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Whilst the recent Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) adjudication was against a plumbing firm there are certain parallels relating to our own trade that can be drawn here?
ASA wrote:A local press ad, for A2Z Plumbing, stated “ATTENTION A2Z Plumbing Unbeatable rates, no call out charge Taps, valves, tanks, cylinders All plumbing work, OAP discounts”.
Issue
The complainant, whose elderly relative contacted A2Z to repair a leak, objected that:1. no OAP discount was offered, and
2. the charge of £79 per hour was well in excess of standard call-out rates.
Response
A2Z Plumbing (A2Z) said they gave the customer an estimate of around £350 for the work prior to starting the repair, which was accepted. A2Z said they gave an OAP discount of £50 on completion of the repair which reduced the final bill to £300 and was accepted by the customer. They also said they were at the property for two and a half hours and materials were £18.32 and VAT £44.68. They said their hourly rate for an emergency call-out was £79 and they did not charge an additional call-out fee. They maintained that the ad was not misleading because they always gave an initial free estimate of costs and, having researched competitors charges, felt their rates for emergency call-outs were unbeatable. They said they had received no other complaints about the ad.Assessment
1. Complaint Upheld
The ASA noted A2Z advertised OAP discounts and had given the customer a £50 reduction on the original estimate of £350. We noted A2Zs response that that discount was an OAP concession and that they always gave discounts to pensioners. We also noted, however, that A2Zs bill for work and materials totalled £300 which was considerably more than the cost of two and a half hours’ work plus the materials and VAT. We considered that because A2Z had not provided evidence to show that the original work quoted for would cost £350, and because the discount had been given on the estimate for the job and not from the final bill for actual work and materials, it was not clear that a genuine OAP discount had been applied. We concluded that the claim was likely to mislead.
2. Complain Upheld
We noted A2Z claimed that their rate could not be beaten by competitors. We noted the complainants assertion that the highest rate charged by a competitor was £45 per hour. We obtained emergency call-out rates from other plumbing firms in the Stoke-on-Trent region. These ranged from £35 +VAT (£41 approx) to £108 per hour inclusive of VAT, all with no separate call-out charge. We considered that because several competitors in the area charged less than £79 per hour for an emergency call out, A2Zs rates could not be described as unbeatable. We concluded that the claim was likely to mislead.
Action
We told A2Z not to repeat the claims in future ads.Re: Unbeatable rates, no call out charge!
Most of my competitors advertise that there is no callout charge but they still somehow manage to charge £40+ to tell the customer that their appliance is beyond repair 👿
Re: Unbeatable rates, no call out charge!
What is the definition of a call out charge one may ask, this is a question I have answered a million times and every day without fail !
I look at this way, a call out charge is a payment that is applied for the task of arriving at a clients premises and knocking on their door only.
What good is that ? it helps niether the client or the company, you have completed the task of arriving at the customers door and still you have not performed any work or diagnosis on their appliance.
So a call call out charge is the watch word on many a customers tongue, a lot of companies do charge a call out charge which is a charge which is added to a further labour charge and then parts in addition to those charges.
Our company has two labour charges, one for when a customers declines a repair the other a full labour charge for when the repair proceeds.
This way we get paid for our time and the client receives a proper diagnosis. Once people understand that they will pay a labour charge and that there is NO call out charge for doing nothing they are happy with that basis. We have the No Call Out Charge brigade and Free Estimate crew in our neck of the woods and if they want to run around doing 10/12 calls a day for nothing thats up to them.
Personally I would just not expect a tradesman to give up his hours to attend a problem of mine and not pay for he’s expertise it would be unreasononable.
Everyone gets paid for going to work, just ask your customers that question ? If you were to mention to them what would you do if I asked you to go down to Tescos and get a shopping list of goods and fetch them round my house at a time to suit me and when you arrive having used their fuel, vehicle and time, You then tell them that you don;t want the goods now and that you have changed your mind and that you expect to pay nothing.
