Page 2 | Should we pay plumber?

Dontjumptoconclusions · 2021-05-06T12:19:58+00:00

Plumber came to fix our shower which wasn't working. After sorting what he thought was the issue, turns out, it wasn't the issue and its actually something else. We are getting another plumber, as we don't trust the first plumber anymore. First Plumber wants to charge us for whatever work he did in attempt to solve the problem. His reason being we pay for his time, he could have booked in another job etc. Our issue is that he didn't solve the problem.... So what are we paying him for?! AIBU? Should we pay for his call out charge and time taken to fix what wasn't broken? (FYI, he was a highly rated plumber we found online so didn't expect this issue.)

mainsfed · 06/05/2021 15:50

I would tell he gets paid if he comes and fixes it in 7 days time.

Very convenient that he’s not available.

How much is it? Could you bucket wash until the deadline?

trevthecat · 06/05/2021 16:01

You should pay. He offered to come back and sort it, you chose to use someone else. Good tradesmen are busy, it might take a while

Tower134 · 06/05/2021 16:03

Hmmm it’s difficult. You are saying he effectively didn’t do what he was contracted to do/poor service.

He will probably say, he acted reasonably. Problems aren’t always obvious. Not unusual to have to come back.

How strongly do you feel about this? If he takes you to small claims court prepared to defend it?

Sparklfairy · 06/05/2021 16:06

You need to pay some at least.

Call out charge because he came out.

Parts, did he use them? If not then no.

He needs paying something for his time. I'm in rented so didnt pay myself but I had a plumber come in 7 times to sort a complicated leak a few months ago. Sometimes these things take trial and error and speaking as a SE person, difficult payers are a pain in the arse when you work hard for your reputation but sometimes things dont go to plan.

sunflowersandbuttercups · 06/05/2021 16:10

I appreciate some of you are saying to pay. But the problem wasn't fixed. If I pay for a service, i expect to receive that service.

You did receive a service. He came out and tried to fix your shower. He gave up his time and used his equipment and bought parts. The fix didn't work so he offered to come back - of course you're within your right to say "we can't wait that long" but that doesn't mean you don't owe him any money

Original poster

Dontjumptoconclusions · 06/05/2021 16:18

@sunflowersandbuttercups
The service is to fix the shower. It literally says on the quote "fix shower". Not try to fix shower. Not attempt. Not practise my plumbing skills on the shower. Fix.

So in that respect, I don't believe he has withheld his part of the business contract.

That being said, I understand what everyone here is saying about being paid. So perhaps we can offer as a "goodwill gesture" either the call out fee. Or the parts he used to fix whatever he attempted to fix.

But his call out fee is not cheap. Anyone can go around saying I'm a plumber and try to fix things and ask for payment for the time. I'm clearly in the wrong business here.

OP posts:

sunflowersandbuttercups · 06/05/2021 16:22

[quote Dontjumptoconclusions]@sunflowersandbuttercups
The service is to fix the shower. It literally says on the quote "fix shower". Not try to fix shower. Not attempt. Not practise my plumbing skills on the shower. Fix.

So in that respect, I don't believe he has withheld his part of the business contract.

That being said, I understand what everyone here is saying about being paid. So perhaps we can offer as a "goodwill gesture" either the call out fee. Or the parts he used to fix whatever he attempted to fix.

But his call out fee is not cheap. Anyone can go around saying I'm a plumber and try to fix things and ask for payment for the time. I'm clearly in the wrong business here.[/quote]
But he offered to come back and you didn't want to wait. Not everything can be fixed in one visit.

That's your choice not to want to wait, of course, but you still need to pay him for the time he HAS spent trying to help you. What if the new plumber can't fix it either, will you refuse to pay them?

How would you feel if you went to work all month and your boss said on payday "well, actually, the work you've done isn't good enough so we're just going to give you a goodwill gesture instead"?

Summersun2020 · 06/05/2021 16:28

Gobsmacked at the replies here! I’d pay the call out charge and not a penny more. My partner who’s a self employed tradesman agrees.

Original poster

Dontjumptoconclusions · 06/05/2021 16:30

@sunflowersandbuttercups

We waited a week already for him to be available. We want our shower back! I guess we will pay the call out fee. 😭

As a salaried employee, I understand what you mean about not getting paid. But this guy owns a business. With owning a business, you understand some months are better than others, you may not get work, reputation is everything etc. Its quite different if you're your own boss.

I compared it in my previous post. Its like a waitress bringing you the wrong meal in a restaurant and expecting you to pay because the chef took time to make it. 🙄

OP posts:

UmamiMammy · 06/05/2021 16:33

I would pay the call out fee but not the full amount.

averylongtimeago · 06/05/2021 16:34

You know when your car develops an annoying rattle or won't run properly and you take it to the garage and say to the mechanic "my cars not working right, it's going "clatter clatter" instead of "brum brum"?
And you ask them to sort it out, the mechanics then investigate, maybe change the spark plugsI know nothing about cars! and then you tell them it's still not right?
You don't get to take your car home until you have paid, labour and materials, even if they need to do more work to diagnose the fault.

This is what has happened to you: pay the plumber.

sunflowersandbuttercups · 06/05/2021 16:34

As a salaried employee, I understand what you mean about not getting paid. But this guy owns a business. With owning a business, you understand some months are better than others, you may not get work, reputation is everything etc. Its quite different if you're your own boss.

