I just need to sanity check what happened today: we have a leak above our bay window so I called a local company to ask if they could come and have a look at it to let me know what the problem was and how to fix it. They did this while I was at work, with my permission. Just spoken to them and the guy told me what options I had (albeit no quote) and in a roundabout way said that if I didn’t use their services “obviously” there would be a call out fee (£25).

Now. At no point was this call out fee mentioned until this point, and I don’t recall ever having been charged a call out fee when calling out people to get quotes for central heating/damp proofing/window refurbishment etc unless I’d been told about it in advance. I accept that it was someone’s time and effort but given it wasn’t mentioned beforehand is this acceptable?

Am I in the wrong for not asking up front whether there would be a call out charge? Or are they in the wrong for not telling me pro-actively? And “legally” (I suppose) am I obliged to pay it?

Cheers, genuinely perplexed at what’s happened here.

I dont charge a call out fee as if i did i could earn quite a bit of cash without actually getting the tools out, until peeps realised and then stopped asking me to go out and see their job.

It just depends on what he did, did he need to use any tools, did you not hear him saying there was a callout fee, or did he think you would have the work done , now he is undecided and sees you as wasting his time.

As a person who has to be called out to give quotes, this is indeed unacceptable. Don’t pay.

I’ve never been able to charge for my time given to measuring up for jobs (curtain maker) and I would soon be out of business if I did.

If you use his services then there is no fee.

If you don’t he is out of pocket for time and possibly petrol.

You asked him for an assessment, that’s some work there.

It just depends on what he did, did he need to use any tools

The guy got up a ladder as far as I know (I wasn’t there) and looked and I was told that without him having done x and y couldn’t tell me definitely for sure what the issue was although it looks like it’s probably z.

did you not hear him saying there was a callout fee

Definitely didn’t mention a callout fee.

I’m not sitting here slagging the guy off – I do accept it was someone’s time, I’m just confused about whether this is “correct” and am confused about whether I should have done more in advance or him.

It’s the Ryanair school of charging.

However, would he have waived the “call-out fee” if you had brought the windows to him ??

Hard one to call. I don’t think there should be fee as his estimate work is at risk, which is the general rule for tradesmen, otherwise it would potentially cost you 100 notes to get four competitive quotes in?

I would be sorely tempted to ask him back and pay him the 25quid just to tell him to his face why he wasn’t getting the work and the reason why.

Plot thickens: just dug out an advert of theirs from the local free ads vehicle.

“Free Survey And Quotation” it says.

Maybe because I didn’t call up and explicitly say “I’d like a free survey and quotation” I wasn’t eligible?? Or maybe the job wasn’t big enough, despite me asking him about whether they could help with an even bigger job (snigger) – which they could. I certainly don’t think I was sounding like I was wasting his time…

I charge for surveys. If they use me, the charge is taken off the final bill.

(Actually I don’t, but it sure weeds out the time wasters and give-me-some-free-advice merchants quite quickly when I discuss it.)

Certainly not. I’ve had people try it on in the past and it’s really simple. Unless you agree in advance that there will be a fee for coming to see you then don’t pay a penny.

Plot thickens: just dug out an advert of theirs from the local free ads vehicle.

“Free Survey And Quotation” it says.
Based on that I’d tell them to do one.

If they haven’t mentioned it first then they can’t charge you. If they claim a free quote and then turn it into only free if you use them I’d avoid them at all costs. As far as I’m concerned if I call someone out and they just turn up to look, they’re bidding to do my work and it’s up to them to quote a price that includes their overheads, which includes a percentage of non-accepted quotes.

Am I in the wrong for not asking up front whether there would be a call out charge? Or are they in the wrong for not telling me pro-actively? And “legally” (I suppose) am I obliged to pay it?

I would expect to be told if there was going to be a call out fee as part of the verbal contract being formed. How could you be legally obliged to pay something that you haven’t actually agreed to? Based on the advert, I’d say he’s being extremely cheeky. Phone him up and get him to come round to double check his assessment, then produce the advert and tell him to get bent 👿

coffeeking – Member
If they haven’t mentioned it first then they can’t charge you

Nonsense.

It’s commonplace to charge call out fees and it’s lawful for a party to charge a reasonable rate for work they do – whether there are tools used or not.

But on the basis of the ad I’d tell them to sling it – unless they are actually any good and you want them to do the job. I’m about to do the same to a guy who looked at my boiler and is trying to get me to pay him £125 parts and labour for something that “might” fix it.

Maybe because I didn’t call up and explicitly say “I’d like a free survey and quotation” I wasn’t eligible??

Just tell them that you called them after seeing that invitation and that you don’t expect a bill.

The window installers I used to work next to would quite happily come out and quote for new windows for nothing but if it was to assess a repair then there would be a call out fee. However they used to be quite upfront about it and makesure the client was aware of it before sending someone out.

Don’t know what the legality is on the subject ,but if there was a call out fee I would expect to be told upfront about it,so you could then make a decision as to whether to proceed with that particular trade person or not.

After the event does seem slightly underhand to me,subtle coercion to use them instead of a other 3rd party to prevent incurring the fee.