Hi.
Call out fees. These are really bothering me at the moment. They are often upwards of $200 and can be for nearly nothing. I recently got a new modem so needed to connect my inverter, an older model, to the internet - effectively push a button. I was going to be charged over $200. This is not ok.
Without our call, there would be no business. Can these be looked at?
Thanks
Tina
Hi @TJO123.
I have mover your post to an existing thread about tradie call-out fees.
I can see why call out fees are charged. Tradies time is money. If a tradie goes to a house to see if something is repairable, it is taking the tradie away from earning money on another job. A tradie visiting and assessing if something can fixed or to get something working is using them for a service, as they are giving their professional advice. This is why they charge call out fees.
There were 3 individual topics, each about call out fees, that have been merged into this one. The original topic title has also been updated to be more inclusive than about âjust tradiesâ.
In my case, I knew I just had to press a button but had to have an electrician remove the front ( no electricity just shut down which I can also do) then press the WPS button.
If I need a plumber to fix a tap, the work is there. No time wasted. Fair enough if a possible problem is unknown but when it is they make it ridiculously expensive. Like $500 for a washer replacement. Sorry - not acceptable.
I am unfortunately familiar with how your device is probably hidden behind a panel. 2 screws, panel off, button pushed, 3 minutes tops to join and confirm the wifi network, and 2 minutes to put it back together?
Without going into the technologies in play or what may or may not have been necessary $200 is well over the top for a basic call out fee, and a guaranteed quick job that should fit into a basic 15 minutes typical inclusion, not a speculative visit.
$120 maybe since time (including travel time) is their business? $200?!!!? Maybe if you are distant from the provider?
There appears to be two scenarios.
The first is you discovered when the tradie visited you could have easily done it yourself⊠possibly with reading user guides or a bit more research. Feeling a bit silly getting a tradie to do something you could have easily done.
The second is the access to the WPS button poses an electrical risk by removing the front cover. What should be a simple exercise can only be done by an electrician. The design of the inverter not the best as a electrician is required to do a simple task a consumer should be able to do.
Neither possibly isnât responsibility of the tradie and the tradie should be paid for the visit to allow you to use your inverter to that intended.
The first I would also be annoyed⊠I could have done it if I had known and saved $200.
The second is a design issue with the inverter manufacturer. A WPS button should be easily accessible or should have been set up by the installer. Neither is the fault of the tradie.
It is not always a design issue. It is sometimes at the convenience of the installer 
Been there, experienced that. Doing something eminently reasonable is sometimes inexplicably against standards, although instead of protecting sparky income it could equally have been written to mandate installations make âthe buttonâ able to be pressed by anyone.
It is the fault of the installer who put it where it is. They do not have to although doing it in a reasonable manner might add cost. Therein lies the underlying problem.
edit: My âsolar reporting deviceâ was designed to be user accessible with a target installation next to the meter in a breaker box, in its own box, or on an interior wall. Our regulators determined putting them next to the meter even when there was more than ample room was not on, so many Australian installations have them inside the breaker box behind the panel as well as sometimes behind the wiring, out of sight and out of touch to minimise installation costs. When I complained my solar company promised to send a sparky at no cost to press the button if and when it was needed, and they did - until they went into administration recently.
It might not be the installer fault in this case. Both times we have installed PV systems, the installer has asked us where to install the inverter and for agreement for its final location. If this was done in this case, it will be the property owner at the time of installation which is responsible for its location.
This is not the inverterâŠit is essentially a reporting modem connected to (in my case) microinverters. Not all installers are amenable to doing more than âeasyâ especially when the simplest and most obvious per product design is declared not on by the regulator.
In my case the âmodemâ is built into the inverter. To see the settings for the wireless connection requires using the menu on the tiny display to see and set it. Each of my inverters has a panel on the bottom which can be removed to allow access to a USB port, this port allows me to connect a USB stick to load new firmware (when the wireless update fails) or to connect a PC device to get service data or as an alternative to access settings. Perhaps this is the panel that is being described.
I also have a Fronius Smartmeter to get much more detailed reporting of data. This is a separate installation to the inverters and in our case it is installed in the meter box. It too has a display menu, I have never had to change any settings from when it was installed, it is a fairly basic set of choices available from that menu.
