Just been accused of being a rip-off merchant.

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Just been accused of being a rip-off merchant.

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WaterTight

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Emergency call. Leak coming through ceiling. 40 gallon CWSC sitting on chipboard buckling so bad it probably had minutes left before it came through their ceiling. Didn't discuss price, just set about draining it pronto through taps and through syphoning via hose into buckets. Cut cold in, add isolator so they can put water back on. Remove connections to cistern, pull to one side, confirm base crumbling to pieces. Measure up for replacement. 1hr 15mins.

£50.

"Really? That's a bit steep isn't it?"
 
Thing is you get a run of people who are reasonable and then the one time you don't mention price until you've done some work and they'll be the ones who expect you to work for £10 a hour.
 
More than reasonable price, you would have thought they would have been happy you stopped the water.
 
Just tell them you have just saved them their insurance excess.
Very reasonable price, especially on an emergency call.
 
well how are you supposed to make £80k a year!!! lol

For an emergency call out and parts and labour I think you were very reasonable

Did he/she pay you?
 
Yeah, wrote me a cheque. Said they still wanted a price on finishing the job but kind of puts you off you know? Not sure I want to work for someone who thinks I'm over-priced.

I'd like to think they're not penny-pinching but just have instead had the good fortune of not having any plumbing problems for a very long while and no idea what it might cost. Bloke did say he changed their CWSC in their last house but is too past it for all that now.
 
so are you in the mind set that you will be telling this guy that your 'too busy' at the moment

If you agree a fixed price up front with him, even deliver a quote for the work to be done I cant see any issues as long as this £50 cheque clears

NO idea what he is comparing you to but that will be a factor for him
 
HOW MUCH! I wouldn't have paid you any more than a fiver and you'd be damn grateful you got that.....

Turn up in your flash van with your fancy OOO lah lah spanner and your little isolating valve that you happened to have to hand. And as for knowing what to do I could have gone to B & Q spoke to one of there experts and they would have told me what to do! do you not watch that tv programme watch dog.... thief should have just held a knife to my throat.

OR:

Thankyou very much for turning up so quickly, I had visions of the ceiling caving in, £50 thats really reasonable thanks here's a tenner extra for your trouble. If I'd called a big company they'd have charged me a £90 just to turn up.

Give them a price for doing the tank add a healthy profit for yourself to cover the hassel you'll get. I'd have charged £100 for that though. At least they would have had something to moan about.....
 
what were their exact words ???? I would of probably explained to them how much money and hassle you just saved them, you underpriced yourself though mate, I am on an emergency database which I will get £65 a call out, and thats contract work!
 
More than reasonable, had a similar senario with somebody when i charged them £ 40 for a call out. Her words were ' how much ? please have pity on me." Didn't know whether to laugh or reduce my price until i caught sight of her new BMW parked on the drive ( husband at work in his car).
 
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Thanks everyone for the reassurance I knew I'd find here. Just knocks you back a bit because even an unfounded criticism is an unwelcome criticism.

Thought I might as well price it up but have come across a head-scratcher. Never installed a CWSC before (have replaced an f+e.) the one I removed was 40 gallons, quite box shaped and I measured the max length it's replacement could be as 30". It seems all ones available now are 50 gallon - not a problem - and 45" long - problem... (bes.co.uk, toolstation, screwfix)

Anyone know where you can get more more compact shaped ones or 40 gallon ones?
 
I think it was a good price verging on the for an emergency call out. You definitely saved them a new ceiling. I'd wait until the cheque clears and then put in a way over the top price or tell them they can't afford you. :)

You always get one. I was called out to an oil combi, heating working when water only, luckily I had a Drayton head on the van and changed it over. Wrote out a bill and then it started, we had a look on the web for the valve head and it was £30 cheaper. Where from I said because I'll have to start buying them through them. I explained that if I bought the valve for 50 I wouldn't be selling it for 50. She thought that was outrageous. I said fine, I'll redo the invoice and just put the labour and call out on it, then I'll just nip the head off and put the old one back on, then you can see how clever your computer is at fitting a new one. She paid the bill in full, and they are now on my 'tool' list for charging in the future if i ever have to go back.
 
