Tradesman question - Q

[sparkyaj]

Completely away from surfs, but I am hoping some clever person could help me please?

I supplied and installed some lights in Jan10 and recently one of the items has become faulty. The products have a two year warrenty and I have said I will replace the product free of charge.

The customer is exceptionally difficault and I wanted to find out if I have any rights to charge for my labour time (basic costs - not call out fees or anything) to cover cost of fuel etc?

Any help would be so much appreciated. Thanks guys and gals

[Hazzo]

customers return to you with faulty product as far as I'm concerned, if you bought something duff from argos do they send someone out to fix it, DTF. H

[sparkyaj]

I have no problem getting the product replaced, but the customer is arguing that as we supplied and installed it that we have to replace it at our full expense.

IMO had we installed a poor installation that caused the fitting to become faulty then it would be my complete problem to replace and repair, but again only IMO I feel its like buying a car and then in ten years time saying it needed fixing so it isn't fit for purpose.

grrrrrrr. Sorry, I know its not surf related but Its driving me nuts!

[si tate]

If the part is faulty & not you then I would be billing the supplier for you having to go back to replace it.

[Albannach]

Surely, as a trader, your T&Cs will set out what happens with a warranty claim?

[gary-r]

the customer gets the replacement lamp through the manufacturers warranty - this does not include fitting.
you are entitled to charge a fee for replacing the lamp - the customer then would have to try and get a re-fund on the labour from the lamp manufacturers which i doubt they would entertain.
why dont they just claim on insurance like everyone else - new lamp for the customer and a call out charge for you - everyones happy.

[mckirdy-services]

Depends on the terms of sale weather implied or written. If you gave implied or written, a 2 year guarantee on your work then you are obliged to warranty that work for two years.

If its easy enough to change them then I would personally just do it and not try and charge for it.

Do you have a written policy for warranty issues?

[StevenN]

re faulty lights

Hi Spatkyaj

The view I would take is that you would expect a replacement fitted if it was you.

You trade on your reputation and by this you probably try to do the same to others as they do to you.

You should get the replacement FOC but I bet the manufacturer has a condition of sale that a replacement or repair would be offered if the unit falls faulty but no cost in replacing the unit will be entertained.

This is now standard practice. But not nice

As a supplier to both trade and retail I advise customers that if they buy the goods and pay an installer to fit then the buck stops with the customer not the fitter.
If future work is required then they will be liable.
This is why you pay a tradesman rather rthan cut corners

I have had cause to ask suppliers to pay labour costs but this is a pain in the arse, some will and some won't pay.
If you can prove that it is faulty manufacturing that has caused the problem then they can be forced to pay via their insurance.

This all takes time and the more time you have an unhappy customer the longer you will not be getting positive word of mouth advertising.

My advice would be to rectify the problem quickly. This is the key, don't let it drag on. Afterwards If you can get anything out of the supplier then take it.
If you bought cheap stuff. Learn from it.

Move on keep a positive attitude (Sh*t Happens) and pass this on to your customer. Make them feel that you acted in their best interest.
Who knows they might hold the key to your next big job.

Think for the next job

Steve

[Albannach]

T&Cs both protect and bugger us.

I sold a kettle on Amazon a while back, I got £65 for it. The woman who bought it complained that it was noisy, I told her to #### off, as did Amazon. She then said I was in breach of Amazon's selling conditions as I'd sold the item as new, but had opened the box. Amazon agreed, I lost my £65 and the kettle!

"A brand-new, unused and unopened item in the original packaging with all of the original packaging materials included. The original manufacturer's warranty, if any, should still apply, with details of any such warranty included when you complete the Add your comments section of the product listing."

Because you listed an item in an incorrect condition, the item is materially different than described and the buyer is automatically eligible for the A-to-z Guarantee, whether they return the item or not.

[soramad]

for my six pennyworth, if the light unit is faulty then it should be returned to the wholesaler who should then replace the faulty unit if within the first year of warrenty, however if it is within the second year it may have to be returned to the manufacturer as it has passed the year that the wholesaler is responsible for, though you may be lucky with the wholesaler. As to payment for removal and refitting the unit, you can only guarantee your workmanship so provided the unit worked ok for some time after you left then other than a loose or broken connection due to faulty instillation it is not your fault, i would explain this to the customer and make a charge for the removal and refitting of the unit. It might be worth mentioning that if you don't go back and fit it somebody else will have to and they will have to be paid.

[StevenN]

re faulty lights

Hi Spatkyaj

The view I would take is that you would expect a replacement fitted if it was you.

You trade on your reputation and by this you probably try to do the same to others as they do to you.

You should get the replacement FOC but I bet the manufacturer has a condition of sale that a replacement or repair would be offered if the unit falls faulty but no cost in replacing the unit will be entertained.

This is now standard practice. But not nice

As a supplier to both trade and retail I advise customers that if they buy the goods and pay an installer to fit then the buck stops with the customer not the fitter.
If future work is required then they will be liable.
This is why you pay a tradesman rather rthan cut corners

I have had cause to ask suppliers to pay labour costs but this is a pain in the arse, some will and some won't pay.
If you can prove that it is faulty manufacturing that has caused the problem then they can be forced to pay via their insurance.

This all takes time and the more time you have an unhappy customer the longer you will not be getting positive word of mouth advertising.

My advice would be to rectify the problem quickly. This is the key, don't let it drag on. Afterwards If you can get anything out of the supplier then take it.
If you bought cheap stuff. Learn from it.

Move on keep a positive attitude (Sh*t Happens) and pass this on to your customer. Make them feel that you acted in their best interest.
Who knows they might hold the key to your next big job.

Think for the next job

Steve

[TonyN]

Is it worth making a fuss? All you'll do is make sure they never recommend you to anyone else or use you again.

Years ago I fitted a Stevo head that I supplied that failed a few months later. He replaced the head FOC, I refitted it FOC. Everyone was happy, and truck owner came back many times for other work far out weighing the labour on refitting the head.

Another time I fitted a 2nd hand engine that customer supplied from Ebay that was knackered. The seller replaced the engine with another FOC, but I charged him to remove again as I had nothing to do with supplying the engine. ( I actually only charged 1/2 to redo it, but I'm soft like that.. lol) The company supplying the engine wouldn't pay labour on fitting the duff engine, I don't know any who do.

At the end of the day he paid you to supply and fit the light, if it dosn't work he shouldn't be out of pocket getting it fixed. Any loss you incur is between you and the light supplier IMHO.

[JUDWAK]

if he is one of your customers then just look after him
even tho he is a pain in the neck
its good relations with custiomers is a must
with in the car market the best stand out from the rest

whats it going to cost you? a little bit of time
that customer has family friends they could be any one cant they
so its with in your own intrest to sort it out
you need to act has pee'ed off has he is and become a helpy helpy person
so the costomer remembers you has honest reliable and will reconmend you to others
even tho this costomer is a pain you can be the nice guy iam sure

[Rustinho]

Generally speaking I'd usually go with the old saying that "the customer is always right". It sounds like a relatively simple job that shouldn't take an awful lot of time so if it was me I'd quite happily do it.

Having said that, politeness from the customer would cost nothing so I understand why you're a bit miffed with them.

Your reputation is everything as a small business. Just smile lots and get on with the repair. It'll pay for itself in terms of keeping/improving your reputation.

[ads surf]

Well to be honest i would consider if i was to be getting any more work from these people if i belived i would be then it would be more in your intrest to do it free of charge. But if you feel that this as rocked the boat and you believe that you will not receive anymore custom from them then maybe charge them a little for your time and invoice them so they could try and claim the money back off the manufacter.