http://www.sheffieldtoday.net/ViewArticle2.aspx?sectionid=58&articleid=1677852

id refuse to pay this.

'Out of that we had to pay £20 diesel '

At least the firm could be honest, it does not cost £20 in diesel from conisborough to walkley and back.

Cheeky sods! N £20 for diesel n £25 for a member of staff to come in?? ASre they having a laugh? How many people does it take to screw in 8 nails n where the hell was he coming from??? Rogue Trader i think :hihi:

The standard charge of £95 plus VAT seems fair enough to me. Companies like this make on some jobs and lose on others - that's the way it works. What surprises me most is that "Mrs Thomas and her family did not realise she would be asked to pay the repair bill." Who did they think was going to pay?

The standard charge of £95 plus VAT seems fair enough to me. Companies like this make on some jobs and lose on others - that's the way it works. What surprises me most is that "Mrs Thomas and her family did not realise she would be asked to pay the repair bill." Who did they think was going to pay?

At least the family shouldnt pay. She collapsed and im guessing she didnt do it on purpose.

At least the family shouldnt pay. She collapsed and im guessing she didnt do it on purpose.

You don't die on purpose but you still have to pay for the funeral! They'll probably claim it back on insurance anyway.

never mind the charge after the goverment have taken the vat on the priceand then vat on the diesel and the cost of tax on the van the tax on the vehicle when it was new tax on the so called profits also ni contributions and tax on the worker business rates on the company and various other charges I would,nt be surprised if what was left was less than £40 would you work for approx two hours at some outlandish unsocial hours. remember it,s not how long the job took you have to pay forthem coming and going back to conisboro I concede that it was a bit far to come but you would have been charged the same rate if they were on the next street it was a fair commercial price for the job. By the way who do you want to pay for the work.the police for breaking the door down I dont think sostop complaining and get into the real world

It's a shame she didn't have a keysafe box outside, then they wouldn't have had to smash their way in in the first place.

Her grandson is a joiner, he told the Star if he had realised how much it cost he would have repaired it himself.

Well why didn't he?

Its alot for a pensioner to pay at a quarter of the price.

Her grandson is a joiner, he told the Star if he had realised how much it cost he would have repaired it himself.

Well why didn't he?

Its alot for a pensioner to pay at a quarter of the price.

I agree, why didn't he do it. The charge £90.75 plus VAT is not out of the ordinary for an emergency call out.
As for the lady concerned I do feel for her predicament and that it may be a lot for her to pay in which case why doesn't her family help her out and pay the bill for her.

'Out of that we had to pay £20 diesel '

At least the firm could be honest, it does not cost £20 in diesel from conisborough to walkley and back.

No, but if you tot up the total mileage costs of the vehicle, and the time to get there from conisbrough then £20 allocated sounds very reasonable estimate.

Fed up of people thinking they should get everything for nothing!

I used to have a TV aerial business, and the callout was then £30 - people would whinge if the job only took 15 mins - but I pointed out it hadtaken me half an hour to get there, and half an hour back again... so the real time was 1 hour 15....

And fuel and mileage costs out of that.... the whingers never have run a business, or they'd know what these things cost.

No, but if you tot up the total mileage costs of the vehicle, and the time to get there from conisbrough then £20 allocated sounds very reasonable estimate.

Fed up of people thinking they should get everything for nothing!

I used to have a TV aerial business, and the callout was then £30 - people would whinge if the job only took 15 mins - but I pointed out it hadtaken me half an hour to get there, and half an hour back again... so the real time was 1 hour 15....

And fuel and mileage costs out of that.... the whingers never have run a business, or they'd know what these things cost.

Spot on Rod :thumbsup:

seems odd that the old lass' carer didn't have a spare key thus negating the need for the police to break in. and although the charge may seem large to the woman it doesn't seem unreasonable for an out of hours call out type job even though only eight screws were required.

just wondering what simondjuk would consider a fair price if he'd been called out to do the job?

'No, but if you tot up the total mileage costs of the vehicle, and the time to get there from conisbrough then £20 allocated sounds very reasonable estimate.

And fuel and mileage costs out of that.... the whingers never have run a business, or they'd know what these things cost.'


