Got a TV aerial fixed on a mobile home over the weekend down the country. Charged 80 euro for parts and 50 euro for labour (less than an hour). All in cash. Questioned the charges and gent got quite aggressive. I reckon parts can be bought for 40 euro on main street and labour was excessive.
best thing to do if feel ripped off?
- Thread starter suicra05
- Start date
Did you shop around and, if so, what were the other quotes like? Did you agree a fee up front? Did you agree to pay in cash? Did you get a receipt? Did you subsequently price the parts used and, if so, how did the prices compare? You could try the [broken link removed] or for information/advice but if you paid cash and don't have a receipt it could be difficult to follow up on any legitimate complaint that you may have.
T
tonka
Guest
report to social welfare as well just in case 
€50 may not be excessive if a callout was involved and if he came miles to do it. Parts are certainly excessive and being aggressive is inexcusable.
For the aggression alone he deserves to be shopped to the tender mercies of the state .
€50 may not be excessive if a callout was involved and if he came miles to do it. Parts are certainly excessive and being aggressive is inexcusable.
For the aggression alone he deserves to be shopped to the tender mercies of the state .
D
daltonr
Guest
Did you discuss the charges with him in advance?
Regardless there's no excuse for someone getting aggressive.
If someone got aggressive with me I'd have given him a choice.
A receipt or take it all down and go away.
If you paid cash you probably have little or no comeback.
-Rd
Regardless there's no excuse for someone getting aggressive.
If someone got aggressive with me I'd have given him a choice.
A receipt or take it all down and go away.
If you paid cash you probably have little or no comeback.
-Rd
Do you feel ripped off at an "estimated" 100% mark-up on parts?
Would you have known exactly what to buy, if you had set about sourcing the parts?
Do you feel ripped off at a €50 charge for labour (inclusive of cost of van, sundries, expertise)?
Do you feel it is necessary to mention that it was "down the country"?
Where is the foundation for reporting him to Social Welfare/Revenue etc?
Would you report him if the total charge was €30 and a cup of tea?
Would you have known exactly what to buy, if you had set about sourcing the parts?
Do you feel ripped off at a €50 charge for labour (inclusive of cost of van, sundries, expertise)?
Do you feel it is necessary to mention that it was "down the country"?
Where is the foundation for reporting him to Social Welfare/Revenue etc?
Would you report him if the total charge was €30 and a cup of tea?
D
daltonr
Guest
>>>Where is the foundation for reporting him to Social Welfare/Revenue etc?
Anyone who feels someone is working for cash in order to evade tax is free to report that person to revenue. If the person does a good service and is cheap then in all probability no-one will report them, but if you try to screw the revenue and then give the customer a reason to be unhappy you are asking for trouble.
It sounds like there's a bit of culpability on both sides of this case. It's important to agree fees before hand to avoid these issues. But it's also the job of the tradesman to make sure the customer doesn't feel like they've been taken for a ride.
From where you stand right now the best bet might be to write off the money you've spent (Cheap Lesson, could have been worse, imagine you were getting a lot of work done). And pass on the word to your friends if you feel this tradesman isn't good value.
-Rd
Anyone who feels someone is working for cash in order to evade tax is free to report that person to revenue. If the person does a good service and is cheap then in all probability no-one will report them, but if you try to screw the revenue and then give the customer a reason to be unhappy you are asking for trouble.
It sounds like there's a bit of culpability on both sides of this case. It's important to agree fees before hand to avoid these issues. But it's also the job of the tradesman to make sure the customer doesn't feel like they've been taken for a ride.
From where you stand right now the best bet might be to write off the money you've spent (Cheap Lesson, could have been worse, imagine you were getting a lot of work done). And pass on the word to your friends if you feel this tradesman isn't good value.
-Rd
suicra05. Let me be blunt here.
1. You're bitter and angry now because you got taken for a mug.
2. You probably feel even more stupid now because you've been asked if you shopped around beforehand, and it appears that you didn't.
3. You've got no comeback because it's not illegal to charge what people might consider ripoff prices for goods and services. Its your own look out to decide whether or not to pay these prices.
4. You are a mug if you don't find out up front, and preferably in writing, what someone is going to charge you to do any kind of work for you.
5. Reporting to Revenue/ODCA/Social Welfare is a petty and small-minded act of revenge on someone who merely took advantage of your own stupidity.
For future reference, here's what you might think about doing before getting any handyman to do work for you.
1. Get recommendations from people who've had similar work done.
2. Ring, explain what you want done, and get a quote.
3. Ring 2-3 other people and get similar quotes. If there are differences in quotes, ask questions to understand why.
4. When getting a quote, find out breakdown for materials and labour, and get details of what money for materials will be spent on.
5. See if you can source materials yourself, and then check back with your handymen to see if they'll give you a price for installation only.
6. Given all that information, make your decision on who to go with, and what exactly you want them to do for you.
This may seem like an amount of effort, and you might not be willing to do this to save yourself money, but if this is the case, don't complain about what happened to you if you did what you did for convenience.
Please forgive me if you'd don't appreciate the honest comments. They are not personal, and actually apply to many Irish people who are complaining about ripoff ireland. The above 6 points, applied to most shopping situations in this country would do more than the CSG, the NCA, the CAI, the ODCA and Fine Gael put together to reduce the ripoff Ireland culture.
rdj
1. You're bitter and angry now because you got taken for a mug.
2. You probably feel even more stupid now because you've been asked if you shopped around beforehand, and it appears that you didn't.
3. You've got no comeback because it's not illegal to charge what people might consider ripoff prices for goods and services. Its your own look out to decide whether or not to pay these prices.
