greenalien Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Last week, I sent off a piece of equipment for repair, with a note asking if the service dept could take a quick look and then phone me with estimated repair costs. Today I got a phone call saying the repair had been done, and asking for a sum of money that I consider to be more than the value of the equipment. Any advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Have you spoken to them? Are they saying that they didn't see the instructions that you sent with the equipment? If you sent the equipment to them in order to obtain a quote for the repair, and made it clear in writing that this is what you were doing, then I really don't see how they've got a leg to stand on as they've carried out the repairs without your authorisation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianknight Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 I have had some experience with service centres that "estimate" the repair by actually doing the repair and then charging for what they've done, though with many they do stipulate this is what they'll do. We don't do either of these as we feel it leaves a nasty taste and are always happy to have a quick look and give an estimate, certainly for some jobs the customer happily says "If it's going to be a couple of faders and half hours work - then do it". In the OP's case, I do fear he'll now be caught in a cycle of "Well - we've fitted parts and we don't have the old ones and it's going to cost to remove them..." or "We did speak to you and you said yes". It's not going to be an easy one to get around as ultimately they now have possession of your kit and they'll be loathe to let you have the kit back with their components fitted without payment. Unless you can come to something amicable, then you might end up with a box of spare parts being returned because they strip your kit down to remove the things they fitted and don't bother re-assembling. You need to find their Terms & Conditions (either off old paperwork if you've used them before or a website) and have a look through those - they'll be the next things that get waved under your nose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerry davies Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Ian has it about right and you need to talk calmly and reasonably, using your own value judgements, with the repairer. To dispute the bill or the work done, CAB and Trading Standards would advise you to inform the repairer that you have a grievance, then "pay under protest" and then pursue reimbursement. This needs to be done precisely along the lines they advise. There is a legalistic process which I don't know enough about. The questions first need to be; would you have scrapped the item if not worth repairing, why chase a scrapped item now, will you get the value out of the repaired item that the repair costs, do you want all the hassle. Only you can answer those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkBarl Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 It is difficult to comment, not knowing what the equipment was or what the fault was. However, I would consider it reasonable to be charged for the time taken to determine what was wrong with the item and what it would take to repair it. It could be that they spent hours finding the problem and 2 minutes fixing it. I would suggest a dialogue with the firm is in order to discuss the matter. An offer to pay a reasonable fee to cover what would be the initial fault diagnosis could secure the return of your equipment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 One of our repairers (reminded about them as they've just rung to say some bits on their way back) have a policy that they just go ahead if the repair is less than 50% replacement value. Some of my stuff is antique, so they quote first on that, and are open to you setting different thresholds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenalien Posted May 21, 2014 Author Share Posted May 21, 2014 Thanks for all the advice - Gareth echoed my thoughts on the matter exactly. I'm pleased to say that the situation has now been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties - I emailed them making it clear that I hadn't authorised any work to be carried out and that I had a right to to have my goods returned with no obligation to pay anything - however, as a goodwill gesture I offered a payment which was the maximum I'd have agreed to authorise if they'd asked first, and a little more for carriage costs. After the matter was referred to their directors, they agreed my terms.FWIW - the item in question is regularly available, used, on Ebay for between £75 and £150 - the quoted repair cost exceeded the top end of this range. If it had been what I eventually paid, I probably wouldn't have queried it. I have since found out that the service dept in question have doubled their hourly charge since I last sent anything to them...So - if you're sending something for repair, make it clear that you want an estimate first. Don't make the mistake of thinking that, just because their repair charges used to be reasonable, they still are. If they aren't prepared to give you an estimate, find another repairer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 It is also possible that forms will charge for preparing estimates for repair that do not get accepted. This has been fairly common for over 20 years. A firm I worked for sold audio and video kit, and we'd often get the first generation video kit in for faults and it would take two or three hours to discover what was wrong - then when you said it was hundreds of pounds, they'd say no, and expect it to be put back together free of charge. The workshop terms and conditions soon incorporated a minimum estimate charge, which was waived if the repair was done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 It's fairly common for there to be some sort of inspection/diagnosis charge when investigating a fault and determining a pathway for repair - after all, it's maybe an hour or so of someone's time and the use of some potentially rather expensive workshop equipment. With the sort of technological equipment that we're all used to using these days, I don't think anyone would quibble about that. However, going ahead and carrying out a repair without authorisation is a completely different ball game. I'm glad you've managed to get things resolved to your satisfaction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 I recently had some work done on a digital mixer. Dismantling the mixer in order to confirm the problem was several hours work..the actual repair took a few minutes, then putting it back together would have been the same whether they'd repaired it or not. If your case is similar, they should have discussed it with you in advance but an estimate isn't always as easy as all that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grubbah Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Sounds nasty, who did you send it to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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