Plumber rip off?

Werewolf · 10 Nov 2009 at 14:44

dekez said:
Don't forget if he is a self employed plumber, he has to cover all the costs of his business, transportation, tools, tax, insurance, membership to professional bodies etc... He will also have to budget for times when he has little work, as he will not have a steady stream of income like employed people.

What he aid basically.
The plumber also likely has to allow at least an hour for the job so that if it does take longer than expected he has time free (rather than booking solid based on minimum time).

Any tradesman who does call outs will tend to charge a minimum fee, be it via callout charge including X minutes, or an hourly rate (often with a high first hour) even if it only takes 10 minutes.

It's one of the reasons my dad bought all the plumbing tools himself

dekez · 10 Nov 2009 at 14:44

Alrik said:
I think you would find a lot of plumbers would charge a similar price and some even more depending on whether they are honest or not.

I agree, when I read the thread title I half expected someone to be saying they had been charged £1000 to fix a leaky tap or something similar!

Prophet · 10 Nov 2009 at 14:48

You think plumbers are bad.. You should try a drain specialist. One of my drains blocked last year so I called someone out. They spent 40 minutes filling their tank from my water supply then 5 minutes flushing it out. He was gone withing 50 minutes and charged £75 + VAT. The drain blocked again later that year so I went to B&Q, bought some rods for £16 and unblocked it myself in less than 10 minutes.

The Dread Pirate · 10 Nov 2009 at 15:03

Did he do the classic breath in

Bes · 10 Nov 2009 at 15:10

Sounds about right to me.

HAz · 10 Nov 2009 at 15:14

bargain

Gackt · 10 Nov 2009 at 15:46

Did you make him coffee and treat him like royalty? If not, then expect your whole bathroom to flood in a few weeks.

Cosimo · 10 Nov 2009 at 16:08

Showboat said:
How can he possibly be looking for £75?

Sounds about right for a plumber, you could always pay him more.

oneale90 · 10 Nov 2009 at 16:20

£75 is very reasonable. Remember your paying for a skilled persons to perform a task. Did you expect to pay him with chocolate money?

PiKe · 10 Nov 2009 at 16:21

Did he pee in the bath?

person · 10 Nov 2009 at 16:23

PiKe said:
Did he pee in the bath?

lol

Participant · 10 Nov 2009 at 16:24

Maybe he 'fixed your wife's plumbing' also!

Admiral Huddy · 10 Nov 2009 at 16:24

it's called earning a living. 'Tis life.

I locked myself out a few months back.. Called a locksmith who scarily took under 30 seconds to get in.. £80..

person · 10 Nov 2009 at 16:30

Admiral Huddy said:
it's called earning a living. 'Tis life.

I locked myself out a few months back.. Called a locksmith who scarily took under 30 seconds to get in.. £80..

omg .. im glad I didn't call one now and waited for the landlord instead when the lock on my flat door was dodgy.

jms198 · 10 Nov 2009 at 16:39

Robbie G said:
Maybe he 'fixed your wife's plumbing' also!

Very funny :rolleyes:

He should be charging 30-35/hour +VAT depending on the area and if he adds callout charges.

Unfortunately it seems the norm that 'tradesmen' can charge what they like. £30 callout fee. You can ask for charges upfront.

The receipt should all be itemised; if not you can ask for it.

arknor · 10 Nov 2009 at 16:50

Admiral Huddy said:
it's called earning a living. 'Tis life.

I locked myself out a few months back.. Called a locksmith who scarily took under 30 seconds to get in.. £80..

sometimes its cheaper to break a window

if your insured for it say some kids must have broke the window ^^

.one. · 10 Nov 2009 at 17:01

I have a friend who is a plumber and he has had some people just say im not going to pay you what can he do about it ?

Serous question.

He told me about this the other night, your input please.

I said go to the police but he said they do not want to know which i thought was strange.

ps. Is he telling fibs ?

Mucky_Pup · 10 Nov 2009 at 17:08

Admiral Huddy said:
it's called earning a living. 'Tis life.

I locked myself out a few months back.. Called a locksmith who scarily took under 30 seconds to get in.. £80..

Could be worse, could have been one of the ones who says he needs to drill it when in reality he can pick it, then you would have paid a tad more.

And about the plumber, it's called supply and demand in a free market economy, again £75 is pretty good.

horseunderwater · 10 Nov 2009 at 17:41

Cheap as chips Just been quoted £650 to power flush a central heating system by british gas plumber

lokkers · 10 Nov 2009 at 18:22

horseunderwater said:
Cheap as chips Just been quoted £650 to power flush a central heating system by british gas plumber

My dad was explaining to me what a power flush was the other day (he's a plumber), and it can be a massive job if you do it properly. It can take hours, and it also uses a hell of a lot of water, so I hope you aren't on a meter