Electrician Has Taken Advantage of My Elderly Parents

jchowx on 21/08/2017 - 17:19
Last edited 22/08/2017 - 10:09

Hi everyone

My parents had a black out at their home earlier this week at around midnight and were unable to get their electricity working again. With the help of their neighbour they were able to call an electrician to come out to help them out. The call out charge at that time was $180 which was known beforehand.

The electrician arrived and took half an hr to fix the issue and used a small part. He charged my parents $630 in total for the job and my parent's knew this wasn't right. My mum forced him to write down what he did on the receipt and later googled the part he wrote down which cost $20. They also told him they knew he was taken advantage of their vulnerability but he didn't care.

I want to get the money back that my parents are owed. Has anyone had a similar situation or any recommendations for how I can handle this? I have started looking into the ACCC and Fair Trading.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks

****EDIT****

Copy of invoice attached: https://ibb.co/joAyXQ

Answers to below questions:
- My parents needed electricity urgently for a few reasons otherwise they would have definitely waited until the morning.
- Yes they have already paid him, they were flustered.
- I’m located in Sydney
- I’m unsure how much the service should be and was not there – have no idea about electrical work however my mum/neighbour are confident it should not have cost this much – and expected around $250-$300 in total for similar work they’ve had done in the past. Essentially they believe he charged double/more than double - but I’m open to any opinions
- Should be noted as I said before that the electrician was resistant to write down anything about the parts giving me the impression it was not that expensive.
- I was about to call other electricians to get a quote for similar work to compare – perhaps there are some here that can provide some insight?
- My parents were aware they were calling him late and were told it would cost $180 for the call out charge because of the time – the remainder of the fee was for work completed which seems excessive.
- As mentioned before he stayed for 30 mins to complete the work
NOTE: got time wrong looking at receipt – he came at 10.10pm not midnight

I am looking for an opinion on:
- was this a reasonable charge? If so I will drop it.
- if not, what avenue should I take so that my parents can get a bit of money back or at least if we are able to report him to the appropriate authority

Home & Garden

Comments

  • petry on 21/08/2017 - 17:31
    +2

    Scan the receipt post its location here so everyone can read it. That's the first thing to do so we can see if the charges were justified. Good luck.

    • jchowx on 21/08/2017 - 17:32
      +1

      Will do this as soon as I get home tonight. Cheers

      • [Deactivated] on 22/08/2017 - 07:42

        still waiting ???

        • kiitos on 22/08/2017 - 08:16

          Yep, would help to see if the cost was reasonable or not.

    • airal3rt on 21/08/2017 - 22:21
      +1

      Nothing quite like starting a witch-hunt based on internet forum hearsay. Vigilante justice for all!

    • jchowx on 22/08/2017 - 10:08

      Invoice: https://ibb.co/joAyXQ

  • oscargamer on 21/08/2017 - 17:55
    +1

    Have they paid him?

  • nrg2010 on 21/08/2017 - 18:04
    +4

    Find out his electrical contractors number, it should be on the invoice. In NSW the Office of Fair Trading is responsible for licensing, you should raise the issue through them (if you are in NSW) if the sparky is not giving you any love.

    • jchowx on 22/08/2017 - 10:11

      Thanks for this - I can see his contractors number on the receipt. I will do this!!

  • eskylidder on 21/08/2017 - 18:05
    +3

    Energy Safe Victoria? NECA? all electrical work is required to have paperwork inc license thats featured on the paperwork. In relation to the item installed, the product that was $20 could be a category that has a crap load of knock offs that are not able to be installed in Australia giving you a false perception on things.

    Think the best thing you should do is contact the government body or another electrician that you trust to see what their thoughts are?

    unfortunately, $630 sounds expensive but it's within the means of normality with late-night electrical work depending on a number of variables.

    How much time was the sparky there? what exactly was the problem incurred and the solution? what was the exact product they installed?

  • tsunamisurfer on 21/08/2017 - 18:09

    OP…

    How much do you think the service should be?

  • mreddie on 21/08/2017 - 18:13

    There are lots of shonks out there sadly…

  • nwa on 21/08/2017 - 18:16
    +1

    Electrician is supposed to at least diagnose issue with call out fee, and if they can fix advise your parents of charge before proceeding to fix, your parents would have agreed to this? Best is to get costing before coming out, i.e. call out fee for diagnose and fix if within 1 hour, if more time needed agree at site. In this case complain to FT.

