Am i unreasonable ?

[Henno82]

I was asked for a qoute to replace a standard kitchen sink and fit a pre purchased monobloc tap i told the fella that if it is a straight swap over with no hitches it would be £110 if i had to trim worksurface to new size it would be £150, the customer told me there and then that i am too expensive and he had expected the price to be cheaper and he has a qoute for £60 and will go with them unless i drop my price which i flatley refused to do as i told him i would fit the taps for that, now i need to earn a living but im pretty annoyed at being undercut so severely, so am i too expensive?

 

[dontknowitall]

Nope. I was told I was too expensive for a £10 call out to fix a radiator leak.

Some people keep plugging away at the cheapest (and often end up paying more than you'd have charged in the first place.)

It's not worth worrying about - just take the attitude some you win, some you lose. Your price is very reasonable to my mind (I charge £165 a day).

 

[so-solar]

Stick with your original price my friend and wait for the phone to ring when the person that has just undercut makes a complete mess of it!
You are spot on with your price to be honest, I know it is so hard to turn work down at the minute and as the joe public fully know this we have an up hill battle before we get back to earning what we deserve,The more of us that stick together and keep the prices worthwhile the better, but whilst we have others that work for peanuts this doom and gloom will go on!

Good luck for the future!

 

[barryplumb]

Hi Henno82, dont think you are being unreasonable, ask the customer if he knows what experience and qualifications the £60 plumber has!

 

[Henno82]

Thanks guys, it's a bit of a kick in the teeth when you're told this plus i get married in 3 weeks and as a well know supermarket says "every little helps" and all that the money would have paid for my mrs hair doo lol

 

[barryplumb]

good luck with the wedding, ideal situation to hand out plenty of cards!

 

[dontknowitall]

If you go for these cheap quotes you'll get a name for doing things for next to nothing and people will turn you away when you start trying to charge more. Also if you charge cheap rates then people won't expect quality work from you. It's the "fella's" loss - not yours!

 

[barryplumb]

sorry to change the subject guys but could do with some advice on a shower tray.
Got a customer who wants a low level 900mm x 900mm quadrant shower tray fitted on timber floor.
The problem i've got is the waste position on the tray falls directly over a joist! the customer wont entertain raising the tray on a plynth.
Any ideas? or will he have to change the tray?

 

[dontknowitall]

Can you cut out the part of the joist that needs to be cut then bolt a steel plate (around 1m x 60mm(?)) under it to strengthen the joist again?

 

[Bungditin]

LIke you say raise or change no other option if not then walk away.

 

[Bungditin]

Rather you than me,i don't think my insurence will cover rooms falling through.

 

[dontknowitall]

I had to put a 110mm soil pipe through a house through the joists. (Never again!)

We got a structural engineer in and this is the method he used.

Mind you, I'm still waiting for a phone call to say the house has fallen down. Not that I'll care - worst customer I ever had ...

 

[barryplumb]

thanks for the replies, did think of the steel plate option when i was on site, but it will be about 50mm notched out of the joist!
Also it will be taking the weight of the tray, sand cement bedding, plus someone standing on it, dont think the joist will braek but concerned it might create too much movement in the joist and affect the ceiling below.

 

[Blackcatgas]

I would of charged £100 ish for a straight swap, so your not unreasonable there about spot on, I know work is tight but just remember your self emplopyed, if you dont want to do the work..... you dont have too.

 

[cjg]

steel plate it first both sides , then do your cut , no chance of movement then.

 

[Gray0689]

Change tray

 

[moony]

I was asked for a qoute to replace a standard kitchen sink and fit a pre purchased monobloc tap i told the fella that if it is a straight swap over with no hitches it would be £110 if i had to trim worksurface to new size it would be £150, the customer told me there and then that i am too expensive and he had expected the price to be cheaper and he has a qoute for £60 and will go with them unless i drop my price which i flatley refused to do as i told him i would fit the taps for that, now i need to earn a living but im pretty annoyed at being undercut so severely, so am i too expensive?

100 quid id charge

40 first hour and 30 thereafter - would take me 3 hours

thats with cutting it as well

 

[Avatar]

That depends on problems doesn't it - these types of job rarely go ahead without hitch!

I charge £45 per hour, and would tell them that they had to accept that (although I go to a rolling rate of £25 per hour after the 3rd).

The last one like this was at least 5 hour, plus getting the sink from merchants!

I just tell em - if you want the job done properly by a proffessional thia is how much it costs. Real plumbers dont charge £60 for a job that is going to take at least three hours or more to do properly

 

[fuzzy]

read my post on momo block kitchen tap, turned into more than a 110 job!

 

[Henno82]

If you go for these cheap quotes you'll get a name for doing things for next to nothing and people will turn you away when you start trying to charge more. Also if you charge cheap rates then people won't expect quality work from you. It's the "fella's" loss - not yours!

indeed it is DKIA, i don't drop my prices at all i know what i'm worth and thats that : )

 

[varfurile]

Gotta change the tray unless you can configure the shower tray differently. May be a possibility of 'trimming' the joist, but it involves a lot of extra work and a Chippy unless you know what you're doing. Mega price increase.

 

[barryplumb]

thanks for replies everyone, got the tray in today. Chopped into wall about 10mm, and only had to notch the joist about another 20mm across the width and about 30mm down. bolted a plate on as well for peace of mind.

