Am I expecting too much of the electrician?

[HaveringWavering]

My flat has a video intercom. It’s gone dead. Flat was built in 2012.

Have been trying to get a contractor to come and take a look but neither of the two who have been contacted will comment on whether these units are ever fixable. They just shrug and say “don’t know till we look at it”. The problem is that a new unit is nearly £300 and a call out will cost £90. If I don’t agree in advance for them to buy a new unit then there will be two call out charges. If they buy a new unit then I have to pay for it even if mine was fixable.

Am I missing something here? AIBU to think that someone who knows about these things could say “I look at a lot of these, most need to be replaced” or “x/y/z is a common fault, we can often fix them”. Obviously not expecting any guarantees.

The flat is rented out and it’s the agent who has been contacting the contractors. My suspicion is that they just want an easy life and think that I will fork out for a replacement without questioning it. I have asked on the building’s tenants’ forum and nobody else has had a similar problem.

Sorry for such a boring AIBU!

For the love of all that is holy, how many times do I have to say that I was just looking for the company to make some general comment on the common faults encountered by video intercoms?

Or, to use your comparison, like asking my GP to tell me roughly what % people with headaches that they see turn out to have nothing fatal wrong with them?

YABU and illogical as I and others have opined.
This is AIBU, not "everyone must validate me".
I think a GP would be wary of answering too, certainly of offering an opinion on how likely your cough is to be fatal with more investigation.

That should read "without more investigation" of course

and Doctors (GPs at least) don't only deal with coughs.
I do have some sympathy though - if I were dealing with you, I would just say it is 100% deffo the unit, they always fail, just to save time.

Or, to use your comparison, like asking my GP to tell me roughly what % people with headaches that they see turn out to have nothing fatal wrong with them?

They still wouldn't be able to bloody tell you! It's not something they could remotely comment on because they don't have the data!

I have no idea what the percentage is but I have a video intercom in flat in London in a converted house with a few others in a share of freehold arrangement.
The system was installed for all flats in 2009 (after ripping out very old intercom system and rewire of communal parts). a couple of years ago a couple of flats had interference and a specialist company was called out To fix, I noticed the charge on the managing agents was £200ish.

In contrast when ive had electrician out for an old doorbell in another place he said it’s not worth the time to check all the wiring and disconnected it to install a wireless door bell!

it’s the agent who has been contacting the contractors

Do the legwork and ask the question directly of the contractors yourself?

Agents are invested in saving you £90, they’re paid to get someone round quickly to appease your tenant. Usually LLs who use agents do so for the convenience- it all comes at a cost.

If you want to know something, do the calls yourself. Or leave it in the agent’s hands for an extra £90.

Agents are not invested in saving you £90, that should say.

Your tightness is shining through OP

Fix it yourself, I'm sure there's a YouTube video. What you're asking for isn't possible and unreasonable. But you knew that when you disabled voting.

Game theory time.

You have two choices: A guaranteed cost of £390 versus a 50/50 chance of £90 or £480.

Mathematically you are far better off with the second option.

@adventurealice

Game theory time.

You have two choices: A guaranteed cost of £390 versus a 50/50 chance of £90 or £480.

Mathematically you are far better off with the second option.

Not a 50/50 chance though is it?

Or, to use your comparison, like asking my GP to tell me roughly what % people with headaches that they see turn out to have nothing fatal wrong with them?

I think that’s a pertinent analogy because I think any sensible and professional GP would be very reluctant to quote percentages in this scenario.

I understand your frustration OP.
I think I'm mostly taken aback by the ridiculous call out fee. Most tradesmen I've had come to my house have changed 10/15 maximum 40quids for a call out which gets reduced if there is actual work to be done/charged rather than doubled. I've even had electricians come without charging a fee to see IF they could do the work I needed quoting.

I don't have an intercom though so I don't know if this is normal in this line of work.

'Charged'

@HaveringWavering

Its going to be a sealed unit as presumably is outside? so highly unlikely its got any serviceable parts inside and he/she is an electrician, they won't work to component level or if any parts would even be available on an 8 year old piece of electronics.

So unless there is a power issue or a cabling problem, you'd be better off just asking for a replacement and avoiding the call out.

@HeddaGarbled

Or, to use your comparison, like asking my GP to tell me roughly what % people with headaches that they see turn out to have nothing fatal wrong with them?

I think that’s a pertinent analogy because I think any sensible and professional GP would be very reluctant to quote percentages in this scenario.

Or speculate whether a particular cough might be fatal without any interaction.

Am I expecting too much of the electrician?

Pretty much everyone on this thread has said you are but you're still arguing the point. What do you want from this post? Actually, scrap that - you want to get that advice from here, for free... Why not just ask on the appropriate board on MN instead of this? I'm sure people who could actually help would be willing to respond? But this post is just annoying...

AIBU? Yes... OP - no I'm not...

Either way, you need it fixed so you'll need to fork out the call out fee first. I don't see what choice you have

You shouldn't have to pay two call out charges though.
You pay the first time & they can maybe fix it when they come out, if it can't be fixed you or they buy a new one & you pay to get it fitted.

For the love of all that is holy, how many times do I have to say that I was just looking for the company to make some general comment on the common faults encountered by video intercoms?

I'm sure the repair company will gladly do that, they charge 90 quid for the first hour of their time.

OP I recently needed some work completed in my bathroom, a minor job. I called a couple of well known plumbing companies just to ask their general opinion on the faults I was experiencing. The first said they couldn't possibly comment and had to send out a plumber and a handyman to assess the work which would be a call out of £200 plus VAT (£100 per person), the second said the same and wanted £130 for the call out. I thought that was ridiculous and found a local guy who came around and looked free of charge.

You can read my recent thread about my experience with him. He did a good in the end but it was extremely stressful as he was very unreliable and unexpectedly left the job half finished at one point. I wouldn't put myself through it again.

Moral is you generally get what you pay for. I wasn't prepared to go with the expensive high street plumbing companies, saved money but paid another cost of sorts with all the stress I went through.

Then you need to find out the make and version of the current equipment and do some research on the interweb. There will be somebody out there who specialises in domestic coms units. Probably security people.

Its going to be a sealed unit as presumably is outside? so highly unlikely its got any serviceable parts inside and he/she is an electrician, they won't work to component level or if any parts would even be available on an 8 year old piece of electronics

The flat is in a 20 story building with 15 flats on each floor. There’s nothing wrong with the outside camera, just the receiver inside my property.

However the point you make about the unit being unlikely to be serviceable is the sort if guidance I would have expected from an expert in these things. Thank you.

@coronafiona

Either way, you need it fixed so you'll need to fork out the call out fee first. I don't see what choice you have

I have the choice to pay £390 up front or £90 up front with a risk of having to pay an additional £390.

@iklboo

Or, to use your comparison, like asking my GP to tell me roughly what % people with headaches that they see turn out to have nothing fatal wrong with them?

They still wouldn't be able to bloody tell you! It's not something they could remotely comment on because they don't have the data!

I disagree. Doctors explain risk to patients all the time. My own doctor, for example, told me that the majority of moles she removed as suspected cancer were benign.