We have all found our own way of working this issue but I still hold the view that when we arrive at a clients premises and work on their appliances the object to solve their problem in their house with their property then we need paying for this.
Re: Unbeatable rates, no call out charge!
Phidom wrote:Most of my competitors advertise that there is no callout charge but they still somehow manage to charge £40+ to tell the customer that their appliance is beyond repair 👿
So how do they manage to get away with that? Customers often give me around £5 – £10 when I advise the machine is BER. However £40+ must be some sort of scam.
Re: Unbeatable rates, no call out charge!
Hi
Its no scam. Fault location is usually the most time consuming part of the repair and the customer is paying for your expertise and professional guidance.
Your time is worth money, don’t give it away.
GregRe: Unbeatable rates, no call out charge!
Gegsy you are so right, Look at this way, I need advise about a legal matter and I do not have the knowledge to enlighten me. My option is to ring a solicitor who will not even speak to me over the phone. The secretary can however make an appointment for me a week tuesday. I get there and wait an hour in the solicitors office after which I am ushered in to his office. The clock has started and after 45mins of mere disscussion I am handed a bill for £160.00 + vat !
What did I get ?
We are no different than the solicitor, Dentist, Vet so why I ask are guys running around hoping someone will hand them five or ten quid ?
My view is that you need to have terms of business in place which are both logically and financially thought out. Only then can you condition the customer and make a living in this business and thats hard enough without working for zero!
Re: Unbeatable rates, no call out charge!
gegsy wrote:Hi
Its no scam. Fault location is usually the most time consuming part of the repair and the customer is paying for your expertise and professional guidance.
Your time is worth money, don’t give it away.
Greg🙂
I totaly agree, diagnosing the fault is the bulk of the job once thats done rectifiying it i.e replacing a part is normaly the easy bit.
Re: Unbeatable rates, no call out charge!
I had a lady phone me today asking my advice on a 18 month old hotpoint washing machine, she describes the fault and informs me that she has already had someone out to look at it and he has advised her to contact hotpoint (basically he doesnt know how to fix it) my reply is well i can come and have a look and diagnose your fault give you a price and you can then decide where you want to go with it. Her next question is will you give me a free a estimate? , ummm no i wont i will charge you 25 pounds for that, but the other guy came out for nothing, to which my reply was, yeah and he has told you to go back to hotpoint hasnt he, basically because he cant diagnose your problem, yeah i see your point is her reply, ok i will think about it !
She wont come back to me as she just doesnt want to pay for my expertise and l say why should i go and do something for nothing , i have plenty of customers who realise i need to make a living and there is no taste or smell to nothing.
Re: Unbeatable rates, no call out charge!
IMHO, engineers that do estimates for a few quid are not only doing themselves down but also cheapening the whole trade. This is probably why this trade is the only one that doesn’t get the recognition and respect it deserves. We are multi skilled and most of us have to work on a variety of makes with no manuals or technical backup, unlike other trades.
We deserve every penny we get and the sooner we respect our abilities and trade, then the sooner the WPs may finally recognise this also and start reflecting that in the pittance that some offer.
Greg
Re: Unbeatable rates, no call out charge!
the old saying ‘pay peanuts get monkeys’ is one i use when necessary 😉
Re: Unbeatable rates, no call out charge!
gegsy wrote:IMHO, engineers that do estimates for a few quid are not only doing themselves down but also cheapening the whole trade. This is probably why this trade is the only one that doesn’t get the recognition and respect it deserves. We are multi skilled and most of us have to work on a variety of makes with no manuals or technical backup, unlike other trades.
We deserve every penny we get and the sooner we respect our abilities and trade, then the sooner the WPs may finally recognise this also and start reflecting that in the pittance that some offer.
Greg
Well said gegsy ❗ you are spot on,if only everyone else started to think the same way about us. 😉
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