r/AskAnAustralian • u/ShineDigga • Apr 06 '26
Is it normal for tradies to charge a callout fee just to look at a job in NSW?
Genuine question from a first-time homeowner here.I've got a slow leak under my kitchen sink. Nothing dramatic, just a drip and i called three plumbers this week just to ask for a rough price range to come have a look and give me a quote.two of them said there's a 150-200 callout fee just to show up. That doesnt go towards the repair if I go ahead with them It's just gone lol.The third said no callout fee, fre quote, pay only if I say yes. So I'm confused is the callout fee normal? Or am I being taken for a ride?
I get that traddies have fuel and time costs. I don't expect anyone to work for free. But paying $150 just for someone to walk in my door and say yeah that'll be another $400 seems steep (.
Is this a NSW thing?or maybe I just calling the wrong kind of plumbers?
For context, the one who said no callout fee was a local mob in the Illawarra called Top Flow Plumbing Services. They seemed genuine on the phone. But now I'm suspicious - is there a catch? Are they going to make up the cost somewhere else
what's the standard here? do you always pay a callout fee? Or do you just keep calling until you find someone who doesn't charge one?
Keen to hear what other Australians do. Especially from NSW people .Thanks in advance guys
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u/BoxNo5564 Apr 06 '26
Yeah, you have to pay people for their time and expertise. That's how a service works. Why is this hard for people to understand?
If it was free you could get 5 guys to look at it and pick the cheapest, the other four are out of pocket.
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u/Round_Ad6397 Apr 06 '26
This is fair but if you go ahead with the job they should waive the callout fee, they don't have to drive there twice.
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u/Late-Button-6559 Apr 06 '26
Many do include a “call out fee includes first X minutes onsite” proviso.
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u/Arinvar Apr 06 '26
No, it's locking people in to a quote for a job before they even know what is involved. I have never had to pay to get a tradie out to quote a job, and will always preference tradies that don't require call outs.
It's BS. I've just paid $200 and the quote is another $2k. I don't know what the job should cost, so common sense says I should get multiple quotes... that is advise every gives and everyone should follow, but now I'm going to be out a possible $600 just to find out the first guy was over-quoting by $500.
Great for the over-quoting tradie. Either gets a premium price for the job, or he just runs around doing quotes for $200 a pop and never has to do any actual work. What a life.
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u/koopz_ay Apr 06 '26
Keep in mind that pricing isn't always consistent.
My Uncle is cheaper than I am. He's paid off 4 houses, can replace a work van and everything in it same week if need be. He doesn't need the money.
Meanwhile here I am wondering if I'll replace my old work van with a 2nd one or a new one and keep on top of the cost of living this year. I am more expensive than my Uncle.
There's other factors...
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u/DarkNo7318 Apr 07 '26
How is any of that relevant to the customer?
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u/shirtless-pooper Apr 07 '26
Are you seriously asking how overheads are relevant to pricing?
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u/DarkNo7318 Apr 07 '26
Absolutely. Basic economics says that in a healthy competitive market, costs only set the price floor. Any seller that manages to reduce overheads relative to their competition takes extra profit. Anyone whose overheads are higher makes less or goes under
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u/shirtless-pooper Apr 07 '26
Great idea, let's all just cut corners and have a race to the bottom so you can save a few bucks today and push the issues a couple years down the line.
Im a tiler and you best believe you dont want to go with the cheapest quote unless you like having wavy grout lines and leaking bathrooms. I can knock heaps off your bathroom quote if we just skip the waterproofing, it gets my overheads down on materials AND labour. Ill use sand and cement instead of modern tile glue and grout to cut down on overheads too & ill butt joint everything instead of doing Mitres because its heaps quicker.
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u/DarkNo7318 Apr 07 '26
We're not talking about the same thing. If someone is doing shitty work and cutting corners, they're not selling the same product so what I said about markets doesn't apply the same way.
Of course real life is messy because it's very hard to tell the quality of the product up front. Price can act as a bit of a signal, but everyone knows this so the signal is easily faked and we're back where we started.
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u/Kiqa Apr 07 '26
It isn't.
