Plumber being unreasonable or me?

[Beautiful3]

I rang a plumber for a quote. He came over and said that he didn't know how much a part would cost so could not tell me a price. I asked if he could find out and let me know. He agreed and said he needed to take the old part to show the merchants. The next day he asked when he could do the job. I explained that I needed a price first. He told me (it was alot), I explained I would talk with my husband first and ring him in the morning. He shouted at me saying that," I had wasted his time. He made a journey and bought the part." I never asked him to do this, I wanted a quote. Am I being unreasonable? Also he still has my part which makes it difficult for the next plumber.

Hi I’m a plumber any plumber worth his money should know what flush mechanism to get. He done that on purpose name and shame so nobody else gets the same treatment lots of workmen do that to women at home on their own has happens to my wife aswell while I was at work hope u get this resolved a recommended plumber is the best option every time

From your side of the story I do not think you have done anything wrong. But in future I would not expect any tradesman to come in to my home to diagnose a problem for free.
If you were wanting a quote to replace a toilet, radiator, sink or whatever then this is fair but to come out and be expected to tell you what the problem is for free and spend his time finding a price for the part is not smart business.
If anyone phones me with a problem I tell them its parts and labour, you can't be any fairer than that. Toilets can also be a right pain to repair.

@Hothouse1 that is understandable but it doesn't give him the right to force her to pay his overinflated quote price when she hasn't given the job the go ahead. He should have a set fee for quotes if he wants to work that way. That said, most businesses do supply free quotes in order to hopefully be given the job with a realistic, competitive price. They don't have to come, diagnose the problem and tell the homeowner the specifics, just how much it would cost so he/she is not doing the diagnostic work for someone else to do the job.

I wouldn't pay him for his 'labour' in removing the part. It wasn't necessary for him to do that by the sounds of it. Most trades people accept that when they come out and give quote for a job the customer isn't guaranteed to use them.

I do agree with most of what you are saying and his pricing and intentions should have been given up front.
I just think people need to understand that imo it is not fair to ask someone to use their skill and time for free.
A quote for a new boiler, fair enough.
A quote to find out why your boiler is making a strange noise.....not fair.
Anyway I'm just generalizing on people's expectations, there is no large organisation that would come out for free to look at a toilet yet people expect small businesses to come out for free.
Also note I'm not having ago at OP, it seems there was either a mistake communication or some dishonesty at play

If a plumber charges a call out, the norm is around £50 call out for a small job. Then job priced on top - or £50 deducted. For a larger job, it’s normal to quote for free.

How much did he quote?

There's 2 options for sensible tradespeople. Charge a call out fee if the issue cannot be easily diagnosed. If it can be estimated over the phone and the price is accepted, attend and give a firm price. Simply because, if you spend your day giving quotes in person, you're making no money. Therefore this tradesperson is more likely to try and overcharge you for "their time". Any customer who expects a trade to attend and quote on a small job is attracting this kind of trader.

Update - I managed to get a quote (over the phone) from another plumber early this morning, it was roughly the same price. So my husband contacted the original plumber this morning and asked him to come and do the job, seeing as he had already bought the part and was free today. The plumber wanted my husband to tell me that, the call became disconnected due to a poor signal. My husband and I decided to let the incident go and move on. The plumber came this afternoon, did a good job, and gave my children £10 out of the money I paid him, for sweets which was nice of him. So I think that he probably had a really bad day yesterday, and everything turned out fine today. Thank you everyone for your input.

He didn’t need to take the part he could have made a note of the type / taken a photo. He took it so you’d have to use him and he could charge what he liked.

He’s nuts. Avoid.

Well that’s positive. The workings inside a toilet can be horrendously expensive. I once actually changed a loo rather than pay for the repair.

@Mummyoflittledragon yes I didn't realise how expensive they are until my husband popped up the plumbers merchant for a quick look.

Glad there was a happy ending. I bet he felt bad about his behaviour, we're only human and it must be tough being a plumber. Hope you have many happy flushes on your fixed toilet 😂

Thats true. Hahaha strangely every time I flush I think of him! 🤣 thanks@TiddleTaddleTat

I actually had a surveyor, who I'd only contacted for a quote, turn up and do a full structural survey on a property we'd offered on! He'd got the key from the agent and just gone ahead. I was really shocked that could even happen.

I was quite assertive and offered him the price I'd been quoted by the surveyor I would have instructed. He wasn't best pleased because it was a good chunk less than his invoice, but he took it.

What if my surveyor had turned up before I realised he'd been, though?

It was an accurate survey and we bought the house and lived happily there for years having done the work the survey identified as needful, but what dodgy professional practice!

CFs both, my surveyor and your plumber. Don't give him a penny!