AIBU to refuse to pay a contractor for a free quote?

[BeepBoopTappity]

Been landed with a surprise invoice for £96. AIBU to refuse to pay it?

Context: Recently got 2 quotes for replacing the boiler and when the quotes came back they recommended completely different things. Engineer A flags a problem with our water pressure being low so I cross check this with Engineer B, who says he normally tests the water pressure during the inspection but he hadn't on that day as he'd actually forgotten his gadget, offers to send a colleague to 'pop over' and check it. He pops over and is on site for 10 mins - checks the water pressure, short chat about water pressure, he looks at a pipe. In the end we decide to go with the quote from engineer A (ultimately just due to price).

Today I was pretty shocked to receive a bill from engineer B for £96 for labour cost of inspecting the water pressure and the pipe. There was never any mention of a fee in advance of the second visit, I just assumed it was part of the free quote service. I certainly wouldn't have agreed to it at £96. I feel it was the engineer's fault for not checking the pressure the first time around like he told me he normally would. Also relevant that on the first visit he arrived outside of the agreed time slot (mid meeting while wfh) so the inspection ended up pretty rushed without time for a proper discussion.

So...
YABU for taking advantage of a small local business - pay up!
YANBU he should have been upfront with costs - don't pay it

You are not obliged to pay as there was no contract for service. Email or text the contractor stating you were seeking quotes and did not agree to pay a fee. If he kicks up a fuss, report him to trading standards. On a side note, check if you qualify for eco4 or any local authority grants for a new boiler. I got one for free last year as part of a range of measures applied to my house. It is not all benefits related and some schemes allow quite generous income bands.

He might have had a point, if he hadn't actually admitted that he would normally test the water pressure when doing the quote, and had failed to do so on this occasion, through a mistake of his own. Once he'd told you that, of course you would expect him to sort that out on his own time.

He forgot the gadget, so sent the other bloke to do the quick check he should've done. That came under the free quote.

He's trying his luck on the off-chance you'll just pony up. Don't.

He won't have a leg to stand on. There was no contract, no agreement and it came under "free quote work".

You had similar with a plumber who left my boiler in bits. I did not pay.

You were not informed of the additional charges in advance so you should not pay. The contractor B should sort it out with his colleague who, understandably, was expected to be paid for the job as he wasn't the one providing the original estimate.

Nope, don’t pay. There’s been no agreement between you therefore there’s no contract.

It could be that whoever does the invoicing has seen the booking and invoiced for it by mistake, so I’d go with the “I’m very sorry but I think there’s been a mistake so I won’t be paying this invoice” as a starting point. If they try it on any further, send them an email setting out exactly why you won’t pay (no contract, part of free quote etc) and say no further correspondence will be entered into.

Thank you everyone, that's made me feel a lot more reassured about the situation.

@BrightYellowDaffodil that's a great suggestion, I'll try that approach first as I would prefer to avoid any unpleasantness or confrontation. Guess I'm just paranoid to that all the contractors in our area will be talking to each other and I'll end up on a blacklist 😅

Spoke to my husband who is a Heating Engineer. He laughed , Engineer B is definitely trying his luck, don’t pay 🙂

Was it sent by the engineer personally or do you think there might have been an office error? He definitely should have mentioned it beforehand and as you didn’t agree I wouldn’t pay.

I had a similar(ish) situation when I got a quote from a guy who told me I should just call the boiler manufacturer and then tried to charge me for his advice. He’d never mentioned any call out fee to quote (and he didn’t even bother quoting) so I ignored his email and never heard from him again

Remind him he told you he would normally check the water pressure but told you he’d forgotten the tool that day (duh!) so sending the other person was him catching up on something he ought to have done the first time. Cheeky!

Are you sure hes charging you for the 2nd visit, and hes said the first appoinnent was free?

As he had forgotten the tool then it shouldn't be classed as a second visit.

Sometimes tradesmen do have call-out fees and then you get some who charge if you don't go ahead with their quote.