call out charges for chimney quote

Gatica

has anyone come across call-out charges for getting an opinion on required chimney repairs?


We've had a couple of different professionals look at our chimney which may be potentially cracked. The chimney professionals checked it out, gave a quote, however, I received a bill from the plumber who checked out the same. I was assuming I'd get a quote from him and recommendation on work which needs to be carried out. No mentions were made (over the phone or during the visit) of a call out charge in order to check the chimney or to give us a quote. In addition I got an initial quote couple of days after the visit, then another bigger quote for more work as well as the bill 2 weeks later. I don't understand why the bill wasn't just sent right away or mentioned, especially as any call outs I've had before have usually been paid in cash during the visit.

the_pen_turner

Gatica wrote: »

has anyone come across call-out charges for getting an opinion on required chimney repairs?


We've had a couple of different professionals look at our chimney which may be potentially cracked. The chimney professionals checked it out, gave a quote, however, I received a bill from the plumber who checked out the same. I was assuming I'd get a quote from him and recommendation on work which needs to be carried out. No mentions were made (over the phone or during the visit) of a call out charge in order to check the chimney or to give us a quote. In addition I got an initial quote couple of days after the visit, then another bigger quote for more work as well as the bill 2 weeks later. I don't understand why the bill wasn't just sent right away or mentioned, especially as any call outs I've had before have usually been paid in cash during the visit.

I am fully in favour of charging for these quotations and wish every trade did it. Sadly its not the norm yet but some are. To many timewasters and tire kickers around

Anyway a charge like this needs to be discussed before hand. It cant be applied afterwards. That's bad form. Tell them that this charge wasn't disclosed and the go away

Gatica

I have no issues paying my bills if I'd known about it up front. Seeing as how no one else was charging for this, my default assumption was that there was no charge. I did call to find out why I was getting billed and was told that it says it on their website. However, I didn't get their details off the web, I got a recommendation with a phone number and I'm pretty sure I'd remember if I was told the fee (which isn't cheap by any means) over the phone or in person. In fact if I was told over the phone, I'd probably have skipped them.

upupup

Gatica wrote: »

has anyone come across call-out charges for getting an opinion on required chimney repairs?


We've had a couple of different professionals look at our chimney which may be potentially cracked. The chimney professionals checked it out, gave a quote, however, I received a bill from the plumber who checked out the same. I was assuming I'd get a quote from him and recommendation on work which needs to be carried out. No mentions were made (over the phone or during the visit) of a call out charge in order to check the chimney or to give us a quote. In addition I got an initial quote couple of days after the visit, then another bigger quote for more work as well as the bill 2 weeks later. I don't understand why the bill wasn't just sent right away or mentioned, especially as any call outs I've had before have usually been paid in cash during the visit.

Ignore the bill and the plumber and get someone else to do the job.
He has caused this confusion and not you.

Gatica

I talked to citizensinformation about this and unfortunately they did not agree. Apparently it's also consumer responsibility to enquire about possible fees and because the plumber does have his fees advertised online, I cannot claim ignorance for not knowing.

A lesson to be learned I guess. I've paid the invoice, but needless to say I wouldn't be going with them for the works in future. Whatever about their presumptions about getting paid, they should've mentioned it still in my opinion.

Sleeper12

Gatica wrote:

We've had a couple of different professionals look at our chimney which may be potentially cracked. The chimney professionals checked it out, gave a quote, however, I received a bill from the plumber who checked out the same. I was assuming I'd get a quote from him and recommendation on work which needs to be carried out. No mentions were made (over the phone or during the visit) of a call out charge in order to check the chimney or to give us a quote. In addition I got an initial quote couple of days after the visit, then another bigger quote for more work as well as the bill 2 weeks later. I don't understand why the bill wasn't just sent right away or mentioned, especially as any call outs I've had before have usually been paid in cash during the visit.

If you got a structural engineer out to look you'd expect to pay him for his time & advice

There is nothing wrong with charging a call out fee. You see it as him calling out to give you a quote but he called out, inspected & then gave you professional advice. Advice from someone who has trained for years isn't free. You might have taken his advice and gotten someone cheaper and instructed them to do as the original guy advised.

His fee should have been discussed beforehand.

Gatica

yes, I would expect to pay a structural engineer. We had a surveyor we'd previously used inspect our attic and he told me the charge up-front, I had the cash for him on the day he came to inspect our attic.

This was a plumber, not a chimney guy, so probably not quite specialised in the area, but he was recommended by someone else who'd had similar work done by him. If I was calling him out for a plumbing job, suspected leaky tap or the like, I'd have assumed a call-out charge. I wasn't charged by chimney specialists to check chimney and give their recommendation for solution, I didn't think the plumber would charge for the same. I obviously have since learned that I should always ask myself if there will be charge for coming out to inspect/recommend or quote for a service, as I cannot rely on them making this known.

Btw, while the chimney guys did show me structural issues in our flue, the plumber had no such equipment and guessed that we probably don't have such cracks and gave a quote for a more straightforward plumbing, rather than chimney fixing, job. I wasn't trying to waste anyone's time. My hope was to get different perspectives and advice and go with the most reasonable advice and quote.