EHI,
Quindi sabato, questo fine settimana, stavo assemblando qualcosa, ed è successo un incidente, ho rotto la testa del termostato. Il riscaldamento era al livello 5 e la stanza stava diventando davvero calda.
Non abbiamo pensato molto, siamo stati presi dal panico (ci siamo appena trasferiti, purtroppo non sapevamo chi chiamare, abbiamo provato l’Hausmeister ma non ha risposto) e abbiamo chiamato un idraulico/riscaldatore di Notdienst.
Gli abbiamo detto cosa è successo e lui ha detto che avrà una nuova testa del termostato.
È arrivato in 20 minuti, ha eseguito un’installazione rapida di due minuti.
Abbiamo fatto una cazzata, non abbiamo chiesto il costo in anticipo. Ci ha fatto pagare € 621 per questo.
Ripartizione nella foto.
Ci siamo spaventati e non abbiamo pensato di andare al Bauhaus e prendere uno strumento e una nuova testa. Ci ha anche fatto pagare in contanti e non se ne sarebbe andato a meno che non lo avessimo fatto, il motivo per cui eravamo nuovi clienti, i nuovi clienti pagano sempre in contanti è quello che ha detto.
Secondo lui 600 sono la norma per Amburgo e Saturday Notdienst.
Sappiamo che probabilmente siamo stati truffati e i soldi sono spariti. Ho inviato una e-mail alla Vervrauchzentrale e alla mia Verwaltung.
🙁
https://i.redd.it/cwo321ef7v1h1.png
di buzz_ftw
21 commenti
Its expensive, but I wouldnt say its necessarily a scam. Some of the cost is for hardware, some for his work, some for driving to you and some for work on the weekend.
If you are not the owner of the apartment maybe the owner has to pay, but usually he has to order the craftsmen
When I moved into my apartment six years ago, I had the very same accident happening to me. I went to Obi, bought a new thermostat head and installed it myself. This probably cost me less than 20 Euros. Calling the Notdienst was unncessary and the amount he charged is insane. It’s unfortunately quite common to scam people in such a situation. Maybe contacting Verbraucherzentrale isn’t such a bad idea.
„Heizungsthermostatkopf“ for 169 is absolutely wild. Those things are ~10€
The only thing that you overpaid on was the Thermostat Adjusting Valve(those are probably max 40-50 euros for non-smart models), everything else is cost of the plumber’s labor or travel.
It’s always expensive to get someone to come over to fix something, weekend & emergencies even more so.
So it’s not a scam unfortunately, that cost is bit on the high side yes but not completely outrageous
Sure you got scammed: Anfahrt plus 1h work done plus Wochenend Surcharge while he was with you for 20 min is outrageous. A Thermostatkopf usually costs a tenth of what he quoted.
Unfortunately, yes, you definitely got ripped off. But sadly it’s quite common for them to make up a big number like this. Because plumbers are usually contracted by Hauswervaltung, the few private ones can charge whatever they feel like…I once paid one 300€ for a bit of sticky tape to fix a broken pipe (which didn’t work).
You already did the right thing to do to Verbraucherzentrale, but if you don’t have legal insurance, you’re probably not going to get anywhere. There’s case law where if a Handwerker massively overcharges, you can demand the overpayment back, but you’ll definitely need a lawyer for that (and they’ll probably charge you more than you’re trying to claim).
I would probably try to forget about it and treat it as a learning experience 😞
If you have Liability Insurance or Home Insurance (I forget the German word), you can send them the invoice and they can pay you back or cover some costs at least.
When I break anything at my rental apartment, I tell the Hausverwaltung who then sends someone to fix it and I pay them. And then I take th invoice and claim from my insurance
If this is a legit company and the invoice has the relevant details, it isnt a scam.
Labour in Germany is expensive and the weekend call out added to that. Most trades have a minimum cost so regardless if the job takes 5 mins or 2 hours you will pay the call out fee. The parts cost is where they likely inflated the cost a lot, which is normal.. I take my own parts to the Autowerkstat after ordering them online for example.
In future try and figure things out yourself, and use a notdienst as a last resort.
Yes, you got scammed, but worse, that’s probably even a legal scam. They’re shamelessly exploiting people’s plight. It may well be that the amount is too high and you might be able to get at least some of it back, but as you’ve already paid, it’s probably not worth the effort.
