jobsheets and explanations can be a bit bewildering. £800+ just didnt seem right.

Egders

 

[dontknowitall]

Thanks for the feedback Edgers and good luck with lowering the bill. Trading Standards will be on your side if you need to take this avenue. Sometimes just mentioning it puts tradesmen on to the defensive and offering to come to a better agreement.

If he tries to bluff his way with jargon feel free to return here to ask what he's on about.

 

[steosman]

Bit tricky that one. He must not get a lot of referral work if he's charging two call outs and a total of 8 hours to repair a boiler. It should be two to three hours max but no way 8 hours. he must spend a lot on advertising and charge over the norm to cover over heads. Always choose someone from a recommendation. 80% of my work is referral and the reason for that is i'm fair with prices and i'll always discuss costs with customer before going ahead with work. I'd give vallaint a call and describe original fault and what they would recommend as repair then compare both. You should ring the manufacturer in future as their service engineers know their boilers best.

 

[tackleburger]

Similar things have happened to all of us but in my experience it is usually one part that has failed never several, the fact he had to ring vaillant says it all really, I mean what else could it really be after he changed out the other parts which were probably fine. If it happens I would return and only charge for the part.

 

[edgers]

Well, I gave my gas engineer a call about the £840 bill. I said to him that the bill was a bit of a shock and that I'd asked advice from other gas engineers. My brother is one and he said his company wouldnt have charged labour for the 2nd visit. I mentioned that I'd sought advice on this forum and the general consensus was again that the labour on the second callout should have not been charged. He wasnt best pleased because he didnt think he'd done anything wrong in his visits. He offered to charge me 2 hours for the second visit rather than 4 so thats a potential £150 saved there, so thanks people here for that. My question now is whether to pay that £690, or go for no labour on the 2nd callout and pay £540.

I called Trading Standards and they said that if no price was agreed beforehand (it wasnt) then he was legally bound to carry out all works to a reasonable standard and charge a reasonable rate. His rate seems expensive to me but checking other contractors in the area it is typical. So the question then is was his work to a reasonable standard. I called Vaillant technical support and although they wouldnt comment on the quality of a 3rd party's work (he isnt one of their engineers) the bloke seemed to think that the steps taken were reasonable. He did get the hot water working again after the 1st callout, but then it was only failing intermittently anyway.

£540 still seems like a lot of money to me anyway for the work but I can accept that much. Would that be fair enough or does he deserve more?

cheers

edgers

 

[dontknowitall]

What I would do is send a cheque for £540 and refuse his first request for more money. Even £540 is bit steep. Note the "reasonable rate" from Trading Standards.

Note that he seems happy enough to negotiate and you might find he'll drop further (to £540) without hassle. It's still a good payment for him - just not as much as he thought he'd get away with.

 

[steosman]

My personal opinion is pay him the £690. Looking at all you have said in your latest post it seems that is fair. Next time get a quote and guarantee on repair work or just get vallaint out. You have both met half way so this seems fair but just my opinion. Hope everything works out

 

[stevetheplumber]

good job you didnt call pimlico plumbing they charge 90 per hour

 

[edgers]

OK, to wrap up, I sent him a cheque for £540, the total cost not including labour for the 2nd callout with a letter explaining my reasons. Those reasons were based on advice from Trading standards to see what others would charge for the same work - 2 plumbing companies I called said they wouldnt charge labour on the 2nd callout and and the general consensus here was the same.

Thanks again for your advice, I'll let you know if I get taken to small claims !