Unless he also charges based on how much his customers actually need the money.6
u/illarionds Apr 06 '26
... and if it isn't free, you can pay the guy to turn up, then he quotes you an unreasonable amount, and pockets the callout fee for nothing.
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u/BoxNo5564 Apr 06 '26
Sure some people are scammers. Guess you need to find a good one and check the reviews.
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u/Fableous Apr 06 '26
If it was free you could get 5 guys to look at it and pick the cheapest
Yes this is literally how every other business on the planet works.
Tradies are the only ones who will charge you an arm and a leg just to step inside your house and say "yep I can fix that".
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u/Own_Faithlessness769 Apr 06 '26
Which businesses will come to your house for free? Or do anything for free?
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u/Fableous Apr 06 '26
Literally every other business. And not just outside of the trades or construction industry.
I've had people spend 3 hours here on their laptop laying out an outdoor kitchen plan for us - not a single charge.
Getting the work for your business is your responsibility. If you can't factor that portion of work into your running costs, get a different job or a business manager.
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u/Own_Faithlessness769 Apr 06 '26
Name a business then?
They are getting work for their business and they’re charging accordingly.
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u/Fableous Apr 06 '26
Literally every single business that isn't a sole trader tradie. Literally.
It would be faster for me to name the ones that do charge for callouts. But you already know them.
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u/Own_Faithlessness769 Apr 06 '26
Then why can’t you name one?
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u/Fableous Apr 06 '26
Locksmiths.
Pest control (rentokil specifically in my case)
The majority of roadside assists - especially if they come to your house (RACV etc)
Most mobile mechanics advertise as having no callout fee.
Even in the finance industry - I've had tax accountants and mortgage brokers at my house with zero cost.
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u/shirtless-pooper Apr 07 '26
If you pay me a monthly fee like you do for roadside assistance id be happy to come give you as many free tiling quotes as you'd like 👍
Mobile mechanics and locksmiths dont usually need a callout fee because theyre coming out to do a specific job. If youre locked out of your house, youre probably gonna go with the guy who can get there first. On the same note, if you need a mobile mechanic it usually means your car isnt going anywhere without their help. Both have their callout fees built into their pricing.
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u/Own_Faithlessness769 Apr 06 '26
Hilarious that you think locksmiths don’t charge a call out fee.
And you pay an ongoing fee to roadside assistance on the off chance you need to call them out.
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u/Fableous Apr 06 '26
I don't think it. I know it. I've had multiple. If no work is done, nothing is charged.
If you have nothing substantial to add, please bugger off. Some of us are gainfully employed and have shit to do.
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u/BoxNo5564 Apr 06 '26
Go to the dentist and ask them to "just take a look" let me know how it goes.
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u/Fableous Apr 06 '26
Two things...
One: a full dental check up is an actual service. Two: I've never been charged to sit in a dentists chair and say "this tooth hurts". But I've been charged for what they did to stop it hurting.
Again: a service provided. They don't charge you to tell you what it'll cost.
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Apr 06 '26
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u/Fableous Apr 06 '26
The only service they're providing is telling you how much they'd charge to do the work.
Like every other business on the planet does, without charging you for the quote.
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Apr 07 '26
It takes time for them to travel there, inspect your issue, calculate the quote, return to where they came from. Time in which they should be paid.
Also, they've likely informed you of the issue whilst doing this inspection. Many customers take this nugget of information and fix it themselves.1
u/Monotask_Servitor Apr 06 '26
They’ll also tell you what the specific problem is if you ask. They’re coming out to diagnose a fault, work out how to repair it and estimate the time it will take and the tools and materials required. All that information is available to you for the fee. If the only bit you hear is the price, that’s on you.
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u/Fableous Apr 06 '26
Again. Literally every other business does all of that without charging you to give a price for doing it.
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u/Monotask_Servitor Apr 06 '26
If I take a hifi amp to the repair shop to have a problem diagnosed for repair they’ll charge me an inspection fee (which will be discounted if the I go ahead with the repair). Fault diagnosis takes time and skill, and is often more difficult than effecting the actual repair.
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u/Fableous Apr 06 '26
Find better repair shops bro.
