new motor on oil burning boiler? how much and how long to fit one?

[that bloke.]

just out of curiosity guys , my neighbour who is an old aged pensioner has had a new motor fitted recently and he didnt get any quotes for the job first , he has asked me to find out how much the motor costs as the invoice only quoted a total for parts and labour.
it was a rbl 171t motor.
so , how long to fit one of these guys? it looks fairly straight forward.

 

[Dotty]

Riello motors generally cost in the region of £60-80. I can change one in less than an hour.

I'd check the capacitor first though........

 

[that bloke.]

lovely , thank you.
so 280 quid is a bit steep perhaps?

 

[Dotty]

Tad on the expensive side, yeah! A new burner would be about £250!

 

[that bloke.]

lovely , you have been very helpfull.
just out of curiosity , if you had to replace 3 rads like for like how long would that take? i reckon i could do it in a couple of hours tops , what do you think?

 

[Dotty]

depends on the size of them. 1/2 hour tops per rad allowing for moving brackets.

And watch the black water! i always stick a stop end on the tail or jam some rag in it if it's a 3/4"

 

[that bloke.]

cheers croppie its not me doing it , the jobs been done but the plumber charged well above average for doing it.
if the rads cost 50 quid each he charged 600 quid labour!! apparently it took him all day but still , 600 quid a day is a bit excessive wouldn't you think?
i always feel bad about charging pensioners and i try to make it as cheap as possible for them but to try and earn 600 quid a day from them......

 

[Gray0689]

Sounds like he got ripped off mate he should complain to plumber threaten to take him to court might work might not

 

[dontknowitall]

Those prices are on the expensive side but surely the customer could have asked for a second estimate/quote?

But sometimes things appear expensive. In the 1970's a surgeon charged a patient £1,000 for an operation. The patient asked for a breakdown. £1 for bandages, drugs, etc. Knowledge: £999.

 

[that bloke.]

they trusted him , they had a lot of work done by the firm he works for before.living in a small village people tend to trust eachother.
ive told them to get as many quotes as they can in future. i do understand knowledge costs money but 600 quid a day on a job that should only take a few hours ? sounds like a lot of money for very little knowledge there.

 

[dontknowitall]

Maybe he'd just had the bills in from his accountant, public liability insurance, van insurance, MoT, service, plumbing association subscription, annual advertisement, Yellow Pages advertisement, power tool supplier for his drill replacement, plumbing merchant for his heat mat, solder, flux and gas, OFTEC subscription, Gas Safe Subscription and assessment and course fees ... ? !!!



I did say it was on the expensive side but there's a fair amount of stuff we have to pay out just to keep a mobile pipe working operative business going!!

 

[that bloke.]

i dont doubt it at all but do you need to earn 2500 to 3000 quid a week to cover all that? 5 - 6 hundred quid for a days work is not just expensive , especially when that days work should only have lasted a few hours.
apparently when he did the boiler he called a boiler shop up the road for the part and they said they would get back to him, he then sat down for 2 ish hours waiting for the call in the customers kitchen drinking tea , chatting and charging by the hour.
the old fella has told me that he will be getting as many quotes as he can in future.
is it normal to charge someone for sitting waiting on a call from a boiler parts supplier or would you come back to the job at a later date with the correct parts?

normally if i am working in someones house and i end up chatting more than i am working i charge accordingly. perhaps i need to put doen on my invoice ''parts , labour , vat , chatting , tea and biscuits''.