Rod i understand what your on about but it simply stated £20 in diesel which i know it doesn't cost. As i run an airport transfer business I also know 'what these things cost'. whinger i'm not ;)

i have no problem with the amount,as other posters have already said,it seems a reasonable amount for call out and work completed.However,why they dont use a more central company that are based in sheffield,is beyond me :loopy: A key safe would indeed have been a better idea,but it costs to buy one and have it fitted. Whtever way you look at it,it boils down to money(or lack of it)

£110 seems like a bargin to me, cost £235 to gain entry and have a new lock fitted on my flat when the old one packed in..

why they dont use a more central company that are based in sheffield,is beyond me
:confused: Sheffield is almost in Derbyshire - and given that South Yorkshire sprawls off towards Doncaster from here, don't you think Conisborough is 'more central'? :confused:

I'll add :rant: about the fact that the family could easily have sorted this out but chose to lumber the tax payer instead - or so they thought :hihi:

Perhaps the more relevant question should be around why the police, rather than the family, were called to gain entry?

Even more relevant why a carer looking after and not the family JOE public pays for carer

Even more relevant why a carer looking after and not the family JOE public pays for carer

There are a lot of reasons why family may not have been available to care, or she may have preferred not to have family doing the menial things for her (I know my grandparents do).

The provision of carers is usually means tested, meaning that if the person has means to pay for a carer they do.

I think theres more of a moral dilemma here, than just a financial one. In this instance, I think it would be decent for the company to exercise some good will and waiver the costs.

Why should they spend a fortune on advertising and other ancillary costs and then waive the charge just because they are OAPs you should get in the real world they have provided a service and charged a going rate for the job I am a pensioner I would not expect to get the work done for nothing there is no moral dilemma here at all. everybody has to make a living

I never said they should waive the costs because she is an OAP or that they should waive costs for certain people or certain situations. What I am trying to say is that in this situation, I would like to have seen them exercise good will given the circumstances.

commercial transaction asked for by sypd what circcumstances they make money of peoples mistakes I dont suppose they will mak the same mistake again

next time its an old biddy the emergency people probably won't respond.
so it'll be in the paper again about mistreatment of old biddy's.
claim off the house insurance for lock changes - but then again i suppose they won't be insured either.

I think theres more of a moral dilemma here, than just a financial one. In this instance, I think it would be decent for the company to exercise some good will and waiver the costs.

Why should the company have the moral responsibilty, I think that should rest with the family concerned. The companies responsibilty is to its customers in that they get a satisfactory job, which I assume they have done and it's employees in that they get paid for the work they do.
I can't imagine The Gas companies or Electricity companies waiving their bills for OAP's.

Fair point FYTC, but let me put it like this...

If it was my own company and it was a wealthy company that could afford to waiver £110, then I would have liked to waivered the costs in this instance.

Fair point FYTC, but let me put it like this...

If it was my own company and it was a wealthy company that could afford to waiver £110, then I would have liked to waivered the costs in this instance.

Could I ask if you are self employed or run a company?

You are hinting that the company concerned is somehow acting immorally by carrying out a service and tendering an invoice for payment. This is unfair in my view.

commercial transaction asked for by sypd what circcumstances they make money of peoples mistakes I dont suppose they will mak the same mistake again

Could someone translate this please

Did the family have a key and why did carer ring cops, the charge seems reasonable to me, I work on trucks and our emergency service cost more than that just to get there, never mind the work done.

Call out £50 Admin charge £48 van mileage 80p per mile, time £40 per hour minimum(daytime) soon adds up doesn't it, I've been called out at 1am to doncaster to change a fuse, bill to customer was nearly £200 + vat, even in day it would have been £175+

What I'm trying to say is if you need a service, you should be prepared to pay for it.
Ok the cops called them out, but they obviously did not exchange information with the family, did they get permission before requesting the contractor, if not the bill should be passed to SYPD.

"[The police] had been requested by her carer because the pensioner was locked in the house and could not be given assistance." Which sounds to me as if the lady in question was perhaps in bed, and is unable to get up without her carer present.

Is this really a matter for the police? There are other threads wherein people complain that it takes ages for the police to attend more urgent calls. Hardly surprising when the police are being used as 'muscle'! One wonders whether it was the (incorrect, as it's turned out) assumption that the police-option would be 'free', rather than for example breaking a window to get in, that was the reason for the police being involved.

Arguably, the family should think themselves fortunate that they have not also been billed for the police time! I'd imagine (tho I'm no expert) that two officers attended the scene, maybe the whole thing took up an hour of police time. What's the cost for that? And, what's the value on the 'opportunity lost' re what the officers COULD have been doing (catching burglars, chasing car thieves etc) had they not been breaking down a door?

We already know from the article that one of the sons is a joiner obviously 'handy', and it sounds like he lives locally. Maybe they'll think twice before calling the police out for something they could sort out themselves!