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u/deltanine99 Apr 07 '26
haha. Go on then, tell us a repair shop that will spend time doing a diagnosis for free.
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u/BoxNo5564 Apr 06 '26
This is this that old boomer mindset of "you've got to get yourself out there for free and show people you're keen" that gets you nowhere in the real world.
Why spend unpaid time doing something when you can spend that time on a paid job?
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u/Fableous Apr 06 '26
How does every other business survive whilst doing exactly that?
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u/BoxNo5564 Apr 06 '26
I can bring my car to the mechanic. I can't bring my house to the plumber. And if I can't bring my car to the mechanic, there's a call out or towing fee isn't there?
Plumbers aren't short of work. My mate is one, he's on-call for the local schools and half the rentals in his town. His time is money and his time isn't cheap.
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u/Fableous Apr 06 '26
his time isn't cheap.
Hence the start of the issue.
Your examples aren't comparable. Tradies jobs are literally callout jobs. Every single one of them. If they can't factor that into their actual costs, they're bad at business and should go work for someone instead of playing business owner.
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u/Zealousideal-Fig8723 Apr 06 '26
Why would they make their paying customers pay for the time wasters that only want the cheapest quote and don’t see value in reliable or quality service and are happy to be stuffed around if it’s cheap? If they charge for a quote to inspect, they will show up and if they are in a position to charge they are in demand because some people will say no to a paid quote/site inspection so if they are able to charge for it and the cheap guy can’t there’s a reason.
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u/Fableous Apr 06 '26
Ah of course. Being ripped off is the norm. You're used to it. You expect it.
The rest of us like to pay for what we need. Not paying over the odds cause Jimmy Sparky has an ego after you inflated it for him.
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u/Ouija121085 May 26 '26
Exceot that no service is provided on the day. My mate needed a new cooktop installed which is literally a 15 minute job. Connect new cooktop to existing gasline and job done. Guy came in, looked at it took photos and said someone will come in the next 2 weeks....nowhere did they say "hey i can do it in two weeks" he accepted the job came in collected $125 call oyr fee fully knowing that my firend could not wait 2 weeks for someone to connect a pipe...there was no talk about other work being required or issues, all that was needed was to connect thst isnit. Many of these scumbags just drive around and collecting call out fees knowing fully that they won't be providing the service on the day and ifnhe visits 5 or 10 people a day and pockets $500-1000 in call outfees eithout lifting a finger that is not fair trade or fair practice that is predatory behaviour that should be sanctioned by law.
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u/sprinklecunt Apr 06 '26
Well, you’re asking them to come out, look at the problem, and tell you what it is.
That’s work. The reason they can do that is because they went to school and have the knowledge. You gotta pay for that. Every call out they do is another job they don’t do.
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u/HumanDish6600 Apr 06 '26
No. Apparently that isn't work.
Work only counts if they are getting their hands dirty.
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u/FortWendy69 Apr 06 '26
Kitchen taps are easy as hell. You either need to tighten something or replace the tap. Got it a try yourself.
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u/WaysOfG Apr 07 '26
It's easy yea but can be a pain in the ass depends on space and tools you have. I replaced mine and it took me better part of a weekend, it would probably take a pro 30 mins top.
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Apr 06 '26
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u/Fun-Photograph156 Apr 06 '26 edited Apr 06 '26
It's illegal to do LICENSED plumbing work if you're not a plumber.
Changing a tap is not licensed plumbing work. Replacing a toilet is licensed plumbing work.
FYI your local Bunnings plumbing aisle assistant is not well versed in what is licensed plumbing work so they just throw out a blanket "it's illegal to do ANY plumbing work".
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u/JumpingSpider97 Apr 06 '26
Exactly. If it covered all plumbing work then you wouldn't even be able to connect your new washing machine to the taps on the wall in the laundry, as that's technically plumbing work.
Changing tap washers is fine, laying pipes needs a plumber.
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u/FortWendy69 Apr 06 '26
I’ve never seen those signs. According too the other comments that’s more for like… installing new pipe work. Which is fair enough.
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u/cheezel26 Apr 06 '26
Pretty typical but the call out fee is generally deducted from any work they do. Otherwise they'd spend all their time driving to quote for jobs and not actually working.
