Dispute Over Joiners Invoice

[marsden]

Hi there,

First post. I am hoping you can maybe give me a bit of advice.

My home was recently broken into while I was out and fortunately the robbers were heard by a neighbour who alerted the police. The police arrived and the robbers were arrested. However, to secure my property they had to call out a joiner to fit a small piece of plywood over part of my window.

I then received a bill from the joiner for £240 for fitting this piece of wood. This was broken down to £150 call out fee, £60 labour for 2 men (2 men to fit a small piece of wood with 4 nails??) and then VAT.

Whilst I appreciate that the work was completely necessary, was done out of hours (11pm on a Fri) and obviously needs to be paid for, I feel like I am being completely ripped off and the tradesman is taking advantage of the circumstances of which he was called out. After all, the police called him to my home and the police authorized the work without my knowledge, meaning he probably thinks he can charge me whatever he likes.

I am perfectly willing to pay an amount I think is reasonable for the work that was done (I realise it is not going to be cheap considering it was an emergency call out), but is it just a case that I have to pay whatever amount he is charging, or do I have any right to dispute the amount considering that I never made any kind of up front agreement with the joiner or was ever given a price? If so, what should I do to dispute this?

Thanks in advance.

 

[dave.m]

You ARE insured, aren't you?

Let your insurance company decide whether THEY are being ripped off and they can contest it if they want to.

was done out of hours (11pm on a Fri)

Would you sit at home on a Friday night 'just in case' someone got burgled and you had to go and board up? They have to be paid standby rates for the whole night and as for two men, it could have been a ruddy great big shop window.

The police called him to my home and the police authorized the work without my knowledge

And the police are obliged to call out the boarding up company as they cannot leave an insecure building.

 

[marsden]

I'm not disputing that the joiner needs paid, I just think that £240 to fit a piece of plywood (80cm x 30cm) across a window is a bit much.

Besides, he's pretty much got a captive market. Police call him out and authorise the work, customer doesn't need to agree price, then charges customer whatever he feels like.

I just wondered if there was any proper way to dispute the invoice, or is it pretty much that I have to pay whatever he has charged me, with no complaints?

Not worth going down the insurance route because of excess.

 

[tim west]

To be fair to the joiner, once he's paid the backhander to the policeman that called him out he probably doesn't have a lot left.

 

[AndrewSchofield]

I've no experience as to what is 'the right thing to do' in this situation and the price does seem quite high for what work has been done. That said, as Dave has said and you've admitted, the work was done at short notice and in un-sociable hours and so you can expect to pay a premium for it. Maybe the police didn't give much information as to what was needed i.e. just asked them to come and secure the building, so they sent to men in case two were needed rather than one man turn up to find he couldn't do it alone and then having to wait around for his mate to arrive.

I'd suggest it might be worth contacting another joiner who offers 24hr call-out service to see how much they would charge and see if the price you've been invoiced for is reasonable or not. I suspect that, without knowing what details they were given by the police, the price isn't that far out for the call-out, and two men's time??

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

By the time you've paid for a new window pane to be replaced, it may be worth informing your insurers, especially if you employ the joiner who boarded it up.
End of the day it's an emergency call out which you had no control over and the likelihood is the police could not contact you, so they made your property secure they don't care what fee you are charge as long as they have acted responsible.
If it was me and i felt aggrieved, I'd be contacting others who do the same job and finding out what the going rate is and then contact the bloke that did the job to see if he can justify his charge.

 

[ColJack]

for £240, you could have had a guy standing guard outside your house for 2 days.. I might offer my services to the cops..
cheaper than a bit of plywood..

 

[marsden]

Is it common for customers to haggle with tradesmen over invoice amounts, or does the tradesman always have the law on their side and so know they don't need to compromise?

I don't mind coming to a reasonable agreement with him (say £150). Should I send him a cheque for that amount and say I feel it's a fair reflection of the work that was done (also considering the time he was called out at) and see if he accepts? Is that a normal thing to do in a case like this?

Just not sure how to progress or if I have any legal routes for making a complaint.

 

[Nige F]

Was it a JOINER or a Window boarding/Emergency Glazing co. The Old Bill aren`t interested -They probably have to call someone due to H+S legislation This is becoming another " Bash the Tradesman" thread

 

[JohnD]

are you telling us you have no insurance?

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Surely if they got nicked and you insist charges are pressed providing they prosecute. They will be charged for criminal damages and you should be re-numerated.
I don't think it's a case of bash the tradesman, you have not had the opportunity to negotiate a price so see if there's a bit of tolerance in the final bill.

 

[ColJack]

the cost of the boarding up should be taken from the guys that got caught... they did the damage.. they should pay for it..

 

[seco services]

the cost of the boarding up should be taken from the guys that got caught... they did the damage.. they should pay for it..

they will £40 fine and bound over for a year.

 

[ColJack]

if I drive my car into another and I'm uninsured, they stop money out of my pay packet every week until I have paid back the cost of the damage ( happened to a kid who drove into my dad's car ).. so why can't they take money off the guys who break into a house, to pay for the damage that they caused?

 

[Stivino]

Because the guys that break into houses have no money to pay for repairs etc. And heaven forbid they should pay it from their giro.