Tradie Service Call out Fee That I'm Questioning

spoonmugen on 12/06/2018 - 15:00
Last edited 12/06/2018 - 15:15 by 1 other user

Hi all,

Was getting quotes to get something that needed professional advice/expertise. Rang around and spoke to a guy who quoted me $70 for call out fee which I was ok with. Got the invoice and he charged $150+

No work was done / other than the callout/advice. Nothing in writing in terms of charges, verbally I only agreed to the call out fee.

I don't feel I should pay the $150+

If you received a bill for something you didn't agree to how would you handle it?

Would you ignore the bill
Call to discuss or pay just pay it?

• 

  loulou1 on 12/06/2018 - 15:02

  +8

  call to discuss. You can't just ignore a bill as you did ask them to attend.

• 

  HighAndDry on 12/06/2018 - 15:32

  +5

  Call them. Though was the $70 just the callout fee? They charge their hourly on top of the call out fee…

  • 

    spoonmugen on 12/06/2018 - 16:05

    that's prob the case from his end…

    but I didn't expect it and wouldn't have agreed to get the job done if it was that much.

    • 

      HighAndDry on 12/06/2018 - 18:11

      +2

      I don't know how much of that is the tradie's fault and how much is yours. The call out fee is universally understood to be just the amount to attend the place, like a taxi's flagfall fee (you pay it to flag down the taxi, then pay per kms or minutes). Otherwise as chumlee said, you'd be paying for the tradie to drive there, wave hello, and drive away.

• 

  EightImmortals on 12/06/2018 - 15:42

  +10

  Call him and let him know he's made a mistake on the invoice as you agreed to pay $70.

  • 

    chumlee on 12/06/2018 - 18:07

    +2

    OP says he agreed to $70 call out fee. Unless OP just wanted to see what he looked like, there's going to be more costs after saying hello to each other

    • 

      EightImmortals on 12/06/2018 - 18:24

      That's not what 'call out fee' means.

      "No work was done" therefore $70 call out fee as agreed.

      • 

        HighAndDry on 12/06/2018 - 18:28

        +2

        No…

        https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/call-ou…

        a set amount charged for a repairman to come to one's house […] which is added to the cost of the actual repair

        If the tradie looked at OP's situation, evaluated it and gave advice, he's entitled to charge for the time spent.

      • 

        EightImmortals on 13/06/2018 - 06:20

        @HighAndDry: " added to the cost of the actual repair"

        The OP stated that 'No work was done' therefore there should be no extra charge. Anyway, I'll be interested to hear what the OP comes back with after he speaks to the tradie.

      • 

        Mike88 on 13/06/2018 - 17:00

        @EightImmortals: They don't need to repair anything to charge you. Whether they spend an hour talking to you or fixing something it is still billable time.

• 

  Ocker on 12/06/2018 - 18:01

  Call out fee of $70.00, plus $40 per 15 minutes or part thereof.

• 

  whooah1979 on 12/06/2018 - 18:31

  Got the invoice and he charged $150+

  what time was the call out?

  • 

    spoonmugen on 12/06/2018 - 20:54

    during business hours

• 

  follow on 12/06/2018 - 19:37

  +2

  should have asked for a free quote