4. You are a mug if you don't find out up front, and preferably in writing, what someone is going to charge you to do any kind of work for you.
5. Reporting to Revenue/ODCA/Social Welfare is a petty and small-minded act of revenge on someone who merely took advantage of your own stupidity.
For future reference, here's what you might think about doing before getting any handyman to do work for you.
1. Get recommendations from people who've had similar work done.
2. Ring, explain what you want done, and get a quote.
3. Ring 2-3 other people and get similar quotes. If there are differences in quotes, ask questions to understand why.
4. When getting a quote, find out breakdown for materials and labour, and get details of what money for materials will be spent on.
5. See if you can source materials yourself, and then check back with your handymen to see if they'll give you a price for installation only.
6. Given all that information, make your decision on who to go with, and what exactly you want them to do for you.
This may seem like an amount of effort, and you might not be willing to do this to save yourself money, but if this is the case, don't complain about what happened to you if you did what you did for convenience.
Please forgive me if you'd don't appreciate the honest comments. They are not personal, and actually apply to many Irish people who are complaining about ripoff ireland. The above 6 points, applied to most shopping situations in this country would do more than the CSG, the NCA, the CAI, the ODCA and Fine Gael put together to reduce the ripoff Ireland culture.
rdj
D
daltonr
Guest
Nonsense. We don't know if the vendor was legit but if he is not then he is a bigger fool that his clients. If you are operating in the black/grey economy and you rip people off then you should expect them to report you.
Reporting him is It's neither petty nor small minded.
The revenue might quite rightly ask why you were doing business with him on a cash only basis, but I don't know what they'd do about it, the vendor would be their target.
I agree with your comments about the best way to end the Rip-Offs.
-Rd
ubiquitous
Registered User
- Messages
- 3,782
€130 for a weekend tradesman callout including €40 worth of parts is a very good deal in my opinion.
The Revenue will throw your complaint in the bin. It is not illegal to accept or request cash in return for services or goods provided. There is no complusion (legal moral or otherwise) on a trader to issue an invoice to a private customer unless requested to do so.
From the viewpoint of tradesmen doing house callouts, cash is usually the only secure means of accepting payments from strangers, due to the cost and impracticality of accepting credit cards and the danger of cheques bouncing.
For all you know, the guy may well be recording all his receipts in his cash book and including these in his tax returns. After all his tax returns will have to demonstrate to the Revenue that he is (i) showing an acceptable level of personal drawings consistent with his lifestyle, (ii) achieving gross and net margins in line with trade standards. Otherwise he will undoubtedly attract the attention of the Revenue Audit authorities.
If he is advertising locally or in Golden Pages, the Social Welfare will be aware of this and you can be pretty damn sure in that case that he is not in receipt of benefits.
The Revenue will throw your complaint in the bin. It is not illegal to accept or request cash in return for services or goods provided. There is no complusion (legal moral or otherwise) on a trader to issue an invoice to a private customer unless requested to do so.
From the viewpoint of tradesmen doing house callouts, cash is usually the only secure means of accepting payments from strangers, due to the cost and impracticality of accepting credit cards and the danger of cheques bouncing.
For all you know, the guy may well be recording all his receipts in his cash book and including these in his tax returns. After all his tax returns will have to demonstrate to the Revenue that he is (i) showing an acceptable level of personal drawings consistent with his lifestyle, (ii) achieving gross and net margins in line with trade standards. Otherwise he will undoubtedly attract the attention of the Revenue Audit authorities.
If he is advertising locally or in Golden Pages, the Social Welfare will be aware of this and you can be pretty damn sure in that case that he is not in receipt of benefits.
My company charge over 130 per hour as a service charge. Travel is extra and parts usually have a 40% mark up. I think you got a good deal in comparison. Not that i agree with the high costs but thats the Celtic Tiger for you!
I know a friend who charged 5 hours travel to Sligo and an hour labour - to change a fuse. Its not what he does that you're paying for -its what he knows!
I know a friend who charged 5 hours travel to Sligo and an hour labour - to change a fuse. Its not what he does that you're paying for -its what he knows!
D
daltonr
Guest
>I know a friend who charged 5 hours travel to Sligo and an hour labour - to change a >fuse. Its not what he does that you're paying for -its what he knows!
This is actually a very good point. Anyone who has seen some of the hidden camera shows will know, a workman who honestly fixes a small problem, rather than inventing a big problem is good value in the long run.
That doesn't say anything about our friend with the TV arial. But the bottom line here is that you didn't agree a price in advance. A lesson you learned for a mere
€130. It could have been A LOT worse.
-Rd
This is actually a very good point. Anyone who has seen some of the hidden camera shows will know, a workman who honestly fixes a small problem, rather than inventing a big problem is good value in the long run.
That doesn't say anything about our friend with the TV arial. But the bottom line here is that you didn't agree a price in advance. A lesson you learned for a mere
€130. It could have been A LOT worse.
-Rd
SineWave said:
I'm guessing your asking should you agree prices up front for all professions, and it I'm right, then yes, you should.
Anyone who is confident, honest and proud about the service that they are providing would be only too happy to explain to you what's involved for them in meeting your requirements, and how much each aspect is going to cost you.
This would be for anything that you do - solicitor, dentist, doctor, plumber, car mechanic, builder, etc etc.
If you ask the question, and they fob you off for any reason (can't be sure yet, don't know what's involved yet, not sure how much materials I'll need, not sure how long it'll take me) should be told to hit the road.
There's no work out there that a decent plumber, for example, won't have a pretty good idea what materials are needed, and how long it'll take them to do the job. It's not like they haven't done it before.