View Full Version : Local Repair Question.
Recently my parents called out an electrician from one of our larger electrical firms to look at thier cooker hood which was faulty.
The electrician diagnosed a faulty motor and advised them that they might be cheaper getting a new hood, he said that he would price a motor and a hood.
They got in contact when the bill came in to find out that he hadn't followed up the fault.
They asked me to price a motor so I had a look at the hood to find the model but discovered that it was a microswitch that was faulty, this was replaced by myself and the hood is now working fine.
I wrote a letter to the firm asking for a refund but got no reply.
As my parents are pensioners £40 for nothing is a lot of money.
Do we have a case for trading standards?
If this company was asked to come and see what the fault was, then this is a call out. Usually every company has a fixed fee for call outs and this £40 sounds just that a Call Out Fee.
As call out fees go this is about average so I do not think you have a case for the trading Standards
Before you ask for anyone to come out it is wise to ask if they charge a call out fee.
My point is that the fault diagnosis was wrong. Had they changed the hood no one would be any the wiser.
To me they paid for a service they didn't get.
Maybe you should try ringing them? They must get so much mail maybe they throw alot of it away?
First of all, the so called electrician was either trying to 'con' the couple or he was not a competent 'sparky'. Secondly if there was no mention of a 'call-out' fee there shouldn't have been one... I imagine the trading standards would help you there or a 15min free consult with a solicitor. Thirdly a £40 call out may be standard but it's definately hefty for any ordinary pensioner. Fourth the 'big' company should be ashamed of themselves, a reply at least should have been sent so name and shame them. Good luck.
Recently my parents called out an electrician from one of our larger electrical firms to look at thier cooker hood which was faulty.
The electrician diagnosed a faulty motor and advised them that they might be cheaper getting a new hood, he said that he would price a motor and a hood.
They got in contact when the bill came in to find out that he hadn't followed up the fault.
They asked me to price a motor so I had a look at the hood to find the model but discovered that it was a microswitch that was faulty, this was replaced by myself and the hood is now working fine.
I wrote a letter to the firm asking for a refund but got no reply.
As my parents are pensioners £40 for nothing is a lot of money.
Do we have a case for trading standards?
They did do something so there entitled to get payed for that in the eyes of the law but they should refund you as agood gesture but why didnt you have a look at it first before calling them.
By what your saying the person has wrongly diagnosed the fault im not making excuses for them but they might have easily overlooked something with there being so much different types of brands and designs i wouldnt of said they were conning you more of did a bad job in diagnosing
Always expect a call out fee. If you don't work for nothing, don't expect others to. :lol:
can't find a simple micro-switch fault
first thing i would looked at
was it getting power
pers i'd demand a refund, disgusting behaviour.
dx
Something else to consider: was it an electrician or a domestic appliance engineer?
I would expect most electricians to find their way around a cooker hood as they are generally quite simple circuits but, an electrician may not have the skills or experience to deal with appliances.
If it were an appliance manny then he deserves to be shot.....oh and give yer a refund.
orkneycadian
31-Oct-10, 02:29
Why would you call out an engineer rather than a technician or an electrician to look at a domestic appliance? If there is concern about an electricians call out rates, then surely appointing an engineer to do a techicians job would be a lot more wasteful?
A few replies to posts:
Yes maybe I shouldn't have addressed it to the complaints dept.
I was busy at the time thats why I didn't get a chance to look at it myself.
The bill was for an "Approved Electrician"
I have a bit of knowledge myself and there's not a lot in a cooker hood, a few switches, a lamp and a motor, easy enough to fault find.
Why would they send out someone who wasn't competent enough to fault find a cooker hood.
I will check the bill again to see what the charge was for.
Thanks for all the opinions.
orkneycadian
31-Oct-10, 11:52
Why would they send out someone who wasn't competent enough to fault find a cooker hood.
Its a sad fact nowadays that many appliances that go faulty just aren't intended to be repaired, but replaced. Accordingly, finding spare parts for them, and expertise on repairing them, can be like looking for hens teeth. If tradesmen are not being exposed to repairing such appliances (because most of them get replaced rather than repaired), then its understandable that the skills levels, even in big companies will fall for that kind of work.
If the chap that was round did nothing other than repair that type of cooker hood every day of his working week, he would be an absolute expert on them. But it may well have been the first one he has had to look at in 3 years, and been pretty rusty on it.
Its frustrating to find that your electric drill needs a new armature or whatever, and that when you finally track down a source of spare parts for it, you find that the cost of the part is more than the cost of a new drill! Been there, done that....
Its a sad fact nowadays that many appliances that go faulty just aren't intended to be repaired, but replaced. Accordingly, finding spare parts for them, and expertise on repairing them, can be like looking for hens teeth. If tradesmen are not being exposed to repairing such appliances (because most of them get replaced rather than repaired), then its understandable that the skills levels, even in big companies will fall for that kind of work.
If the chap that was round did nothing other than repair that type of cooker hood every day of his working week, he would be an absolute expert on them. But it may well have been the first one he has had to look at in 3 years, and been pretty rusty on it.
Its frustrating to find that your electric drill needs a new armature or whatever, and that when you finally track down a source of spare parts for it, you find that the cost of the part is more than the cost of a new drill! Been there, done that....
Well said i think with amount of products going absolet in a couple of years and new and different disigns comming in its near on impossible to keep up to date with thing products change so fast
Its a sad fact nowadays that many appliances that go faulty just aren't intended to be repaired, but replaced. Accordingly, finding spare parts for them, and expertise on repairing them, can be like looking for hens teeth. If tradesmen are not being exposed to repairing such appliances (because most of them get replaced rather than repaired), then its understandable that the skills levels, even in big companies will fall for that kind of work.
If the chap that was round did nothing other than repair that type of cooker hood every day of his working week, he would be an absolute expert on them. But it may well have been the first one he has had to look at in 3 years, and been pretty rusty on it.
Its frustrating to find that your electric drill needs a new armature or whatever, and that when you finally track down a source of spare parts for it, you find that the cost of the part is more than the cost of a new drill! Been there, done that....
A quick search on the net found spares easy enough.
As I mentioned the amount of wiring and components in the hood wasn't over the top, you don't have to be an expert, I certainly don't repair them every day but found the fault easy enough.
orkneycadian
31-Oct-10, 16:29
Sounds like an opportunity for a new Caithness business?:D
Good call, £40 a pop for doing nothing sounds good to me.
orkneycadian
31-Oct-10, 20:28
Then £80 to actually fix it and replace parts should be onto a winner then!
Hang on, Google reports that new hoods can be had for £50 upwards.... :confused
Surprise surprise, refund cheque arrived today.
Power of the Org? I wonder.
Mrs Bucket
06-Nov-10, 18:20
Thats good if your parents are getting on in years they would not be expecting a call out charge.
Why would you call out an engineer rather than a technician or an electrician to look at a domestic appliance? If there is concern about an electricians call out rates, then surely appointing an engineer to do a techicians job would be a lot more wasteful?
I think when Phil suggested a "domestic appliance engineer" he meant someone specialised in fixing things like cooker hoods etc as opposed to an electrician who, depending on background, may be more used to installation work than fault finding.
The terms "engineer/technician" etc are often directly interchangeable these days and are not an indication of seniority or qualification.
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