I had a plumber come out a couple weeks ago to give me a bid on replacing my hot water heater. When I called to ask about it and schedule, they they never said anything about a minimum trip charge. Guy shows up on time, is in the house for about 15 minutes and takes some pictures, says they didn't book him enough time to swap the hot water heater right then, to which I said it was ok, because I wanted to get the estimate for what it would cost. He said ok, the office will send that over based on the information he collected, and that will be $125+ for the trip out. I was completely blindsided by this, not just the trip charge when they never said there would be one, but by the amount for about 15 minutes, and had they said there would be a trip charge of that size, I would have told them not to bother coming out. Sometimes I can understand a small charge for gas or something, but usually I use the guys that want the chance to win the business. Basically I ended up telling him I wasn't paying that because it was ridiculous and no one said that was the case up front. Felt bad for the guy, because he's just the worker, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

Fast forward a couple weeks, now they're sending me a bill for the charge and I am just not sure what to expect next. Part of me wants to fight it out of spite and anger, but also just feels like I'm going to waste a bunch of time and maybe have it reported on credit, or a lien, or something else, in which case it just sounds like it is less of a headache to just pay it and make them pay by blasting them on reviews anywhere I can find.

Anyone have any tips for what to expect next or how I should handle this situation?

In the past, the BBB offered a free arbitrating service IF your BBB complaint story didn't become fruitful.
Today's BBB may be quite different & for profit, I hear and the why is who's running it for TX.

If not getting anywhere, then you must get The Manager on the phone, no one else. Once he hears of such disorganization, he may ease the pain if not erase it.

All bills (ask a lawyer!) can be retunred marked In Dispute and unpaid.


BTW, drive-by for estimates w/o notice are the calling cards of crooks or those sending a message Do Not Call Us - we don't want your business unless it's carte blanche ... why I'll NEVER use that engineer EVER again & found a better replacement anyway.

Even car repair shops post a sign at entry how much diagnostics cost and even sometimes mitigate some/all of it if hired to solve/repair.

Apache said:

---

Quote:

---

I think the free estimate and free trip charge is on its way out.

---

This right here. For me to drive out for an estimate is usually 2 hours of work at a minimum.
15-30 min. drive time both ways, 30-45 minute meeting & another 20-30 minutes to work up an estimate.
DAYS of my calendar year have been wasted on tire kickers & folks just looking for the low bid.

That said, I wouldn't show up anywhere without letting the customer know that there will be a charge for the estimate. (Refundable if you use our services)

---

This.

Everybody wants something for free. He may have only spent 15 minutes there, but do you know where he was before/after? He may have had an hour drive time. Hard to keep a business profitable if you work for free.

I know… I wasn't replying to the OP

I would look for fine print on their website. It not there don't pay. Report to BBB.

Apache said:

---

Quote:

---

I think the free estimate and free trip charge is on its way out.

---

This right here. For me to drive out for an estimate is usually 2 hours of work at a minimum.
15-30 min. drive time both ways, 30-45 minute meeting & another 20-30 minutes to work up an estimate.
DAYS of my calendar year have been wasted on tire kickers & folks just looking for the low bid.

---

This is not new.. it's always been like this. Contractors from decades ago didn't magically not have to spend time driving and working up an estimate.

I work for a GC in commercial/industrial construction as an estimator, all of my work is free for our clients. As said before, it's the cost of getting business.

62strat said:

---

Apache said:

---

Quote:

---

I think the free estimate and free trip charge is on its way out.

---

This right here. For me to drive out for an estimate is usually 2 hours of work at a minimum.
15-30 min. drive time both ways, 30-45 minute meeting & another 20-30 minutes to work up an estimate.
DAYS of my calendar year have been wasted on tire kickers & folks just looking for the low bid.

---

This is not new.. it's always been like this. Contractors from decades ago didn't magically not have to spend time driving and working up an estimate.

I work for a GC in commercial/industrial construction as an estimator, all of my work is free for our clients. As said before, it's the cost of getting business.

---

But you're acting like every scenario is the same.....

Of course a potentially $50k completely custom project would have a free site visit/estimate....

That's a little different than a fairly standard $800 water heater replacement....

Chipotlemonger said:

---

htxag09 said:

---

62strat said:

---

Apache said:

---

Quote:

---

I think the free estimate and free trip charge is on its way out.

---

This right here. For me to drive out for an estimate is usually 2 hours of work at a minimum.
15-30 min. drive time both ways, 30-45 minute meeting & another 20-30 minutes to work up an estimate.
DAYS of my calendar year have been wasted on tire kickers & folks just looking for the low bid.

---

This is not new.. it's always been like this. Contractors from decades ago didn't magically not have to spend time driving and working up an estimate.

I work for a GC in commercial/industrial construction as an estimator, all of my work is free for our clients. As said before, it's the cost of getting business.

