I Asked An Engineer To Quote For A Job On My Engine Which He Did, Then He Sent Me An Invoice. Without Mentioning It Beforehand!!

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

22 hours ago, Stranger said:

this engineer needs telling something with an OFF in it somewhere

I think Dave has hit the nail on the head with his reply earlier.

If the boat is on the south coast, i`m not surprised about this, i`ve heard of some horror stories about people being ripped off. Living near the south coast, we always hear stories of rip off prices, dodgy goings on etc, because of the age old belief, if you`ve got a boat, you`re loaded, and gullible, so often they`re happy to pull a fast one.

[KaptinKev]

You never ever charge for a quote or estimate for repairs unless you have diagnosed a fault. When you are in business, whether it be boat repairs, electrical or heating/plumbing(heating/plumbing mean they print their own money ) the money you charge for actual work, allows for you to cover the costs for time and fuel for quotes for work you might not get.

[OldBerkshireBoy]

16 minutes ago, KaptinKev said:

You never ever charge for a quote or estimate for repairs unless you have diagnosed a fault. When you are in business, whether it be boat repairs, electrical or heating/plumbing(heating/plumbing mean they print their own money ) the money you charge for actual work, allows for you to cover the costs for time and fuel for quotes for work you might not get.

In the good ol days Kev, doesn't work like that now with the interweb. 

[dnks34]

I am very wary of inviting any trades people on to my property and would only do so if absolutely necessary. 

Very few I ever came across seemed prepared to do a job for a fair and decent price. 

That might sound negative, I assume there are some decent trades out there but you always have to be on the look out for the one with a glint in his eye looking to live off you for a month or two. 

Mechanics are top of my list to treat sceptically Im afraid and word of mouth is the only way to do it. 

[OldBerkshireBoy]

Word of mouth whether it be family, friends or work is the best.

[ranworthbreeze]

10 hours ago, dnks34 said:

I am very wary of inviting any trades people on to my property and would only do so if absolutely necessary. 

Very few I ever came across seemed prepared to do a job for a fair and decent price. 

That might sound negative, I assume there are some decent trades out there but you always have to be on the look out for the one with a glint in his eye looking to live off you for a month or two. 

Mechanics are top of my list to treat sceptically Im afraid and word of mouth is the only way to do it. 

I am similar to you with regards to so called tradesmen, yes we all like a competitive price but many I have come across over the years can hardly do a professional job.

Regards

Alan 

[grendel]

for mechanics I use a firm on the same industrial estate, as most of the companies on the estate use them for their commercial vehicles they are wary at upsetting anyone who works on the estate and do a good job for them (as long as you mention you work on the estate, and exhibit some knowledge). after one MOT where a new suspension arm was required, and I ordered it- next day delivery - then replaced it in my lunch break, then drove straight to their workshop - still wearing overalls over my work clothes, they know that they cannot Bulls**t me and I get good service and reasonable prices from them (as they put it estate pricing for working on the same estate) not the cheapest available MOT's but they dont find extra work that needs doing either.

[Amjams]

I asked an engineer to quote for a job on my engine,  he spent about 20 minutes looking over the engine, told me the job will cost about £4,500 then he sent me an invoice for £125 . Without mentioning it beforehand! 

[Amjams]

from what people have kindly told me I understand that it wouldn't really be possible to tell whether bearings are breaking down just from checking the oil on a dipstick. With that in mind I'm hoping there is no problem with the engine, time for a reputable engineers report I think.

[OldBerkshireBoy]

Always worth a second opinion which you may be able to use as a counter claim against the first company.

(Mods, can you link this thread to the first one?) Ta.

Amjams, please can you answer the Q posted before, What is wrong, what is happening/ not happening?

[grendel]

threads merged

[grendel]

i'm not surprised that he was quoting £4500 if he wanted £125 for an hours work

[OldBerkshireBoy]

https://forum.norfolkbroadsnetwork.com/forum/26-technical-questions-and-answers/

Post in here about rebuilding BMC engines and people to go to.

[Paul]

You have been extremely naive expecting a mechanic to visit your boat and prepare a quote for work which involved some kind of diagnostic work, however minimal, and not make a charge. I would not expect that on my car, let alone my boat. Regardless of that you cannot NORMALLY be charged a fee that was not made clear to you at the time of enlisting the service for which you are being charged. I say normally as there are some responsibilities on both parties to clarify any contract when entering into it. Asking if a quote is free or not is pretty basic. The contractor could demonstrate that he charged within his published table of charges and you did not ask if the quote was free. I'm bound to ask, if the information on his website is so basic what led you to approach him?

Reading through this thread I was thinking pay the fee and put it down to experience, being more careful in future i) about who you invite to give you a quote and ii) to ensure that you clarify details properly when you make any agreement with a contractor.

Then I saw the fee .....

It strikes me that you might have been subject to a scam perpetrated by someone who makes a living doing such things, i.e. arranging to give a quote or estimate for work, making a charge for the estimate and then either a) giving a quote so over priced that you will never take it or b) refusing the work altogether. The same person could work the scam in many different areas as they actually need to know very little about what they are looking at. They make a living from giving you dud quotes and never actually undertake any work. These people usually know there way around the law and how to make you pay. 

In your situation I would return the invoice for the quote fee, stating in writing that you had not agreed to any fee and are not legally required to pay a charge not made clear by the contractor at the time he agreed to give a quote and hope that puts an end to it. 

[Maxwellian]

10 hours ago, grendel said:

i'm not surprised that he was quoting £4500 if he wanted £125 for an hours work

We do not know enough about the circumstances to make this statement. This is all sounding like a broken record. I suggest the OP takes legal action if he can and that he / we drops this on the forum until he has pursued it to a conclusion in court.

[CambridgeCabby]

If the company that performed your estimate/quote have not notified you in advance that a fee for the quote is applicable then you are under no legal obligation to pay it , irrespective if they state on their website that fees may be applicable , without a written agreement or online contract between yourself and them where BOTH parties have agreed then no monies are due , when you instruct a tradesman to undertake a job then a contract can be deemed to be inplace but if you ask said tradesman to give a quotation he or she is obliged to inform you as the customer that said quotation is at a cost if they failed to make this clear to you then they cannot then say you owe them x amount , consumer laws cover this very well and are set up to prevent exactly this kind of exploitation