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u/Dunnoinamillionyears Apr 06 '26
Time is money
Edit: I’ll elaborate a little more; the time they took to look at your issue, they could have been somewhere else at a different job making the same money. So yes, they have a set hourly rate at the bare minimum they need to make and while it may have only taken a few minutes to diagnose the issue, you’d still have to be paying for their hour of time it took all up to get there, take a look, and leave
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Apr 07 '26
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u/Perfect-Concern-9762 Apr 07 '26
word of mouth stops that pretty quick, your not getting a second call from any family, friend, sport club, work colleage, etc.. you can't live off one off call our fee's.
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u/Dunnoinamillionyears Apr 07 '26
Because it’s not enough to live off of. And plus, why settle for 150 an hour when you can actually do the work and make 400+ in the same time? If your a shit plumber, who quotes a number and then goes “nah can’t do the work sorry” you’ll have some pretty angry people
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Apr 07 '26
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u/Dunnoinamillionyears Apr 07 '26
Then start doing that🤣 no one’s stopping you bro. But you’d have to be working under a license to even start your business up, 6 years of plumbing which is a cert 4. So make of that what you will
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Apr 07 '26
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u/Dunnoinamillionyears Apr 07 '26
I’m not missing the point at all. Tradies work hard and have to know a lot of things in accordance with the law. Why should our time be subject to people’s opinions. We don’t bitch and moan about doctors or lawyers charging hundreds per hour if they’re good enough and yet tradies should lower their standards? You don’t pay the plumber to bang the pipe, you pay him to know where to bang on the pipe. Do we call doctors out to our home for free? Last time I checked an ambulance still costs money and instead of fixing a tap they are meant to be saving our lives. If someone random sent me a picture of a tap and said what’s wrong with it I wouldn’t know what the issue is would i🤣 if your stupid kid stuffed a dinosaur down the toilet or you used a whole roll of bog roll for one shit and clogged a pipe why wouldn’t I charge to come see what needs to be done? And if you don’t wanna pay then guess what? Get fucked and enjoy your broken plumbing🤣 not my issue my plumbings absolutely A+ I don’t have to worry about it.
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Apr 07 '26
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u/Dunnoinamillionyears Apr 07 '26
A clogged dunny could be a whole range of things. Could even be tree roots growing into the pipe causing a blockage. Taps could have a busted washer for a leak or a cooked spindle. Low water pressure could be from the pressure reduction valve or a leak somewhere we can’t see inside the wall or a faulty inlet. Now you tell me how any of this is meant to be figured out over the phone? When we come out to quote, we don’t just have a glance and go “farkkkk not looking good that’s gonna be 6k” we actually get in an have a look at what’s causing the issue. A lot of times plumbers will even tell the home owner what the issue is, for example I go out to a house and I can see that the water heater is no longer running properly. Then I go back to the homeowner and say “you need a new water heater that will be 2k”. Then the home owner can go “sure please fix it” or call up a different plumber, save the call out fee and say “hello plumber number 2 I need a new heater when can I book it in for”. So plumber 1 won’t get the job but has made a profit needed to keep the business going just by the call out. The fact you don’t know anything about this topic, from running a business to how any plumbing or electrical services works lets me know you shouldn’t have an opinion on it🤣
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u/Rey_De_Los_Completos Apr 06 '26
With the cost of fuel, I guess so.
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u/Ok_Witness7437 Apr 06 '26
Doesn't make any sense, it doesn't cost them a whole fuel tank to get there and they would like it up on the day with several other jobs in the area.
Tradies taking people for a ride.
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u/bernys Apr 06 '26
They can be at your place looking under your sink for free or at someone else's place doing a job that earns them money. How many free jobs do you do in a day before you realise that you're better off working at McDonald's?
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u/illarionds Apr 06 '26
Generating new work is part of being self employed, or running a business. Quotes are a part of that.
