CHARGING FOR ESSENTIAL SERVICES DURING LOCKDOWN

John from Woolston

I had to contact a plumbing/gasfitting co. as my gas cooktop stopped functioning, it seemed that the gas was not getting through to the burners to enable them to ignite.
I contacted a company that stated that a $250.00 "DEPOSIT" had to be in their bank account prior to them sending out a technician. This I complied with and the technician duly arrived and sorted the problem in minutes, he didn't use any tools and no parts were needed.
It seemed fair to me that a "DEPOSIT" which I prefer to call a "BOND" was asked for as security, as it is obvious that until the technician arrives on the job and diagnosis the problem it is unknown as to what the actual problem is, therefore what is involved in rectifying the situation. It could be a large, time-consuming job needing a lot of parts, etc which obviously would incur extra cost above the $250.00 "DEPOSIT", but in other cases such as mine to charge $250.00 "DEPOSIT" is in my mind excessive. The online invoice had no details just a sum plus GST to arrive at the $250.00 total.
It was not explained to me on the phone or subsequent emails what the $250.00 "DEPOSIT" covered or what it actually was. There was no mention of this on any of their correspondence. If this was a minimum charge regardless, during this lockdown it should have been clearly spelled out and if not I see it as a breach of The Fair Trading Act or the Consumer Act or some other consumer protection act.
I will be interested to know other opinions or in fact anyone who has actual legal knowledge of this situation.
Thank you.