  • yoonibear on 21/08/2017 - 18:21

    About the same cost as calling the distributor to send someone out for a circuit breaker issue

  • the cheeky dropbear on 21/08/2017 - 18:35
    +4

    That must've come as a massive shock :)

    • rompastompa on 21/08/2017 - 21:55
      +1

      They're obviously not a bright spark.

  • JimmyF on 21/08/2017 - 18:53
    +6

    My parents had a black out at their home earlier this week at around midnight and were unable to get their electricity working again. With the help of their neighbour they were able to call an electrician to come out to help them out

    So what time did they call the electrician and what time did the electrician attend?

    If you called them out in the middle of the night, then yeah I would expect a bill of this size! After hours callouts are crazy!

    Can't really say yes or no without knowing the times the electrician attend.

  • Ocker on 21/08/2017 - 19:15
    +10

    Bit confused here, firstly you say "He charged my parents $630 in total for the job and my parent's knew this wasn't right." Then you continue by saying "They also told him they knew he was taken advantage of their vulnerability"

    To my mind, the questions needs to be asked then why the hell did your folks pay him the $630??

    I reckon that by virtue of the fact they paid the $630 then (legally) they have accepted that amount as being appropriate. Gonna be hard to argue a case otherwise now.

  • aussieprepper on 21/08/2017 - 19:43
    +1

    Its expensive but all after hour calls are? The job could have taken him a few hours total with the driving and the actual work.

  • PVA on 21/08/2017 - 19:46

    He was called out around midnight?

  • bobbified on 21/08/2017 - 20:09
    +2

    Sounds like a circuit breaker was replaced. $630 is pretty steep.

    Finding the part for $20 online doesn't mean that that's the price that it would be supplied at by the electrician, but the markup in this case is just ridiculous if that's all he did.

    Was he around for long? His hourly rate at that time wouldn't be cheap so that might need to be factored in.

    The payment's been already been made (without any threats of violence or anything) so that, to me, signifies acceptance of the work and final price.

    While I do sympathise, I also think that realistically it's going to be quite difficult to get the money back.

    • Slippery Fish on 21/08/2017 - 21:48

      Impossible.

      at midnight he would charge callout plus the time to drive from home to the shop if he needed bits to your house then his drive home likely cos (profanity) getting called out at midnight…

      It's like the silly lady who rang my father's business emergency line (for computer work) because her son's keyboard died on Christmas day just on lunch time… His reply was if it's that important I'm not leaving lunch for less than $200 to bring you a keyboard…

      People need to learn some shit can wait, power at midnight is one such thing.

      • bobbified on 21/08/2017 - 22:03

        Impossible

        What's impossible?

        • Slippery Fish on 21/08/2017 - 23:10
          +1

          To get his cash back, even if he tried legal action it'd cost more.

  • Ash-Say on 21/08/2017 - 20:14
    +2

    These electricians are bloody Thieves. Once I had black out at night and I called electrician and he charged $380 for 1 min job. He quickly checked meter and told me this issue is related to Ausgrid.

    I had sick child so couldn't bother arguing with him. Guess what the light came 30 min after his departure.

    I still curse him for taking advantage and hopefully Karma will get him one day.

    • s3n on 21/08/2017 - 21:16
      +3

      Sorry but the first thing you should do when you have a fault is call the distributor or check the website to see if there is an issue. I don't think he did anything wrong. He has costs too.

    • Slippery Fish on 21/08/2017 - 21:51

      He was prob made you made him come out for nothing ROFL, he has a life to. You want after hours pay or ask if he will do cash.

      In that situation I'd have offered a couple cartons of piss as a cashie lol.

      • airal3rt on 21/08/2017 - 22:24

        Yeah I'm sure he'd jump on the opportunity for a couple of VB slabs instead of the $380….

        • Slippery Fish on 21/08/2017 - 23:12

          You would be surprised how flexible some tradies are.

    • Ryanek on 22/08/2017 - 10:18

      I am reminded of this quote "If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur".

      In most cases, you're paying someone their whole work experience to do a job not just a minute of their time.

