Five questions to ask before you let any technician into your home
Ask these before anybody arrives — including us. If the answers are vague, that tells you what you need to know before the work starts, not after.
This one is about our own industry, and it is deliberately written so that it works against us if we ever stop deserving your business.
Most bad repair experiences in Islamabad do not happen because the technician lacked skill. They happen because nobody agreed anything before the work started. Five questions, asked over WhatsApp before anyone leaves for your house, prevent almost all of it.
1. “What is the price for this job?”
Not an estimate, not “we will see when we get there”. A number, before the visit.
If the honest answer is that it cannot be priced without seeing it — which is genuinely true for hidden leaks, wiring faults and some geyser problems — then the follow-up is: what does the inspection cost, and what happens to that amount if I go ahead with the repair?
Vague on both is your answer.
2. “Is there a visit charge if I decide not to go ahead?”
There is nothing wrong with a technician charging for his time. There is a lot wrong with you finding out about it at your front door with his hand out.
3. “Who buys the parts, and will I see the receipt?”
This is where most quiet overcharging happens. A tap costs what a tap costs, and the difference between the shop price and what you were charged is invisible unless you ask.
You should be free to buy the parts yourself if you prefer. If they buy them, you should see the receipt, and the number on it should be the number you pay.
4. “What happens if the same problem comes back next week?”
Any competent technician expects to be asked this. A guarantee that exists is one where you know how long it lasts, what it covers and what it does not. “Don’t worry, call me” is not a guarantee, it is a hope.
5. “Who is coming, and will I know it is him?”
This matters most when the person at home is your mother, your wife or your children, and it is the question people feel most awkward asking. Ask it anyway.
A name, a call before arriving, and some way of recognising him at the gate is not an unreasonable thing to want from a stranger you are letting into your home.
What good answers sound like
You will notice that the useful answers are all specific. “Rs 2,500 for the job, parts at cost with the receipt, fifteen-day guarantee, Bilal is coming and he will call you from the gate” is an answer. Everything vaguer than that is a decision you are making with less information than you could have had.
Ask us these. We have published our answers on the price list, the guarantee page and how it works, so you can check whether what we do matches what we wrote down — which is the entire point of writing it down.