[Mike Halliday]

had one of my machines in the engineers getting modified, got a call today saying what I want cannot be done   (all I wanted was a bigger pump mounting on the blower), but they say they cant fit a bigger pulley because the pump shaft wont take it and might shear off

 but they want to charge me £160 for the amount of time they have spent deciding they couldn't do it

it just doesn't seem right that I get a bill to be told they can't do it!

what do you think

[daysdeepclean]

We're in the wrong business Mike Seems far too expensive, maybe £100 absolute tops!

[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

If they haven't physically done any work, then I wouldn't pay it - simple as that.





Steve

[derek west]

theres a lot of guys on here that charge for "NOT" getting a stain out,
mike don't pay, tell them to swivel.
derek

[Mike Halliday]

the disconeccted the blower from the engine and measured the shaft, this is a 20minute job. they might have done some maths to work out the pulley ratio then decided it wont work.

if they charge £50 an hour then thats 0ver 3hrs of looking at it!!

[Mike Halliday]

Ive got a funny feeling If i don't pay and they won't forklift it back into my van

it should be a fun end to my week, but off to sunny spain on saturday so dont want to go all stressed out

[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

I'm off to the same place as you end of September Mike.

Had a reply from Tim today, saying we should get a first edit early next week.




Steve

[Mike Halliday]

I emailed him on wednesday telling him I had paid their invoice by internet banking and could we see some results, I've got a funny feeling we were'nt going to see anything until they had been paid : 

a member of his staff is doing my voice over as I did a right mess up of it

[Mr Dvae]

Just a quickie
had an incident like this some years ago. said to the guy put it all back together and i'll come down and see what  i owe you. get the kit THEN sort the bill.

[vacman]

had one of my machines in the engineers getting modified, got a call today saying what I want cannot be done   (all I wanted was a bigger pump mounting on the blower), but they say they cant fit a bigger pulley because the pump shaft wont take it and might shear off

 but they want to charge me £160 for the amount of time they have spent deciding they couldn't do it

it just doesn't seem right that I get a bill to be told they can't do it!

what do you think

Ultimatly, it matters not what we 'think', more what was agreed between you and the workpeople when you took the machine to them. Consumer Direct are  the people to be talking to. If they dont have the answer they will put you in  touch with a trading standards officer who can help.

[mark_roberts]

If they did spend time on it they they deserve to charge something but that seems excessive for all they did.  Maybe they're trying to tell you something like buy a proper truckmount 

Mark

[Ian Gourlay]

Mike you should PAY


You were seeking their expertise to help you design improvements to your Truckmount


Knowledge you did not have.

In the past it has worked for you this time not.

Heck you earn  £100 per hour you are on youre wand

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

No ifs or buts, you have a bill to pay. But should it be as high as that; well that's another question.

Obviously with hindsite you should have asked the question about the costs of investigation, although it is no different to our line of work when we fail to remove/improve a stain.

One my opening gambits to avoid this type of problem is to say to a client "well the worse case scenarion is you'll be £57.50 poorer AND still have the stain". It clarifies the issues wonderfully.

That said, possession is 9/10ths of the law so as Mr Dvae says if you can get it back in the van then you can re-visit the price of the bill.

In conclusion yes you have a liability to settle up but as you say it does sound excessive until you get a satisfactory explanation as to how they arrived at that figure.

Roger

PS Incidentally, had you asked them what the bill would have been in advance if they could have done what you wanted? Have they charged you the same as if they had managed to make the change for you?

[Shaun_Ashmore]

I think I would question the bill and take it from there, they may have done loads of work you don't know but I would look at what they have said they have done and see if they will negotiate, I'd imagine you may have to pay something but the end figure could be far less depending if they see your point of view.

Shaun

[Stu.Clem]

Keep your money they should have pre warned you of any possible exploratory charges upfront - its hard enough earning it these days and you are going to need it in spain!! just got back from a very expensive fortnight in cap salou - still spent a fortune despite the fact we were half board and only missed a couple of our 28 meals.  Great hol tho - hope you have a good un 


stuart

[Matt Lindus]

I dont think they are being unfair to ask for this amount, they have given you a expert evaluation and charged a fee. We charge between £250-400 for a cctv or alarm evaluation and plan of work for industry installs. This is even before any work has taken place.

[Simon@arenaclean]

Just ask for a cost breakdown, materials, labour etc should be on there. The engineers I use always give me a copy of the sheet/job card. I assume there will be a charge to remove and refit it in your vehicle, that could be £25 out £25 in that's £50 before you start. If the breakdown looks right i'd have to pay it.

Simon

[Simon Gerrard]

Sounds like they may have done more work on it than you think. If you took it in and asked them to modify it without asking for a price first and they subsequently worked on it trying to do what you asked and then found that they couldn't then you have no other choice than to pay them. Plus, if you don't pay them and you need their services in the future!!!

Simon

[Mike Halliday]

I am quite happy to pay a certain amount because they have spent time on it but we had a big discussion when I dropped it off, from what they are saying now they should have known that within 30mins that it was not impossible. I will ask for an itemised bill but it must be all labour, but put it this way if 3 men stand and look at a job for 30mins should I expect to pay 1.5hrs 'labour'

I have used this company a few times before so have an idea about their price structure, I have also dropped off a trailer mounted bowser, engine & pump for them to connect up if they are unreasonable about this bill then I will be picking that up.

to be clear  I could have done the job myself but I'm just too busy, for them to say its impossible is rubbish.

[daysdeepclean]

I know that when we worked out how much time we spent on maintaining aircraft, it was every single hour of every single man that was taken into account..... And I must say, we spent most of our time staring at the problem, drinking tea