    • JIMB0 on 22/08/2017 - 10:45

      Did you not see the lights out in the other houses?

    • jchowx on 22/08/2017 - 11:21
      +1

      I agree. There are some awful tradies that give the rest a bad name.

  • TheBilly on 21/08/2017 - 20:15
    -2

    To be honest if the guy came out around mid night? Yea $630 might be a bit steep on the face of it, but if his callout fees are $180 during the day, a midnight callout of $360 is perfectly justifiable, add $20 for the part, so total $380, plus 1 hour work to change the part at double time so $60x2=$120…. 360+20+120 = $500

    $500 is what I would consider a fair midnight rate.

    • s3n on 21/08/2017 - 21:22

      $60 is very low for a "contract" rate - make it $120 per hour and it adds up to $620

  • wukachuka on 21/08/2017 - 20:51
    +3

    I just asked an Electrician i know who has been in the job for 45 years and he said $250 to repair a circuit breaker at midnight within 30km.
    I guess there are good and bad out there.

    • jchowx on 22/08/2017 - 10:14
      -1

      Thanks this is what I thought too.

  • Slippery Fish on 21/08/2017 - 21:41

    There are slot of reasons it could cost that much, $180 was likely just a callout fee at midnight, then his after hours rate is prob very high, mark up in part prob made it 50-60 bucks off the electrician,

    Let's say it's 180 call out
    120 a hour min 2 hour callout (extreme example)
    60 for the part

    That's a easy 480.

    At the end of the day it was midnight, they should of gone to bed with a 6am booking for the tradie and it was prob a $200 job max. What were they doin at midnight that needed power anyway.

    • [Deactivated] on 21/08/2017 - 22:12
      +1

      the helpful neighbor should have run an extension lead from their house if the fridge was a real concern till a cheaper electrician could be organized in the morning.

      • Slippery Fish on 21/08/2017 - 23:12
        +2

        Your fridge and freezer should last a cool night no issues.

  • ihbh on 21/08/2017 - 22:25

    I want to get the money back that my parents are owed

    How much are your parents owed? Or are you asking OZB what we think your parents are owed?

  • cnmarine on 21/08/2017 - 23:10
    +4

    that price's average imo. I get PAID that amount for a callout after 10pm, not just what the company charges the client. Just remember, the electrician probably has to start work late the next day or forfeit that day's work due to fatigue.

    Your parents should of just went to sleep and called the electrician next morning like every other person who had a blackout at night.

  • woteva on 22/08/2017 - 09:12
    +2

    Come to Adelaide where blackouts are a frequent occurance.

    A service company I worked for last year charged $600 for a call-out after 5pm until 6am. Technicians were paid call-out rates after 3:30pm if they had made it home, or it was just overtime. After a call-out, we had a 10 hour stand down time before having to go back into work again.
    Loved the early 2am call and back home by 4am. Didn't have to start work again until 2pm and was paid for the full day plus extra 4hours double time for the call-out.

  • ramshead on 22/08/2017 - 09:43
    +1

    I think you'd be wiser to spend your energy in assisting your elderly parents to develop a plan for midnight blackouts.
    Point number 1 : Don't call an electrician until daylight.
    Torches ready, a good doona - what else would an elderly person need during a midnight blackout?

  • jchowx on 22/08/2017 - 10:07

    Hi everyone. Thanks for the above responses.

    Copy of invoice attached: https://ibb.co/joAyXQ

    Answers to above questions:
    - My parents needed electricity urgently for a few reasons otherwise they would have definitely waited until the morning.
    - Yes they have already paid him, they were flustered.
    - I’m located in Sydney
    - I’m unsure how much the service should be and was not there – have no idea about electrical work however my mum/neighbour are confident it should not have cost this much – and expected around $250-$300 in total for similar work they’ve had done in the past. Essentially they believe he charged double/more than double - but I’m open to any opinions
    - Should be noted as I said before that the electrician was resistant to write down anything about the parts giving me the impression it was not that expensive.
    - I was about to call other electricians to get a quote for similar work to compare – perhaps there are some here that can provide some insight?
    - My parents were aware they were calling him late and were told it would cost $180 for the call out charge because of the time – the remainder of the fee was for work completed which seems excessive.
    - As mentioned before he stayed for 30 mins to complete the work
    NOTE: got time wrong looking at receipt – he came at 10.10pm not midnight

    I am looking for an opinion on:
    - was this a reasonable charge? If so I will drop it.
    - if not, what avenue should I take so that my parents can get a bit of money back or at least if we are able to report him to the appropriate authority?

