Call out fee if the problem is not diagnosed...

[badhairday]

I had an engineer come out recently. I wanted him to advise me on a few plumbing issues I had. For one reason or another he was not able to diagnose any of them.
1) the leak did not show up when he was here.
2) the source of the leak could not be confirmed without much more intrusive checks (removing tiles and the base of the shower).

He was due to come back but in the end I advised him I did not need him to return unless my less intrusive solutions did not work (mastic, tiling). He has now sent an invoice but I am wondering if it's normal to charge if the problem has not been identified and the customer is left none the wiser.

 

[mattylad]

I'm not a plumber or in the trade however you called him out to fix a leak and you could not show him a leak.
Who decided not to remove the tiles?

He spent his time for you, unless you had agreed a free call out then yes you need to pay him.

 

[WabbitPoo]

In other words, you wanted free advice....

Of course you should pay him, provided he's not charging an exorbitant amount...

 

[badhairday]

In other words, you wanted free advice....

.

No, I did not want free advice. I am more than happy to pay for the advice. It's just that there was no advice. I was left none the wiser.

I had emailed him photos and details of the leak so I was miffed that he wanted to start off with the more intrusive checks when he could not confirm that it was just a problem with mastic or something.

 

[footprints]

It's his job, he had to spend time and fuel to look at the problem he could have been at another job earning money, as said so long as the bill is reasonable he is entitled to charge for his time.

He was prepared to come back and sort it but told he was no longer needed so he sent an invoice.

From the plumbers side it is sadly common for a call out to do a job spend time arrange to do it and then the customer gets it done cheaper elsewhere.
Two or three of those a month and he starts getting a bit less sympathetic.

I'm not saying you had any intentions of abusing his service but explaining why people do send invoices for work they were unable to finish.

Most do not charge for just an estimate to do a straightforward job but many do charge a call out fee for repairs.

Just guessing but sounds a bit like you have a leak from a shower tray or similar what is the problem? We might be able to point you in the right direction

 

[Bosswhite]

You called him out as a potential Job, it was not a free estimate, the job requires further examination which you refused

Regardless of what the Plumber charged as a "Call out" fee, he should be paid.

 

[KenGMac]

badhairday, HI

Can we go back a wee bit?
What are the issues you are having that made you call out the plumber / Engineer in the first place?
Where is the leak manifesting itself? on a wall, on a ceiling, where?

It may assist if the above information is made available to the board? the fix may or may not need intrusive investigation.

or what would really assist, is if you could upload some pictures of the water escape damage.

Ken