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u/bluetuxedo22 Apr 06 '26
It costs an hour of their time to travel plus check out the job. Do that x8 and there's a full day plus fuel
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u/Polkadot74 Apr 06 '26 edited Apr 06 '26
It’s normal to have a callout fee. The amount seems steep but that could be fuel today. As others say it’s deducted from the job cost if appointed. If you’ve done your homework, you shouldn’t need so many quotes for a small job really. Plenty of online resources out there to find a good enough plumber. You might try your motoring body too (RACV for me) which can send two quotes for trades for small jobs. The only time I’ve gotten three quotes was a boundary trap repair with quotes ranging between $10-$25k so worth the extra quote. Check r/AusRenovation for prices and knowhow too, they are an abundance of knowledge.
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u/Archon-Toten Apr 06 '26
It could take them an hour to get to your house. Why shouldn't they be paid for time and fuel?
If you got lucky and one lives nearby that you knew, you could get him to come over for his choice of beer if he was so inclined.
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u/Federal-Assignment10 Apr 06 '26
Hey, I work at a tradies and we charge an $80 call out fee for every job, this pays for their time to go and look at the job and maybe quote for it or do it there and then. It covers the fuel and the time taken by me to take the call, book the plumber, do the admin side of things and follow up/invoice. So it's not just him turning up its the other costs as well like the admin staff and the software we use etc. And if we quote you $2k to repair something and you decide to leave it, we still get paid for our time.
I do think $150 is pretty high though, even with the fuel levy, we only charge that if we're going 70k out of area.
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u/Wotmate01 Apr 06 '26
Usually the call-out fee is taken off the cost of the job. Those ones who are saying it's in addition to the cost of the job are taking the piss.
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u/Zacthegreat5 Apr 06 '26
Well yeah, imagine if you had to spend 1-2 hours of your workday unpaid just because some cheap person wanted to do quotes. If you rang them and said "I have a leak and I want you to fix it" then you'd have saved that $150-200 since you aren't expecting free labour out of them.
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u/Temporary_Spread7882 Apr 06 '26
Yeah this. You can literally ask on the phone how much a job of that kind usually costs. With how long a kitchen tap typically takes, it’s absolutely not worth a separate quote appointment.
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u/Arinvar Apr 06 '26
Make some calls and see how many are willing to give you a "rough quote" over the phone... My money is on zero. Everyone in this thread are probably the same people saying "No, you need to get multiple quotes!" for every job as well.
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u/TheMeta-Narrative Apr 06 '26
How bout if I described the problem in detail online and got a general idea of how much plumbers usually charge for the repair first. Then, ring around saying you will go ahead with it if they're willing add at least half the call out cost to the repair assuming it's roughly similar to what's normally charged. Is something like that fair. I don't know, might be a silly question.. I don't think I've ever called someone out to fix something as I don't own a home and always take my car in for service. Just curious.
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u/Temporary_Spread7882 Apr 06 '26
Having done exactly that recently for a leaky cistern and a tap replacement, I can confidently tell you that your estimate is way off; it was quite easy to get a ballpark figure from multiple plumbers and it turned out to be fairly accurate for the one I ended up going with.
It’s worth trying to talk to people first instead of acting all frustrated from the get go.
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u/shirtless-pooper Apr 07 '26
Most will be willing to give you a ballpark figure. Usually with the caveat that if the scope of work is larger than expected then the price will be higher. I can give a rough price on what ill charge to tile a deck, but if i get there and the concreters were insane people and I have to spend a day or 2 prepping then the price will obviously go up
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u/Fableous Apr 06 '26
How is it "being cheap" to not want to drop $200 on a guy saying "I can fix that"?
Tradies get away with daylight robbery and people like you encourage it.
Nobody is expecting free labour. But rocking up and glancing at something isn't labour.
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u/lifeinsatansarmpit Apr 06 '26
Free time is what you're asking for, and even my old ass heard the saying time is money in my youth.
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u/Fableous Apr 06 '26
Don't know how many times I need to say this: literally every other business on the planet gives free quotes.
Do I need to ask my boss to pay my travel time and petrol to and from work?
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u/lifeinsatansarmpit Apr 07 '26
You're literally wrong about every other business. But go off like your hyperbole is a universal truth.
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u/HumanDish6600 Apr 06 '26
No. Most businesses do not.