    • s3n on 22/08/2017 - 11:06
      +2

      Does it look like $180 call out plus $450 which is broken down into parts $200 and testing (or something can't read it) $250?

      That $450 could be broken down better into labour hours and individual parts

      Your parents shouldn't have paid him without breaking down this figure

      I didn't catch the 30 mins work before so indeed it looks like both parts and labour are a fabricated amount

      I would contact the electrician and have him break this down into itemised parts and hours of labour so you can work out if it's correct or not and try to resolve the issue

      If he's evasive or unwilling you could threaten to take him to NCAT and eventually you would have to follow through (there is a reduced cost for concession holders and if they are retired they've got the time it seems worth it to do so)

      • jchowx on 22/08/2017 - 11:15
        +2

        He was evasive and my mum asked him to write specifically what parts he used amounting to the $450. He scribbled it down intentionally so that it was illegible.

        I completely agree my parents should not have paid him but they were in a bind and didn't know what to do..

        Thanks for the advice. My plan was to call him first and give him a chance to explain before I take any course of action as well.

  • Sensiekatie on 22/08/2017 - 11:13
    +5

    To everyone saying why not wait to morning:

    There are many reasons people may need power back during the night.

    Here are just some examples:
    Many people use oxygen concentrators or similar - some just at night, others most of the day.

    Someone dependent on an electric device for mobility will want it fully charged in the morning.OR you have appts the next day and need your scooter/chair whatever.

    Some patients with heart failure may have various electricity dependent devices to assist their condition.

    Many other conditions have equipment used at night too.

    Some people must have temperature control for their conditions (not getting too hot or cold).

    So stop saying just wait to the morning- not everyone can.

    Also as you get older. Things are far more unsettling and overwhelming.

    • jchowx on 22/08/2017 - 11:17

      Thank you for this response. Some responses here suggest my parents are in the wrong for calling him in the first place.. My parents needed electricity for a number of reasons including some of the above - I thought writing 'elderly parents' would have alluded to that. Furthermore I am angry that someone would take advantage of the sick/elderly. Cheers.

  • ceeto on 22/08/2017 - 13:38
    +2

    Sorry your parents had the blackout in the first place and ended up with a somewhat "grumpy" and uncommunicative electrician. I do understand their need to have it repaired immediately though.

    Looking at the image you uploaded, it appears that the part replaced was not a simple circuit breaker or fuse but was the residual current device (the thing that stops your parents being electrocuted if an appliance fails and its chassis becomes "live" - I had this happen to a fridge years ago).

    We had an RCD/MCB replaced some years ago (so prices may have dropped since then or risen, who knows?) but the part for us was certainly not $20. From memory it was closer to $300. Our house has lots of 15A circuits, so it was a fairly big beast. Online at the moment they seem to range from $80 to $300 depending (I assume) on quality, rating, number of poles, switch capacity, sensitivity and other factors (I don't pretend to understand this).

    That changes the equation a little bit if thats what the electrician actually changed, and whilst the $650 is still a large bill, with after hours call-out and a component costing possibly $200+ it is not quite as much of a ripoff.

    If it is the RCD, then from my own experience it is worth the money as mine saved me getting electrocuted when our fridge died and when I opened its door the RCD tripped, saving me the shock!!

    • jchowx on 22/08/2017 - 13:53

      Appreciate this response. I don't know much about this area either. I will investigate the piece further. Thanks!

      • s3n on 22/08/2017 - 22:43
        +1

        Looks like they do range in price - there's a $190 double pole on this site:

        http://www.schnap.com.au/circuit-protection/electronic-two-p…

        Do a comparison to what they got :)

        It's easy to mistake a $25 single pole for the ones there for the uninitiated like us

        It looks like the $190 part is to separate say a large area circuit like a lounge or kitchen ie. 32A times two, whilst the $11.50 parts are single 10A for say one outlet

        If it is the $190 double pole, I would drop this topic like it's sizzling hot :)

        • jchowx on 23/08/2017 - 09:27

          Agreed. Cheers :)

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