Made contact with a roofer last week to quote leak repair (made clear we were not certain exactly where the prob/leak was)and paint the roof...... few follow up emails to see when the quote would be done....... waited a week til he was 'out this way', all good. This morning, an invoice for $150 for fixing the leak, and a quote for painting the roof!! Um, what!!???? Questioned it and told him we didn't agree to any work,wanted quote only.
'sorry, thought it was fix if could. Ok if that's the case then you don't pay and you get a free fix. Quote would have been about $300 as I would have had to return which would incur more travel time and vehicle running costs plus it would be about 2 weeks away."

I'm inclined to not pay. Thoughts?

kay34 - 2021-05-06 21:05:00

Is it fixed?

sparkychap - 2021-05-06 21:09:00

I’d pay it, it’s not really a big outlay to get someone there to try and fix it.

heather902 - 2021-05-06 21:12:00

sparkychap wrote:

Is it fixed?

The roofer thinks so, he replaced several loose nails

kay34 - 2021-05-06 21:17:00

heather902 wrote:

I’d pay it, it’s not really a big outlay to get someone there to try and fix it.

I don't disagree,I just always thought you accepted a quote before work was done, not ask for a quote, and then get an invoice

kay34 - 2021-05-06 21:19:00

kay34 wrote:

I don't disagree,I just always thought you accepted a quote before work was done, not ask for a quote, and then get an invoice

Don’t make it difficult though, it doesn’t sound like this guy is trying to rip you off, but he will also learn to be a bit more careful before carrying out repairs

heather902 - 2021-05-06 21:23:00

It was a misunderstanding as you said in your first post - "'sorry, thought it was fix if could." I think you should pay it as $150 seems cheap and you now have a roof that doesn't leak.

mazalinas - 2021-05-06 21:24:00

They are all valid points, I think we will contact him and discuss further.

kay34 - 2021-05-06 21:35:00

This message was deleted.

hooserat - 2021-05-07 01:01:00

If its fixed, pay the man. $150 is cheap. If you dont pay him, he wont work for you again (without loading his quote) and if its a small community, there's no doubt he will tell a few associates/tradies as well.
I'm a tradie and believe it or not - we all do talk to each other......

stevo2 - 2021-05-07 06:50:00

Roofer did you a favour, and a cheap favour at that.

artemis - 2021-05-07 06:51:00

I would just pay it, seems like an honest mistake.

annie17111 - 2021-05-07 07:03:00

Yea, $150 bux you lucky there. if you don't pay he might come around and unfix it for ya, that's what I would do. Just pay up and be done with it. move on and sleep at night.

msigg - 2021-05-07 07:10:00

kay34 wrote:

Made contact with a roofer last week to quote leak repair (made clear we were not certain exactly where the prob/leak was)and paint the roof...... few follow up emails to see when the quote would be done....... waited a week til he was 'out this way', all good. This morning, an invoice for $150 for fixing the leak, and a quote for painting the roof!! Um, what!!???? Questioned it and told him we didn't agree to any work,wanted quote only.
'sorry, thought it was fix if could. Ok if that's the case then you don't pay and you get a free fix. Quote would have been about $300 as I would have had to return which would incur more travel time and vehicle running costs plus it would be about 2 weeks away."

I'm inclined to not pay. Thoughts?

that is cheap as, you got a tradie, he fixed it for you, pay the man cheapskate.

gabbysnana - 2021-05-07 07:50:00

stevo2 wrote:

If its fixed, pay the man. $150 is cheap. If you dont pay him, he wont work for you again (without loading his quote) and if its a small community, there's no doubt he will tell a few associates/tradies as well.
I'm a tradie and believe it or not - we all do talk to each other......

kiwis are such cheap arses. The only thing I ask my tradies, what's your hourly rate and when can you start, then pay him as he leaves.

gabbysnana - 2021-05-07 07:52:00

If he had to quote on it and come back again, it might have cost you $250. It sounds like he used his initiative and fixed it on the spot for pocket change.

sooperdoopa - 2021-05-07 08:06:00

hooserat wrote:

When fixing a roof its mostly guessing what the problem is. $150 is okay, just pay it if you can otherwise he wont come back again.
I have a roof leak i have try to fix 4 times and its still there.

What did they do just a squirt with the sealant gun ? Thats a waste of time .

martin11 - 2021-05-07 08:14:00

Pay it. The guy was proactive

travlr - 2021-05-07 08:29:00

Such a major drama you have to start two threads.
If several nails needed fixing you may need to look at rescrewing the whole roof for a long term fix.
Waste of time repainting if more nails are going to fail in in the future.

dutchess46 - 2021-05-07 08:40:00

Was it a free quote or could he have charged you for the that anyway. $150 isn't really much to get someone to come and check a roof, let alone fix the problem. It is pretty ridiculous you even questioning it. Personally I would have been grateful he had fixed it while he was there.

bryalea - 2021-05-07 08:40:00

bryalea wrote:

Was it a free quote or could he have charged you for the that anyway. $150 isn't really much to get someone to come and check a roof, let alone fix the problem. It is pretty ridiculous you even questioning it. Personally I would have been grateful he had fixed it while he was there.

Big Question is did he actually fix anything ??

martin11 - 2021-05-07 09:15:00

OP is concerned enough to open two threads on this topic.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/Community/MessageBoard/Messages.as
px?id=1845215&topic=22

Edited by shanreagh at 9:24 am, Fri 7 May

shanreagh - 2021-05-07 09:24:00

martin11 wrote:

Big Question is did he actually fix anything ??

There is that, however if they had paid $300 for a fix at a later date would that have fixed more? Not likely. And as others have said roof leaks can be tricky. Last year we reroofed after having a couple of issues. If they have a claim for a ceiling repair (As we did) and you have to fix the cause, which I think we did. But in this case who knows. Not been much rain to test it lately.

bryalea - 2021-05-07 10:46:00

And if he didn't fix it and other areas of your ceiling/insulation were damaged as a result you would still complain. $150 is cheap to come out and fix a leak. Last one we had sorted was $250. Was relatively straight forward just rung up and asked how much to fix a leak. Said if he can fix it on the spot $250 and if it is something bigger it'll be on a quote basis. He came fixed it and did the transfer before he left the driveway everyone happy. As others have said too painting the roof is like putting the cart before the horse if there are areas that need refixing. Wait until you get the price of just the scaffolding

familiadude1 - 2021-05-07 17:09:00

I'm not complaining, I'm just asking, yes posted in 2 diff areas, wasn't sure which one was right. So, now if I ask him if he actually fixed it I'll be a wanker for that too no doubt.

kay34 - 2021-05-07 19:04:00

kay34 wrote:

I'm not complaining, I'm just asking, yes posted in 2 diff areas, wasn't sure which one was right. So, now if I ask him if he actually fixed it I'll be a wanker for that too no doubt.

If you pay him, then he's responsible for it. So if it leaks in the same spot you can tell him to come out and fix his work lol.

apollo11 - 2021-05-07 19:17:00

kay34 wrote:

I'm not complaining, I'm just asking, yes posted in 2 diff areas, wasn't sure which one was right..

We always are...

sparkychap - 2021-05-07 19:35:00

kay34 wrote:

I'm not complaining, I'm just asking, yes posted in 2 diff areas, wasn't sure which one was right. So, now if I ask him if he actually fixed it I'll be a wanker for that too no doubt.

Surely you would not phrase it in that way. Better to phrase it in the form of a question about the method he used.....even say you are wanting to report back to the insurance company.

So yes phrased on the way you suggest........

shanreagh - 2021-05-07 20:20:00

kay34 wrote:

They are all valid points, I think we will contact him and discuss further.

To say "wow! thank you for being so efficient and here's your payment"?
When you come across a tradie this honest and reasonable - my suggestion is don't blow it, you may need further work in the future, or you might want to recommend his work to friends /family :)

upfront1 - 2021-05-09 20:47:00

Pay ! That's seems very reasonable

Edited by andyb2 at 5:17 pm, Mon 10 May

andyb2 - 2021-05-10 17:16:00

It sounds like the repair of the roof leak was an "easy fix".. while I have my ladder out and I'm on the roof susing out what the problem is, I may as well get my hammer and a couple of nails and fix it.. If the tradie did not fix it there and then, and just quoted you to fix it, the price would be a good bit higher than $150.00... It is like going to a mechanic and saying my car is dipping oil, can you quote me to repair... the car goes up on the hoist and the sump plug is loose, would you expect the mechanic to take it off the hoist and then say the sump plug is loose, or would you expect him to get a spanner and there and then "nip it up" !!

onl_148 - 2021-05-11 11:56:00

What's your house worth ? $150 in the scheme of things , repair done ..tick .Move on

reasonable - 2021-05-11 12:03:00

pay the man, he more than likely spotted it accurately , and while there fixed it , like he said wouldve been another visit otherwise and would have cost you double, the only thing he did wrong was he shouldve called you once sighted and got permission to fix it - be fair and pay the guy :)

daz1968 - 2021-05-11 16:08:00

and also add a doz of the best brown stuff,

alnz15 - 2021-05-11 16:24:00

kay34 wrote:

They are all valid points, I think we will contact him and discuss further.

He's probably going to hate that, pissing about on the phone over a paltry sum. Just pay him, for what he did, and be glad it was so cheap. If it leaks then call back, and complain.

bitsnpieces2020 - 2021-05-11 21:27:00