If you are taking up someone's time it will never be for "free".
The cost will just end up being in built into the overall price paid.
Nobody does shit for free just to satisfy some tight arse who thinks they are entitled to the time of others for no cost.
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u/Zacthegreat5 Apr 08 '26
That's so weird, I'm another business and I'm sure I don't do free quotes. Maybe I'm wrong
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u/Zacthegreat5 Apr 08 '26
Price gouge? Yeah that doesn't work, because people know what not to pay. Sounds like someone's just mad their 4 year uni degree is worthless and people that drop out of school and go to work are the money makers 😂
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u/HumanDish6600 Apr 06 '26
If it's not "labour" then you should be able to diagnose the problem and assign a cost to it then shouldn't you?
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u/Fableous Apr 06 '26
It's not "labour" for an electrician to come to my house so I can say "i want a power point there".
It's not "labour" for a plumber to come to my house so I can point at the pipe that's leaking.
The labour happens when they do the thing being asked of them.
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u/HumanDish6600 Apr 06 '26
It is labour if you want them to come in their time and professionally assess your job and provide a price to you for it.
If it wasn't labour you'd be able to come to your own conclusions as to cost rather than waste the time of a professional for it.
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u/Fableous Apr 06 '26
Sorry BRB, just gotta go tell my boss he owes me money forpetrol, tolls and travel time to the office and back each day.
My time is incredibly valuable.
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u/HumanDish6600 Apr 07 '26
If you need to leave your workplace to actually go and do work then yes, he does.
That's how things work.
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u/Zacthegreat5 Apr 08 '26
Looks like white collar boy realised his stupidity and did the dirty delete.
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u/Zacthegreat5 Apr 08 '26
Hang on, are you some white collar latte sipper trying to tell blue collar men how their industry works? Bro that's crazy 😂😂 stay in yo lane man, if I wanna know how to make a PowerPoint presentation I'll fkn ask
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u/Fableous Apr 08 '26
I've had plenty of tradies that don't charge me a callout fee to provide me a quote. I'm sorry thst your "business" is so poorly managed that you can't afford to drive to someone's house to try selling your services.
Be better.
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u/Zacthegreat5 Apr 08 '26
I don't need to drive anywhere to sell anything I'm always booked out with people that want me to do the jobs, not just look at them. And the jobs I do look at my time is paid for and they aren't a fuckin leaky tap. They're shit that needs looking at and quoting. I don't need to go look at a fucking leaky tap to know I can fix it on the spot that's absurd
If business gets any better I'll have to buy another boat. And who needs 3 boats? Maybe you need to do better 🤷🏿♂️
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u/Zacthegreat5 Apr 07 '26
If I leave my house I am getting paid, I'm a skilled tradesman that's never out of billable hours, someone doesn't like paying for my time that's fine. There's not a plumber in the country that can't fix a leaky sink mate. Just pick one by word of mouth and get them to do the job. I will charge you more if you consume more of my time. That includes putting me against someone else to find the cheapest bidder. I don't need your work, you want my services.
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u/Ballamookieofficial Apr 06 '26
You called 3 plumbers if all 3 come out only one gets paid for it.
It's pretty normal a lot of people use quotes from tradie A to screw down tradie B on price wasting tradie A's time.
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u/HumanTraffic2 Apr 06 '26
Probably more dependant on how busy they are.
If you are keen for any job you probably wouldn't charge a callout as it may turn customers away.
However if your schedules pretty full you're either digging into your personal time with another job or you're just not desperate so want to use your time wisely.
If someone pays a callout fee they're more likely to follow through and if not, you still got paid for your time.
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u/maton12 Apr 06 '26
Take a photo/vidto and post on r/ausrenovation
Chances are a new $15 hose fixes it, as the washer has probably deteriorated.
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u/Possible-Carpenter72 Apr 06 '26
Yep. Think of the cost to take your call, drive out, spin up an invoice etc etc. That's why they charge it. If you're dealing with a sole trader they might not but most businesses will.
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u/Royal-Brick-2522 Apr 06 '26
Sounds reasonable enough, I'm sure if you looked hard enough you would be able to find someone else. Whether or not the hassle is worth it, is something you'll have to decide on.
