Price no where near the quote given

[KneeOnLite]

My daughter called a heating engineer for a quotation to fix the gas boiler, he made no mention of a call out fee till he arrived, he then proceeded to tell her his labour charge was £ 45 per hour, it would take 2 hours to finish the job, with the part needed it would be less than £100. Today he called back saying the price would be £175, that's a lot more than the original verbal quote. There are 2 witnesses to the original verbal quote.

By law does she have to pay this £45 call out charge? seems like extortion to me. She has told him she will be looking for a new quote. He is demanding she pays him the £45. I've never heard of a call out fee for a quotation.

[james_law]

How did you find out about the heating engineer?

Regarding the quote, did you accept it? If not, he can change it to what he likes as no contract was formed.

Regarding the call out fee. I would more than likely say the call out fee would not be payable as you asked specifically for a quotation, did he mention a quotation fee and if she did you agree to it (doesnt sound like he did). He should have made you aware of a quotation fee.

[KneeOnLite]

Thanks for the reply, The engineer was recommended by word of mouth.

The quote was accepted at the price of less than £100 I believe he told her that there would be no other charges apart from the £90 labour and the part price which he said was very inexpensive.

He did not mention a call out fee or a quotation fee, until he changed the price to £175. When my daughter said she would get another quote he demanded a call out fee of £45 which he said was for the first hour work,

How did you find out about the heating engineer?

Regarding the quote, did you accept it? If not, he can change it to what he likes as no contract was formed.

Regarding the call out fee. I would more than likely say the call out fee would not be payable as you asked specifically for a quotation, did he mention a quotation fee and if she did you agree to it (doesnt sound like he did). He should have made you aware of a quotation fee.

[james_law]

Did the person mention anything to you about a quotation fee?

It really just sounds like he's made a mistake and then because you have said the second quote is too much hes unreasonably asked for a call out fee/quotation fee.

Personally, I'd ignore his demands for the £45 as he is not entitled to be paid for this, and just go with someone else for the work. There is no point suing him for breach of contract.

[KneeOnLite]

No there was no mention of a fee. She doesn't want to take legal action, she was afraid of be on the wrong side of the law if she refused to pay, and she wont pay it now. Thanks a lot for your advice, It's more or less what I was thinking, I will tell her not to pay and if he says anything, to put his complaint in writing.

Did the person mention anything to you about a quotation fee?

It really just sounds like he's made a mistake and then because you have said the second quote is too much hes unreasonably asked for a call out fee/quotation fee.

Personally, I'd ignore his demands for the £45 as he is not entitled to be paid for this, and just go with someone else for the work. There is no point suing him for breach of contract.