MORNINGSIDE SCAFFOLDING CREW ADDS $180 'ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT' LINE TO INVOICE
The homeowner queried it. The foreman explained. She's still queried.
A Morningside scaffolding outfit has begun itemising an $180 'attitude adjustment' fee on residential invoices, applied at the foreman's discretion and, according to three separate customers, applied every single time.
Homeowner Priya Ranchhod, who is having her Kamo Road villa reclad, said the line appeared halfway down the quote between 'edge protection' and 'GST'. "I asked what it was. He said 'you'll know when you cop it'. I still don't know when I've copped it. That's the problem."
Foreman Dallas Whetu, contacted at the site while eating what he described as "a mince and cheese, obviously", was unrepentant. "Look, some clients are a good cunt about the job. Some clients ring me at 7am asking if the scaff's level. It's fucking scaff. It's level enough. That's the eighty bucks. The other hundred's for the tone."
A second customer in Maunu said she'd been charged the fee after asking whether the crew could avoid parking the ute on her lawn. "Apparently that was attitude," she said. "I thought it was grass." The ute, a black Ranger with a Bledisloe Cup sticker and no rear numberplate light, remained on the lawn for the duration of the job.
Whangarei District Council confirmed the fee was not something they regulated, and declined to comment further on the basis that "we've got our own scaffolders and frankly we don't want to know". A Master Builders spokesperson said the practice was "not industry standard" but conceded it was "probably Northland standard".
Ranchhod has paid the invoice. The scaffolding is still up. Dallas has added a second line item to next week's progress claim reading 'follow-up attitude — $60'.
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Reader Letters
★ Garry (Halswell)
Back in my day, tradies respected the clients enough not to tack on mysterious fees. Standards have certainly dropped. Also, there was never any of this charging extra for asking questions.
KiwiBuilder69
I reckon they're just trying to fuck with us all.
JoannePetone
Honestly, $180 just for asking questions? Sounds like they're the ones with an attitude problem. Maybe they need an attitude adjustment themselves.
Sandra McKenzie
Mate, what even is scaff level enough? That term's as dodgy as the billing.
★ Margaret_F
Gerald would never have approved of such cheek from a tradie. In our day, we relied on trust and a handshake, not sneaky fees.
waynetopfloor
This busted industry practice will keep getting more munted unless customers put their foot down.
★ Margaret_F
It's a bloody cheek, isn't it? Imagine if we had to pay extra every time Gerald asked a question at the gardener's. He'd have gone broke!
★ Trev_Hornby
Seems like common sense to me. If clients are rooted pests, they deserve a fee. Why should the scaff crew deal with drongos without compensation?
couchgremlin
Piss off!
Ned_Wellsford
Council should step in before this nonsense spreads further.
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