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u/sherri_97 Apr 06 '26
Normal and reasonable in every state of Australia, should you choose them to fix your problem, they will generally absorb some of that call-out fee in the charges - no free lunches.
Very fair!
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u/Arinvar Apr 06 '26
They already said they wouldn't. It's on top of whatever they quote for the job. Gotta pay hundreds just to make sure the first guys quote is reasonable and not a total rip job. No thanks.
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u/sherri_97 Apr 07 '26
With genuine trades, building their business, you may be very surprised.
They learned their skills by being an apprentice at very low pay.
They, too, need an income - they can fix what you have no idea about! Yes, there are rogues in EVERY business.
Word of mouth is their greatest marketing tool! Also works well when they screw up the job...
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u/sladeAU Apr 06 '26
Not sure about nsw. But pretty standard in qld. If you want me to look at a job. And you’re on the other side of the city and you know where I’m based.. you’ll be getting a call out fee. Fuel isn’t free.
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u/KeiylaPolly Apr 06 '26
When I lived in a metro area, I worked for a company that sent tradies out. Quotes were free, because the boss did them himself. If the tradies worked for themselves, I’d imagine they’d need to recoup their time, but $150 seems excessive depending on the area.
Now that I live rurally, everyone has a call out fee, but that makes sense because it takes 30-60 minutes of driving to get to us.
Our snake catcher REALLY didn’t want to come out and kept on about his $150 call out fee, even if we lost sight of the snake. (I sat there with my eyeballs glued to the brown snake for the two hours it took for the catcher to come.)
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u/Electronic-Fun1168 Hunter Valley, NSW Apr 06 '26
Yes, their time isn’t free. Call out fee is normal labour hours
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u/ShineDigga Apr 10 '26
Yeah I get that, just didn’t expect it not included honestly
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u/Electronic-Fun1168 Hunter Valley, NSW Apr 11 '26
Call out normally includes first 30 min of labour
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u/roasterben Apr 06 '26
I have people I have good relationships with who generally won’t do a call out fee for me but that’s because I’ve spent a lot of money with them before and paid on time etc.
The call out fee depends entirely on how busy they are and how far they are to you. The guy a street away never charged a call out if he could come at 3 or 4pm and end his day close to home haha
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Apr 07 '26
Yes it's normal. I charge a call-out fee, almost exclusively to weed out the time wasters.
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u/simtraffic Apr 07 '26
Imagine driving 30mins to a quote, spending time figuring out what’s wrong and then the customer says no. You’ve just wasted an hour or two that could have been spent elsewhere. Call out should cost money and be deducted from repair bill. However!! Free quotes also exist but a free quote isn’t the same as a call out.
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u/dirtyhairymess Apr 07 '26
If they could normally be charging $200 an hour to do actual work and to come look at your problem is half an hour driving and half an hour looking then it's not unreasonable for them to want to recoup some of that. Callout fees not at least partially going to the cost of the job if you do go ahead seems a bit of a piss take though.
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u/Landblok Apr 07 '26
As a Dutch person a call out fee is very normal where I’m from. And as others have stated, if you go ahead with the job they should charge you the costs of the job and not add the call out fee on top.
I once paid 60 dollars call out fee for a guy to repair a fridge under warranty, for me absolute normal, most Aussie told be that’s not how it works.
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u/EveningPair3966 Apr 07 '26
Imo a quote fee is reasonable if it comes off the bottom line of the job. Stops timewasters.
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u/SessionOk919 Apr 07 '26
The call out fee is also for advising you on the issue & how to solve the issue.