Yep - I know that - I own my own business. If someone decided my work wasn't "good enough" and they weren't going to pay me for my time and effort, I'd be taking them to small claims court to get my money back.

I compared it in my previous post. Its like a waitress bringing you the wrong meal in a restaurant and expecting you to pay because the chef took time to make it.

I disagree - the equivalent would be you ordering and eating a meal, then refusing to pay for it because you'd decided you didn't like it.

He did the work and offered to come back and continue the job. You can't wait that long so chose to find someone else - which is your right - but you still need to pay him for his time and the parts he used!

Sparklfairy · 06/05/2021 16:35

So if you get a builder in to do an extension and then when its 90% complete you decide you want to use a different builder, you just don't pay anything to the first one? Not really how it works I'm afraid.

Cupofcampbellssoup · 06/05/2021 16:35

It’s not the same as ordering a meal at a restaurant.

You told him that problem X was the problem with the shower. He has fixed X, but it turns out that’s not solved the issue.

He now thinks it might be issue Y. You don’t want him to fix issue Y because you can’t wait until he can do it and you don’t trust his assessment.

Unlike a restaurant/ordering a meal, the service “fix shower” includes working out the reason for the shower problem. Unless his assessment is wild (saying the shower head needs replaced when it’s a drain issue) or your replacement plumber says he was off the mark, it sounds like he has been competent and you should pay.

Also you wanted him to fix issue X, and it has been (it just hasn’t fixed the shower). The reason the shower isn’t fixed is because you aren’t willing to let him complete the job.

Dddccc · 06/05/2021 16:37

What you need to pay for and if he took you to court he would win is the call out fee, his time and if he replaced parts ie you have new parts attached to your shower, just because you didn't want to wait for a week does not mean you can not pay him.

Poppypye · 06/05/2021 16:38

You pay him for his time , he could have booked in other work.
No he did not fix the problems but he took time out of his day to go to you.
Would you do a few hours at work for nothing ?

Cupofcampbellssoup · 06/05/2021 16:41

Re-read: see that you thought it was issue y and he thought it was issue x.

That’s understandably more frustrating but unless issue x was a bonkers assessment (your replacement plumber will be able to tell you), it sounds like part of the process of working out what’s wrong.

Londongent · 06/05/2021 16:42

Paying call out fee and parts seems fair, but he hasn't fixed the shower and that is what was stated on the contract. It would be unreasonable to have to wait a week if that is your only shower

ChatterMonkey · 06/05/2021 16:43

Its not the same as the restaurant analogy, that would work if you paid the chef direct for the time to prepare and the meal. You dont. The restaurant does, amd the chef gets his wage whether he cooks you the right meal or the wrong meal. I wouldnt expect a chef to have wages deducted for making a mistake and preparing the wrong meal.

sunflowersandbuttercups · 06/05/2021 16:45

@Londongent

Paying call out fee and parts seems fair, but he hasn't fixed the shower and that is what was stated on the contract. It would be unreasonable to have to wait a week if that is your only shower

But he can't just be expected drop his other customers/jobs to fit OP in.

OP is choosing not to allow him to finish the contract by hiring someone else.

eatsleepread · 06/05/2021 16:47

I'd pay the call-out fee and that'd be the lot! YANBU.

AlmostSummer21 · 06/05/2021 16:47

I compared it in my previous post. Its like a waitress bringing you the wrong meal in a restaurant and expecting you to pay because the chef took time to make it

@Dontjumptoconclusions

It's nothing like that.

Fixing things like showers is a process, it's not 'practising his plumbing' it's eliminating issues until it's fixed.

However, when he said he was busy for the next week I'd have said something like 'I'm sure you are, but what time will you be here in the morning? And if he said he wouldn't be I'd have told him if he wanted to be paid, he would be - following day at the latest.

Tossblanket · 06/05/2021 16:52

What's the actual problem with the shower?

What's it doing/not doing?

TheLastLotus · 06/05/2021 16:53

YANBU - you should pay only the call-out fee.
But HOW did you only discover that it didn't work after he'd left...?

Original poster

Dontjumptoconclusions · 06/05/2021 16:58

@sunflowersandbuttercups

It's not at all like eating the meal and not liking it. I was provided with the incorrect meal just like I was provided with the incorrect fix to the issue. The shower is still broken (and at the restaurant, I'm still hungry!)
And its not about your work being "good enough", that's an opinion. The work was fix the problem, either say you can or can't do it when we contract you for the job. The work wasn't done as far as I'm concerned. God knows what he did up there in the bathroom.

@Sparklfairy it's not about doing 90% of an extension and getting someone else to do the rest and finishing it. It's like doing 90% of the extension, looking at it and saying this is not what we wanted. We wanted to extend the kitchen, not the living room. Thanks but let's find someone else who will deliver what we asked for.

I expect better from my tradesmen. I guess others don't. Fair enough.

Again to reiterate, he was contracted to fix the shower. If the shower isn't fixed, the service wasn't provided. But I appreciate that people here are saying it's not as black and white, he still came.

Ill pay the call out fee as it seems the most reasonable to do.

OP posts: