A savvy mother-of-two managed to haggle down an emergency restore charge quoted to her aged in-laws from £8,650 to only £765, after threatening them with court docket motion.
Ray and Kay Lau, aged 76 and 72, have been simply hours away from forking out hundreds of kilos for the four-hour job, however cancelled the cheque simply in time when instructed to take action by their son’s spouse Sarah Lau.
The pensioners had referred to as out a close-by plumbing agency after they found a leak at their house in Gillingham, Kent, on the morning of Friday, September 13.
Two engineers labored on the issue between 5pm and 9pm and ultimately fastened the leak – however when it got here to cost, Ray and Kay mentioned the associated fee for the job ‘simply stored going up and up’.
The couple got a ultimate bill of £8,650, together with £3,200 for labour and £3,400 to search out the reason for the issue. However when Sarah heard concerning the value she intervened and instructed them to not pay up.
Nevertheless, the ordeal turned anxious when the couple have been threatened with bailiffs by the corporate and mentioned workers can be coming to their home to get the money.
Sarah took management and struck up a textual content dialog with the corporate as the e-mail given on the bill didn’t work.
Fast-thinking Sarah Lau stepped in to assist her in-laws who have been charged £8,560 for plumbing repairs
Ray and Kay Lau have been simply hours away from forking out hundreds of kilos for the four-hour job, however cancelled the cheque simply in time when instructed to take action by their son’s spouse Sarah Lau (pictured)
She additionally sought recommendation from Kent County Council and gathered quotes from a number of impartial plumbers for equivalent out-of-hours call-outs — and was shocked after they got here again between £500 and £800.
In her messages to the corporate, she disclosed that she had obtained various quotes for the job.
She didn’t reveal how a lot the quotes had come out to, however the reply however was: ‘That is not honest. Each plumbing agency has its personal costs.’
The message continued: ‘Sure, I perceive some costs could also be cheaper and a few could also be dearer but it surely’s not honest to check like that.
‘The value additionally considers speedy response and the dimensions of the emergency.’
Finally, on September 25, Sarah and her father met two males from the agency outdoors her in-laws’ house.
After about an hour of wrangling over the cost on the street, Sarah went to depart saying: ‘I’ll see you in court docket.’
Sarah took recommendation from Kent County Council and gathered quotes from a number of impartial plumbers for equivalent out-of-hours call-outs — and was shocked after they got here again between £500 and £800
She says the lads then ‘ran after her’ and a sum of £765 was agreed upon.
Reflecting on the ordeal, grandmother-of-five Kay mentioned: ‘It was scary. First, he instructed me it might be £3,000 after which £6,000. It simply stored going up and up.
‘He was on the telephone with any individual on a regular basis asking what to do. At one level, he left for about an hour to get a pipe.’
In the meantime, Sarah, 42, mentioned: ‘English will not be their first language. Ray has only some snippets and Kay had no idea of what wanted doing.
‘They have been instructed it was a ‘massive’ job and until one thing was performed instantly their home would ‘fall down’ and they might be ‘left with nothing’.
‘What they did to 2 susceptible pensioners was merciless. They used threats of bailiffs and scare ways. And who is aware of, they could have performed this many occasions earlier than.
‘My recommendation can be to at all times store round and get totally different written quotes. And if you’re undecided, do not be afraid to ask household and buddies.
‘My in-laws are nonetheless very anxious. I would not need to see this occur to anybody else.’
The corporate concerned has but to answer repeated requests for remark from KentOnline. This contains two recorded letters and several other telephone calls.
