Fair or unfair?

[Peter 1955]

I felled some regrowth thorns for a customer, and burning them onsite wasn't possible. They were in a paddock belonging to someone else, I'd felled them from the dyke bank. 

Having decided that removing them with a trailer was going to take a long time, and be very unpleasant, so client and I decided to hire a chipper. At my suggestion, one was hired from a local company who he had an account with, due to them having taken over the clients from a company who were no longer trading. 

We got a Timberwolf 190 with a diesel engine, and it performed far better than the Greenmech Quadchip 160 we had used on a job for another client. 

So far, so good. Only problem was, when feeding it, a branch whipped round, and knocked the emergency stop button off the intake hopper. When I returned it, I told them immediately, and was told " oh that's no problem at all". 

Customer rang me today, and isn't happy. He's had a repair bill. £3.50 for the oil the engine used, ( in less than four hours ) £3 for a cartridge of grease to regrease the machine. Now the dubious bits- £100 for the stop switch, and £90 labour. Customer now faces a £200 bill on top of the hire charge, and is not a happy bunny.  I am not flavour of the month either, as you might guess. 

Have we been turned over, or is it par for the course? No contract was shown before hiring. The company is a big agricultural dealer, but the hire side is growing so fast that it appears to be run by a sort of " arms length " company. 

Your thoughts would be appreciated. 

[Mick Dempsey]

It is fair from the hire company, it was damaged by you, and it wasn’t a consumable.

 

The relationship between you and the client, is….between you and the client.

[Joe Newton]

7 minutes ago, Mick Dempsey said:

It is fair from the hire company, it was damaged by you, and it wasn’t a consumable.

 

The relationship between you and the client, is….between you and the client.

Charging for oil and grease it taking the piss. I know it's not the expensive bit but still.

 

Why is the end user being charged for the maintenance of the machine that should be factored into the hire price

 

Re: the e-stop I'd be asking for proof of the cost of parts and the time to replace. Seems excessive.

[Mick Dempsey]

12 minutes ago, Joe Newton said:

Charging for oil and grease it taking the piss. I know it's not the expensive bit but still.

 

Why is the end user being charged for the maintenance of the machine that should be factored into the hire price

 

Re: the e-stop I'd be asking for proof of the cost of parts and the time to replace. Seems excessive.

I’m suprised they didn’t add sharpening of blades tbh.

 

Excessive? Prolly, but them’s the breaks on hire machines.

[Mesterh]

Seems very petty to charge for oil and grease! Ok on the stop switch as that does need to be paid for but it does sound a little excessive. But who knows, it's probably an arb switch which will cost very mucho moneys compared to say standard switch.

 

[NJA]

2 hours ago, Joe Newton said:

Charging for oil and grease it taking the piss. I know it's not the expensive bit but still.

 

Why is the end user being charged for the maintenance of the machine that should be factored into the hire price

 

Re: the e-stop I'd be asking for proof of the cost of parts and the time to replace. Seems excessive.

I agree I wouldn't pay the grease and oil, that's maintenance which should be covered by the hire company.

Maybe a quick bit of research or a call to a timberwolf dealer will tell you if the price is reasonable for the switch.  If they've got to source it and get it in it's probably reasonable they have a small markup on it.

 

In future get hire insurance, an extra cost to the hire but no nasty surprises at the end.

[david wood]

i know when we hire excavator from local builder they expect it back greased or you pay full rate for them to grease it, when we hire mewp they expect washed  and fuelled but never worry re greased so it really pays to check what terms are 

[doobin]

Charging for oil burnt is ridiculous- the engine shouldn’t burn any whatsoever let alone half a litre in four hours. The stop switch was probably around £50 from Timberwolf and ten minutes to fit.
 

Id be disputing it. 

[Oldfeller]

Timberwolf charge £100 plus for the switch, exact same switch is available for under £7 elsewhere, I wonder which one they fitted?

I have the same switch on my lathe.

 

[Peter 1955]

Thanks for all the thoughts chaps, much appreciated. Seems that hire companies vary in what they expect  a hirer to do before returning an item.

Let's have a go at replying to all without quotes: 

Mick: True, but are their charges fair was the question. 

Joe: A similar point of view to me. 

MesterH, NJA: It looks awfully like a generic safety cut out fitted to all manner of equipment,and I'd expect them to have a boxful in the workshop. Hire insurance would obviously be an idea, but it was never offered, or mentioned. 

David: Agreed, but I wasn't notified of any terms on hiring. Yes, my mistake, but I'm a trusting little soul. 

Doobin,Oldfeller:  : Agreed. 

 

Thanks again chaps, not the end of the world, but safe to say I/we won't be dealing with them in the future.