---

But you're acting like every scenario is the same.....

Of course a potentially $50k completely custom project would have a free site visit/estimate....

That's a little different than a fairly standard $800 water heater replacement....

---

A fairly standard water heater replacement also does not require a visit to quote. The company OP described wanted to come look at it, obviously as a way to charge the visit cost and hook the OP into more likely using them for the full job. Poor ethics.

---

100% agree, if you read one of my initial statements it was questioning exactly why they even came out.....if the plumber came out on his own to look, that's on them. If the OP specifically asked them to come look at it, for whatever reason, I can see them charging a trip charge.

My comments above weren't in response to the OP's specific situation, I feel like the conversation has sidetracked from that specific example.

10-4

htxag09 said:

---

62strat said:

---

Apache said:

---

Quote:

---

I think the free estimate and free trip charge is on its way out.

---

This right here. For me to drive out for an estimate is usually 2 hours of work at a minimum.
15-30 min. drive time both ways, 30-45 minute meeting & another 20-30 minutes to work up an estimate.
DAYS of my calendar year have been wasted on tire kickers & folks just looking for the low bid.

---

This is not new.. it's always been like this. Contractors from decades ago didn't magically not have to spend time driving and working up an estimate.

I work for a GC in commercial/industrial construction as an estimator, all of my work is free for our clients. As said before, it's the cost of getting business.

---

But you're acting like every scenario is the same.....

Of course a potentially $50k completely custom project would have a free site visit/estimate....

That's a little different than a fairly standard $800 water heater replacement....

---

If you have to make a dedicated trip to work up an estimate on a water heater replacement, then that isn't the clients fault. You should be able to price that without going to the home for an estimate and can be discussed over the phone.

Edit - didn't read the more recent responses before writing this.

I don't think free estimates are ever going away. It's certainly harder for a 1 man shop to absorb that cost, but any company with large revenue is not having any issues absorbing this.

My employer is doing $150m +, so covering my salary (and the other estimator) is not an issue with $7-$10m worth of pure profit.

Water heater was a poor example. Yes, I agree.

The main point of my argument was simply a GC doing projects of $10k+ can afford to eat time in the car to see people who won't be using them....a plumber, appliance repairman, etc. who's projects are often under $500 is effected by that trip significantly more.

Just because one trade doesn't charge trip charges doesn't mean no trade should....

If I'm redoing a bathroom and someone is telling me they charge a trip charge to give me a quote, I'll tell them thanks but no thanks. If I have a washing machine that's out and a service tech tells me it'll be $100 to come out I'll understand that....

In my opinion, even the solo plumber doing the $500 job should credit the initial trip charge if they are chosen to do the work.

Too many people on nextdoor asking for recs (and getting them) for 'handymen' to do light plumbing,electrical etc for a real plumber to throw on an extra $150 for these small jobs.

62strat said:

---

In my opinion, even the solo plumber doing the $500 job should credit the initial trip charge if they are chosen to do the work.

Too many people on nextdoor asking for recs (and getting them) for 'handymen' to do light plumbing,electrical etc for a real plumber to throw on an extra $150 for these small jobs.

---

100% agree

Quote:

---

This is not new.. it's always been like this. Contractors from decades ago didn't magically not have to spend time driving and working up an estimate.

I work for a GC in commercial/industrial construction as an estimator, all of my work is free for our clients. As said before, it's the cost of getting business.

---

I've been doing this since going on 3 decades ago & definitely recall driving places & not relying on magic.
I started out with a yellow page ad, hand drafted drawings in many cases, a pager, fax machine & a map book to guide me around town. Good times.

It sounds like the scale of your projects is much greater than that of a smaller tradesman. (HVAC, Drywall etc.) Your business can carry your salary. It's the way it is, the cost of doing business. I understand that.
Large GC work is different. It's a little different when you have one person wearing multiple hats.

In MY situation, 90% of my business is repeat & we are lucky enough to be busy year round. I have the luxury of being picky enough to charge for estimates depending upon the type of bid folks want. They don't want to pay for it, fine. We're ok with that. I don't charge for all estimates. If the economy changes, obviously we'll re-evaluate the situation.

As a consumer myself, I get multiple estimates & if someone was referred highly to me I WOULD pay for an estimate. Because often with that estimate comes additional insight beyond just a price. The experienced contractor sees things differently & can anticipate problems, points out ways to do things better, etc.

Anyway, we're kicking butt this year using this model so I'm sticking with it. Back to work...

That's fair. I'm assuming you let people know the costs up front before showing up?

Probably charging you for calling it a hot water heater...

Of course!
As I said here:

Quote:

---

That said, I wouldn't show up anywhere without letting the customer know that there will be a charge for the estimate. (Refundable if you use our services)

---