Heating engineer call out charges...

[Maggoty]

Ok - quick scenario. My elderly mother's boiler broke down yesterday and she couldn't get hold of me (I was in a meeting) so she rang and emergency heating company who came out and declared her boiler dead and that she needed a new one.

She gave them a cheque as a deposit for a new boiler to be supplied and fitted. She gave them a deposit of £700 towards the full cost of £2350. I found all this out when I rang her in the afternoon.

The boiler is only 3, maybe 4, years old and she is on British Gas's HomeCare. The gas engineer came out last night and is soming back today to fit the part that is needed. It did not need the boiler replacing.

Luckily yesterday I rang the bank to stop the cheque (she doesn't have that sort of money anyway, the £700, let alone the £2K) and I phone the company and cancelled the job. The engineer that went out to mum wasn;t around but his colleague was - to whom I explained the situation re lack of money etc.

Now I am more than happy to pay his call out fees, after all he did go out to my mum, but I have no idea what a reasonable charge is. I am not in the mood to be generous as the boiler did not need to be replaced but want to be fair and will assume the engineer wasn't up to scratch and it was a genuine mistake.

So before I ring them this morning (I will wait until the BG engineer has been and the boiler is indeed working) but before I do I want to be armed with a 'reasonable price' in my head so I can gauge whether they are quoteing a decent call out price or trying to have me over as well as my mum.

Sorry for the length of this post - just wanted the question to be taken in the right context.

So guys - what is a reasonable call out charge for a heating chap during day working hours?

Ta

Ali

x

[murraymints]

any decent co would write this off..explain your mum is elderly and tad confused.. £50 maybe..but would try the mum is confused bit first..thought you were the gas board etc.etc...you may not even hear any further..

[factor-fiction]

Yes, I would wait and see whether they even ask for anything, and if they press it I would negotiate up to £50 depending on how long the process took

[ojread2]

If she doesn't need a new boiler, and the original man was lying, why would you even think about paying a call out charge?

To me it looks, on 'paper' as if the first guy was on a mission to con your mum

[Maggoty]

Thanks for that guys.

£50 is reasonable if I give them the benefit of the doubt.

Cheers :-)

x

[Maggoty]

OJ - know what you are saying but is giving them the benefit of the doubt reasonable? Obviously my first knee jerk response was 'whistle for it' but.....?? Want to be reasonable and not bolshy. Tho a part of me says even if it was a genuine mistake its a 'bad quote' anyway and they are not up to the standard I would have liked.

hence this post :-)

x

[factor-fiction]

I'm not sure it was necessarily a con. The engineer wouldn't have known it was covered by a BG HomeCare, and two engineers can have different views on whether a boiler needs replacing or should be repaired/patched up. However I'm sure these people do sometimes see an opportunity to make a quick buck with vulnerable customers

[johnny37]

They are entitled to charge call out. As said could be up to £50. They are a business after all. They might write it off but be polite. It does not help to be abusive. As far as the replacement is concerned you have 7 days to cancel the contract but you might be happy that all you were left with was a £50 call out. Otherwise report trading standards. £2300 for a new boiler is about right.

[Maggoty]

yes - agree with you to an extent. But it is obvious the boiler is fairly new and to make such a 'mistake' is awful - especially to an owner who is in her late 70s. Basically their analysis was wrong. Do I pay them for coming out quickly to make that wrong analysis??

Hence I'm in a quandry

[factor-fiction]

They fulfilled their part of the bargain in coming out when asked. They should be paid for that I think.
They then made a poor recommendation which you have decided not to follow up. I'm not sure that is grounds for not paying the initial call out charge.
But let's hope they agree to waive it

[Maggoty]

ps I am always polite. when you lose your temper you lose the argument.

And yes, I am not disputing that £2300 is reasonable for a boiler (BG prices start at £3K!!!) but I still have to consider that £2300 is not reasonable when a 4 year old boiler only needs a minor part replaced.

But, as I've said, I am happy to pay the call out charge just wanted to know a reasoable amount. After all if they were out to con my mum then they might try the same with me. Forewarned is forearmed. I find that whenever I am armed with all the facts ready for a 'disagreement' I rarely need them.

thanks for all your views folks. :-) If they are OK on the phone then £50 ish it is. :-)

x

[Old_Geezer]

He may not have known it was covered but a replacement for a 3 to 4 year old boiler ? At best that smacks of sharp practice. But that stated I think it is best to try to get this sorted and put it behind you rather than involve yourself in more hassle.

In answer to your question I really dont know what a call out charge would cost, but I note the words "emergency heating company" and suspect an "emergency" call out would not be cheap. If you can agree £50 then congratulations.

[The Builder]

Maggoty ......... I detest call-out charges, and always have done, except, perhaps out-of-hours etc.
£50 is probably a good average.
What bothers me is that a tradesman has a "duty of care" in law. He wouldn't have known the age of the boiler, but should have had a pretty good idea that it was recent (if only from the model.)
I'm sure he was looking for a sale here, if only in view of the speed of the transaction. A responsible guy would ask an old lady if there is a family member who takes care of things, then arrange to talk to that person later.
In fact, a cooling off period. To immediately wade in with deals, contracts etc is just plain pushy.
A decent company would waive the whole thing.

[Maggoty]

Thanks guys - you have all been a great help

xx