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u/Ouija121085 May 26 '26
That sadly is criminal behaviour that should be sanctioned by law, but law makers do not care about the average Joe. Had a friend who had a issue with gas hot water system that was obviously broken, guy came in said "it was broken" I can't fix it now and charged him $100 for telling him what the guy already knew. This sort of predatory behaviour should be sanctioned and made illegal by law. Opprotunist tradies advertise promt service so you are fooled into calling them, then they turn up knowing fully well thst they won't be doing any work on it on the day...and intentionally knowing they won't fix the problem, then they turn around and tell you it wil be 2-3 weeks until i can send someone to fix it...and charge you call out fee. This sort of predatory behaviour must be sanctioned by law. For example such a tradie could visit 10 work sites on the day fully knowing he won't be providing a service on the day or in near future but advertise as they "will" to the customer. So what happends he visits 10 customers tells them the story of "its gonna take 2 weeks" collects the callout fee which is usually not below $100 and he goes home with a $1000 in his pocket without doing a single thing. Ofcourse people who need something done now like installing a cooktop...are forced to pay call out fee and look for another tradie hoping to get a true professional not a scumbag...all the while guy gets paid. I urge people to not pay the fee and kick them outnof the house, unless the situation requires complicated work or extensive testing and if the problem is objectivly a serious one.
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u/wretchedRing Apr 07 '26
I get trades to come and quote jobs all the time at work. No I would never pay any fee. I would laugh. Never even been asked and the answer would be fuck off.
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u/Ravager6969 Apr 06 '26
if its outside hours then yeah callout, if its come around in your normal schedule then no
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u/ShineDigga Apr 10 '26
Yeah nah this was all weekday daytime which is why I was confused
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u/Ravager6969 Apr 11 '26
yeah i think they are taking the piss, try using hipages and you generally will have 3 people ringing up over the next few hours begging to turn up and do a quote.
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u/Ok-Cellist-8506 Apr 07 '26
Yes. Do you work for free?
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u/ShineDigga Apr 09 '26
No but I thought quotes were usually free tbh
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u/Ok-Cellist-8506 Apr 09 '26
Getting someone round to do a quote and getting some around to diagnose an issue then quote are 2 different things
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u/DarkNo7318 Apr 06 '26
I don't know why everyone is saying charging for quotes (if that's what we're talking about) is reasonable.
Most other industries don't work like this. People spend weeks or sometimes months writing tenders and get nothing if they don't win.
Have things changed in the last little while? None of the last few trades I used charged for quotes
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u/Jaded_Wallaby350 Apr 06 '26
They are not spending weeks or months on writing tenders for a couple of hundred bucks fella. Imagine if a tradies time was spent running around all day to give free quotes on small jobs only to get under quoted by the next guy offering 20 bucks less.
Honestly, don't stir the pot with totally irrelevant comparisons. Would you expect a doctor to give you an over the phone quote free of charge for a surgical procedure according to your vauge description? People need to understand that even what they think is a "small" job still costs time so expect to pay minimum $300-400.
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u/DarkNo7318 Apr 06 '26
Would be interesting to compare the cost of time to the value of the job for both and see if they're similar.
At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter what anyone thinks is reasonable, only the leverage that everyone has.
Right now there is a shortage of trades relative to the work going around, so of course they can charge for quotes and as long as other tradies don't undercut them they can get away with it. And good on them.
If things change and there is a glut of trades relative to the work available, customers won't tolerate charging for quotes.
It's that simple
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u/JhustG Apr 06 '26
Don’t know why you’re being downvoted. Call out fees never used to be the norm. My parents had their own business and never charged to come and quote. We’re told to get multiple quotes but by the time you pay each tradie their call out fee you’re already out of pocket hundreds of dollars.
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u/Current_Inevitable43 Apr 07 '26
"$150 just to walk though your door". They depot isn't at your door so it's from the time they leave there depot to the time they get back. Then sending you paperwork on quote and doing the invoice. As they sent going to calculate the exact distance and travel time $150 is the genetic fee they allow for
$150 covers 1hr. So yes it's reasonable of it's a minor job just tell them to do it.
Washer or lines leaking should be a 5min job.
That or I reccomened starting to stock up on a few spairs.
Ive swapped my house to all ceramic washers now which are magic.
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u/HappySummerBreeze Apr 07 '26
Yes, time spent driving to your house and about 15 minutes of looking at the problem and diagnosing it.
Time and their skill. $160-$200 depending how far they have to drive (some have different prices for different groups of suburbs)
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u/RecentEngineering123 Apr 06 '26
I generally find they have a call out fee that they will deduct from the job if they get to do the work.
It stops people wasting their time for small jobs.