Don’t every pay directly. If he doesn’t want to leave, call the police.
And don’t be embarred, this scam works with a lot of people and sadly there isn’t anything done against these people.
This is outrageous.
I mean all the prices for him coming over and working are fine, high, but fine.
But 170€ for the head of the thermostat, when you can buy it in retail for like 10-15€ is just crazy.
Idk man.
Also does your landlord do not have an emergency number for such cases?
This honestly looks very questionable. Weekend emergency rates are a thing, but 621€ for a 2-minute thermostat replacement is steep.
The biggest red flag is the thermostat head itself at 169€. Standard replacement thermostat heads are often in the 30€ range, even branded Heimeier models are commonly around 15 to 35€, with more specialized versions around 50 to 80€. A 500% margin on the thermostat alone could qualify as excessive.
You already did the right thing contacting Verbraucherzentrale. Keep the invoice and ask a few local heating companies what they’d charge for the same Saturday repair. If this turns out massively above market rates, excessive pricing can sometimes be challenged.
Don’t blame yourself. Panic + no heat + being new tenants is exactly the kind of situation emergency services rely on.
Do you have Haftpflichtversicherung?
Isn’t the “Einsatzpauschale” combined with working time illegal? I thought i had seen some jurisdiction about those combinations some time ago …
well… it’s too expensive. I guess this thermostat head is about 10€ in the Baumarkt nearby and just one nut to screw on. And they are working at Saturdays. Also one can lose a needle valve with a clamp till Monday or so. If the valve is intact of course.
Don’t pay and dispute.
Labor costs and everything okay, given it was an emergency. But the material cost is a scam. These things cost 10€.
Yes you did get scammed!
I feel like this is an appropriate amount for someone getting up on the weekend, finding the tools and materials and even having the knowledge to fix it.
The Thermostat should be cheaper, yes, but he also had to buy it and then your bill would „only“ be a 100€ less.
Next time, just google first and open a window. Maybe ask a neighbour.
Next time, when anything like this happens, and you are with a commercial larger landlord, call them first.
They often have a “Hausmeisterdienst” under contract (or even employed themselves depending on size) that does small repairs like those for fair prices. And they have the exact spare parts for every small thing thats installed hundreds of times through all their apartments.
I am no lawyer, but usually they are not allowed to charge more than the regular price without informing you in advance.
A thermostate head costs 10 € in the Baumarkt, here they want 169€ for it. I would check the type of the Thermostate head they used and check if it really costs that much. Even if it does I would doubt that it was necessary to use such an expensive one.
80€ for a 2 minute job is also very high, I think they have to charge in 6 minute intervalls, 80€ is probably the full hour price.
Also Saturday is a regular weekday unless it was in the evening? Also it is only allowed to overcharge the work time and not any of the other things, so if the working price was overcharged as well.
Somebody who puts pressure on you to pay in cash immedeatly is usually at least suspicious.
If you have a legal insurance I would definitley talk to a lawyer otherwise it will probably cost more to get the money back than it is worth.
Getting some emergency fixes at weekends and in the evening can be very expensive, but this seems to be very excessive. 50 to 100€ would be an appropriate price, maybe a little bit more if it was in the evening.
I would at the very least leave them a negative google review, don’t call it a scam or anything, as they often threaten to take legal action against negative reviews. Just note down the facts, at which time you have called them and how much you have paid and everybody else should be able to see for themselves if they want to hire them or not.
If it helps you:
I once closed myself out of my flat, keys stuck in the door insides. Saturday night. So I called the emergency service which takes 300€ just for showing up, usually 400-600€ when done.
The moment the guy comes to the door, he looks at me surprised and says: “You have little glass windows in your door?“
I said “yeah so?”…And slowly it hit me.
He still proceeded to try it the conventional way but after a minute or so he said, cheapest and easiest way from here is to break the glass and replace it the next workday.
So I ended up paying roughly 300€ for the key guy plus the repair for the broken glass window, none of it insured. Great way to lose money, definitely a lesson.
Yes. Why are they changing you a pauschal PLUS the working time PLUS a weekend charge PLUS the travel costs, and then overcharging for the part?
I could see €200 or so for that on a weekend, but not nearly €600…