 

[barryplumb]

out of interest, what would you normally charge for changing two sets of basin taps in same property?
They have already had a quote of £250 + vat !!! including supplying fairly standard taps.
I worked out my quote at £85 plus cost of taps ( £80) £165 in total, does that sound about right ?

 

[dontknowitall]

Sounds fine - if I can turn off water easily I can change in an hour and charge £45 for my time. Wish I could charge a total of £165 round these parts but then lots of other things are cheap around here (not the petrol though).

 

[barryplumb]

what parts are you from then dontknowitall

 

[dontknowitall]

Welsh border. More sheep than people round here ...

 

[moony]

went to a customers house today re-fitted 2 rads after plasterer and fitted 2 new ones pipe run of around 2 metres all surface - charged 350.

god thats cheap was the reply - they got a quote for 1500 for same work but re-fitting a gas fire. so theyd added 1150 to my quote for a gas fire ?

this is why its so hard to quote the range of prices for different jobs is ridiculous at the moment - youve got the new starters just out of there 6 week course charging peanuts and the lads who are well known and rushed off there feet charging silly prices as theyre not bothered if they get the work - me? well i'll just slip quietly into the middle

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

Welsh border. More sheep than people round here ...

don't see much sheep where i live in Wales think the people have eaten them all(lots of kebab shops)

 

[Avatar]

there are 2 degrees:

1) the people who charge peanuts (and eat them themselves no doubt!)

2) the people who charge an arm and a leg (and the rest!)

The rest of us normal plumbers sit somewhere bettween the two . . .

I am suspect of both extremes - if in doubt check their hands.

Hairy palms means either they indulge themselves a lot, or that they are some kind of simian or another!

Always better to get a ****-sapien to do the job, and if they look like Captian Cave Man give it a miss . . .

 

[Avatar]

don't see much sheep where i live in Wales think the people have eaten them all(lots of kebab shops)

Or they are in bed with them . . .

Sorry i couldn't resist!

 

[Hybrid]

Or they are in bed with them . . .

Sorry i couldn't resist!

We bed em then you eat them. Don't know who's worse! lol

 

[plumbster3456]

Nope. I was told I was too expensive for a £10 call out to fix a radiator leak.

Some people keep plugging away at the cheapest (and often end up paying more than you'd have charged in the first place.)

It's not worth worrying about - just take the attitude some you win, some you lose. Your price is very reasonable to my mind (I charge £165 a day).

are you serious £10 lol I am busy constantly and fully booked for 5 weeks ahead all big jobs such as boilers changes , full heating systems and system conversions and I charge a lot more than £10 for a call out min £45 or whats the point in going to the job?
Please dont under sell yourself if a customer tells you its too dear say thats fine not a problem I dont know how many times I have said this and then got a phone call back an hour later assking me to come out.

p.s. I am in the house today as i have taken day off as stuff is being delivered but very busy and fully booked and i dont degrade myself by charging ten pound to fix a leak

 

[SafeGasInstall]

Customer called last night , pipe liking !how much will you charge me to fix it??(she asked)!I went well I have to have a look first ,she goes how much will you charge me to turn up I said if easy repair £65! She goes allright then.
So of I go on my horse(van).when down her dad so competent
Can u not do like this ,do it like this.......and so on
Then he tells me British gas did this , they did that .....
I said well why don't you get them to repair it if they put it on????
Oh well we had problems and now cancelled the contract!
Well I said I can repair will cost you £100.
To drain down , cut and repair section and fill it back up plus inhebitor !then the dad goes don't put inhibitor will create leaks......
How I said??????
Well then she said do it tomorrow .
So I am going in about 2 hours !
My price is my time and my knowledge !!!
You don't like it ,your choice !!!
Let them call British gas and GED ripped OUT
Big time!

 

[mrlennie]

Customer called last night , pipe liking !how much will you charge me to fix it??(she asked)!I went well I have to have a look first ,she goes how much will you charge me to turn up I said if easy repair £65! She goes allright then.
So of I go on my horse(van).when down her dad so competent
Can u not foot like this ,do it like this.......and so on
Then he tells me British gas did this , they did that .....
I said well why don't you get them to repair it if they put it on????
Oh well we had problems and now cancelled the contract!
Well I said I can repair will cost you £100.
To drain down , cut and repair section and fill it back up plus inhebitor !then the dad goes don't put inhibitor will create leaks......
How I said??????
Well then she said do it tomorrow .
So I am going in about 2 hours !
My price is my time and my knowledge !!!
You don't like it ,your choice !!!
Let them call British gas and GED ripped OUT
Big time!

Haha interesting post.

 

[dontknowitall]

Plumbster 3456

My normal rate is £45 for the call out (which I think I mentioned earlier). Most of my customers are charged this.

Maybe it's just me but I don't have the conscience to charge £45 to an elderly person in my local village for a job that might last only 5 minutes. I view it as unscrupulous and I know I'm picking up all sorts of jobs from the same village from the previous plumber who does not have a reputation for being friendly and fair with his prices. Most of my jobs are recommendations (some from these cheap call outs) and it's what works for me.

I know and appreciate what you're saying but back then I was still quite new and not much business appearing so some of my prices were just trying to get a foot in the door and get myself known in the local area. Nowdays my pricing is more akin to what most plumbers charge.

PS - good to know you're really well booked up. Wish I was, but I'm still quite new (2½ years) and during this recession especially it's taking a while to build up to that - but I'm well ahead on my last two years.