Mother haggles down in-laws plumbing fee from £8,650 to just £765

A savvy mother-of-two managed to haggle down an emergency repair fee quoted to her elderly in-laws from £8,650 to just £765, after threatening them with court action. 

Ray and Kay Lau, aged 76 and 72, were just hours away from forking out thousands of pounds for the four-hour job, but cancelled the cheque just in time when told to do so by their son's wife Sarah Lau. 

The pensioners had called out a nearby plumbing firm when they discovered a leak at their home in Gillingham, Kent, on the morning of Friday, September 13.

Two engineers worked on the problem between 5pm and 9pm and eventually fixed the leak - but when it came to payment, Ray and Kay said the cost for the job 'just kept going up and up'.

The couple were given a final invoice of £8,650, including £3,200 for labour and £3,400 to find the cause of the problem. But when Sarah heard about the price she intervened and told them not to pay up.

However, the ordeal became stressful when the couple were threatened with bailiffs by the company and said staff would be coming to their house to get the cash. 

Sarah took control and struck up a text conversation with the company as the email given on the invoice did not work. 

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She also sought advice from Kent County Council and gathered quotes from several independent plumbers for identical out-of-hours call-outs — and was shocked when they came back between £500 and £800.

In her messages to the company, she disclosed that she had received alternative quotes for the job.

She did not divulge how much the quotes had come out to, but the reply nevertheless was: 'That isn't fair. Every plumbing firm has its own prices.'

The message continued: 'Yes, I understand some prices may be cheaper and some may be more expensive but it's not fair to compare like that.

'The price also considers rapid response and the scale of the emergency.'

Eventually, on September 25, Sarah and her father met two men from the firm outside her in-laws' home.

After about an hour of wrangling over the payment in the street, Sarah went to leave saying: 'I will see you in court.'

She says the men then 'ran after her' and a sum of £765 was agreed upon.

Reflecting on the ordeal, grandmother-of-five Kay said: 'It was scary. First, he told me it would be £3,000 and then £6,000. It just kept going up and up.

'He was on the phone with somebody all the time asking what to do. At one point, he left for about an hour to get a pipe.'

Meanwhile, Sarah, 42, said: 'English is not their first language. Ray has only a few snippets and Kay had no concept of what needed doing.

'They were told it was a 'big' job and unless something was done immediately their house would 'fall down' and they would be 'left with nothing'.

'What they did to two vulnerable pensioners was cruel. They used threats of bailiffs and scare tactics. And who knows, they may have done this many times before.

'My advice would be to always shop around and get different written quotes. And if you are not sure, don't be afraid to ask family and friends.

'My in-laws are still very anxious. I wouldn't want to see this happen to anyone else.'

The company involved has yet to respond to repeated requests for comment from KentOnline. This includes two recorded letters and several phone calls.