Thats the constant nightmare of the internet. Had the same discussion many times with regard to boilers in particular. Customers just can't seem to get their head round the fact that if you wanted only to work for a wage then you could be employed. They think you are an awkward sod when the boiler they bought has a fault and you turn round and say, you bought it, you sort it.
 
It's easy when you're not there, but I would have given them a penny off to make it a more reasonable £49.99.

Honestly, some people!!!
 
paid you by cheque what a cheek it will probs cost you that in tax, £50 is well cheap, unbeleivable should have been double that for an emergency and stopping them flooding the house thats the trouble with this job they think your dear cos people do it for peanutes who are prahaps retired and dont really need the dosh or someone who has not much work and wants the dosh
 
£50 quid?? i'd have charged that for planned work, emergency add 50% then materials. they got a bargain.

don't feel bad about it mate, some people just don't understand the lot of a working man
 
Sounds pretty reasonable to me. Fitting a new CWSC is fairly straight forward, you'll be fine.
 
I hate it when people say can you knock a bit off and do it a bit cheaper.

I got called to give a quote for a job last week. I gave a quote of £200 Which I thought fow the amount of work involved was cheap and only just about worth my while. Needless to say I didn't get the job cos he got someone cheaper to do it. But to my surprise the same guy called my again today and asked me to come round and give a another quote for the same work, but half done.Cos the last guy doing it wasnt answering his phone and work was incomplete. Against my better judgement,I gave him my price and what he said? "It too much" I just walked away and told him to get the guy who started the work to finish it.
 
Nas said:
I hate it when people say can you knock a bit off and do it a bit cheaper.

I got called to give a quote for a job last week. I gave a quote of £200 Which I thought fow the amount of work involved was cheap and only just about worth my while. Needless to say I didn't get the job cos he got someone cheaper to do it. But to my surprise the same guy called my again today and asked me to come round and give a another quote for the same work, but half done.Cos the last guy doing it wasnt answering his phone and work was incomplete. Against my better judgement,I gave him my price and what he said? "It too much" I just walked away and told him to get the guy who started the work to finish it.
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I wouldn't have gone back round, I would have said 300. 100 to strip out and 200 to redo it.
 
I would have bout fifty quid was fine, had one similar but they were on holiday and the cwst went water into there house for nearly 2 weeks when will people learn to turn there water off when they go on holiday
 
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secret squirrel said:
Thankyou very much for turning up so quickly, I had visions of the ceiling caving in, £50 thats really reasonable thanks here's a tenner extra for your trouble. If I'd called a big company they'd have charged me a £90 just to turn up.
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Funny you should say that! I do work for a natioal insurance agent, the cover all the big companys that the home call stuff, water leaks, break downs etc. but they also offer a non insuredjob system where if the customer has a problem that there insurance dosn't cover they can call and get one of us out, the typical rate for a basic plumbing job for a uninsured job is just over £90 for the first hour and I think £20 per 20mins there after, and to boot the £90 is payable upfront before I walk out the door.
Had one of these calls late on a saturday night, water though ceiling can't turn off water! so off I go, already garentied my £90!! arrive on site to find the float valve is broke and the overflow (some antique device though syphone) from the toilet is broke/blocked, look under cistern turn off service valve, spend ten minute rumaging in the van trying to find new internal overflow syphone to no avail! so after only 20 mins on site of which 10 were spent in the van, told customer that I didn,t have the part in stock and would return Monday morning with new syphone and float valve. funnily enough the customer was not overly chuffed as he'ed payed out £90 for the privalige. but I he had payed for and emgency/ temp repair!! Felt a bit sorry so only charged for the bits when I went back! left a card and told him to call me next time!!
 
for small jobs i tell the customer over the phone my minimum charge, they either take it or leave it. Your minimum charge should be at least time and a half, or mostly double time for emergencies
 
I would of charged 120 for that emergency call out! I work for a couple of insurance companies and they would have paid me 100 for that!
 
I get loads of customers like that !!! they would be lucky to get any form of call out under £50 from most plumbers or companies i know would say call outs for emergencies are £80 plus .
 
£50........you highwayman, at least Dick Turpin wore a mask when he robbed people!!!!

Haa haa....just kidding, that was for nowt, what the hell do customers want ???? cash back????

Seriously though, that was more than fair, most of us would have charged more.

Bob
 
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