customer fuming at my price - different rates for plumbing and gas work?

[mike_s]

Today I was made to feel really awkward by a customer.

We have worked for them before so I assumed they were used to our prices. I had to re-fit a large, heavy basin which was siliconed and bolted to the wall. I replaced the leaking waste and had to scrape out loads of silicone from inside the waste hole before I could seal the new waste with plumbers putty and a small bead of silicone on the outside underneath.

It was an awkward job as the sink had been botch fitted.

It took me 2 and a half hours including chatting to the customer for a bit so I just charged for 2 hours. £45 per hour so that's £90. Not to mention the new silicone bottle I'd used to re-silicone the basin to the wall. It looked better than it did before I started and it wasn't leaking first time.

When I asked for £90 The customers wife was shouting around the house saying shes shocked like "90 quid for 2 hours work!!!" Her husband told me to ignore her and it's fine, she wouldn't look me i the eye again and just shoved the cash in my hand. I didn't even feel like taking it.

I used to charge less for plumbing only work when it's not gas which was £35 per hour but I didn't think it was worth it as there's 3 of us in the business and we advertise a lot, business overheads are around £2000 per month but there is always someone available 7 days a week evenings and weekends for no extra cost.

Anyway I'm re-considering charging slightly less for plumbing only work, do you? As I feel people may not be as willing to pay as much for plumbing as they are for gas work. I've never had a reaction like this after doing a gas job and I've been in this business 8 years, my dad started it 20 years ago and he used to do slightly less for plumbing work.

 

[johnnyplumb]

nowadays there's not much difference between gas and plumbing prices.

you should have given her a price before you started though. imo

 

[mike_s]

I know I should've made it clear before I started. I usually give a fixed price or if the job length is kind of indefinite then I tell them my hourly rate. As we have worked for them before I forgot to remind them of our rates and just got on with it but I will always make it clear in future.

 

[PlumbersMate]

I charged £45 to change some kitchen taps yesterday and customer was shocked how cheap I am! Lol where you based ?

Then again last weekend I fixed a leaking pipe at someone house and he remarked that £45 for 20 mins work is way too much and he said he wished he could earn that much. Even though he knew it would be 1hour Charge minimum of £45 because I told him over the phone. I said have a ring around and you won't get cheaper than that for a job on a saturday, I said would normally be dearer for a saturday call out but as you're a regular customer I've done it cheaper


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[EPH]

If you've had one moan in eight years and her husband has said ignore her, I think you're priced about right.

 

[Leo21]

You can't please all the people all of the time. Iff your still busy your obviously doing something right. You can't crumble every time you get a complaint. Your price seems fair.

 

[galaxy_plumbing]

good price IMHO, just let them know before next time.:nopity:

 

[Rickster123]

Fair price mate IMHO. Hope you rung the doorbell later to add the VAT?! I had the same thing with a customer once on a pump change on new years day! I charged 220 all in. Bargain. He went mental. Saying it was a rip off. Told him very calmly to forget it. I aint that desperate for the money and can sleep quite soundly at night. Two days later he put the cheque through my door!

 

[Megaflo-Experts]

You will always get the odd customers like that. I had one not that long ago, and as they are few and far between, I refuse to do any further work for them...quite satisfying when they next call up, all nice and friendly, and then I have to politely suggest they try someone else who can do it cheaper...

 

[AWheating]

No difference in rate between plumbing and gas mate, in fact at my old firm you could earn more just on the plumbing and you always seemed to be punished for being able to do gas work aswell.

They asked a qualified person to do work for them, your a qualified plumber and gas engineers i see no reason why different rates need apply. To be honest alot of plumbing jobs are harder work than gas work. Id rather service an applaince for £50 than change a set of bath taps for £50.

 

[cdodds2004]

No difference in rate between plumbing and gas mate, in fact at my old firm you could earn more just on the plumbing and you always seemed to be punished for being able to do gas work aswell.

They asked a qualified person to do work for them, your a qualified plumber and gas engineers i see no reason why different rates need apply. To be honest alot of plumbing jobs are harder work than gas work. Id rather service an applaince for £50 than change a set of bath taps for £50.

i 2nd that statement, some plumbing jobs i hate, always end up with bleeding knuckles 🙂

 

[WaterTight]

As said it's not your price that's the problem (although it's about as high as you could go before being conspicuously too expensive in my opinion) but rather a combination of people having wildly varying notions of what things should cost and your forgetting to give a price or ballpark beforehand due to familiarity with the customer (both of which everyone here will have been bitten for before.)

Every now and then I get made to feel like a thieving scumpile for a price and spend a while ruminating and swearing I'll at least give ballpark figures every time but it's not long before I go back to old habits because the truth is most people know roughly what to expect cost wise. The majority of my customers aren't shocked by my prices.

 

[mike_s]

Exactly, no one has ever complained of my £55 boiler service rate and I don't break a sweat unlike with awkward plumbing jobs.

Yeah I've spoken to my Dad about it today and he said it's about right. We have a professional image with our van, logo and uniform and we do a good job.

I won't let one moan change anything now, we're virtually fully booked til August anyway, just shook me up a bit as I don't want to price myself out of small plumbing jobs but I've done loads of toilets and sinks etc recently, most customers are just happy I do a good job and turn up.

 

[kirkgas]

as i am a plumber, i would never charge less for lumbing than gas thats an insult to plumbing, plumbing is plumbing and gas is gas, one isnt any harder or better than the other, although you do have additional expenses for gas, but i would set an hourly rate for both and stick to it

 

[GrahamM]

I do not believe that was a bad price.
As mentioned, maybe save yourself the ear bashing:bigear: in future by giving price beforehand.
Althoughthis customer would probable complained all the way through the job if you gave them the quote before. Sometimes you cannot win.

 

[Barry98]

She is a chancer , she was hoping you'd not take money or give some back

 

[mike_s]

I think you're right there bod as that is how she made me feel but I need not to be soft. I know a local pc repair one man band who charges £50 per hour, web designers that are around the same.

After all the travelling and work in do for free in the evenings, I'm not sure I'd want to charge less than £45 per hour when I'm actually plumbing.

The point is though how much they are willing to pay and wether it is more for gas work than plumbing.

I also recently gained commercial acs quals and come up with a higher rate for commercial work as there is less competition so I can get away with it.

When the iphone 4s came out everyone moaned about it being £550 but they still bought it, they don't care how much Apple is making, just wether it is worth it to them.

Same goes for plumbing really, if they don't think it's worth it they can do it themselves or call someone else.

 

[mike_s]

forgot to state that there is slightly more competition for small plumbing jobs perhaps so that may bring the price down. Although perhaps that is just silly as specialist gas/heating work is practically the same trade as plumbing. Where would you draw the line. I Couldn't charge less for fixing sinks, taps and toilets as I do for powerflushing or balancing rads.

 

[Nostrum]

I don't see where the logic in changing your rates would come from. Your overheads are fixed regardless if you do 75% plumbing 25% gas or vise versa (maybe with the exception of notifications) so you are basically saying one should be more profitable than the other.

In fact personally people may be put off if the rate changed for gas, as you could see it as a premium price being put onto gas work rather than a reduction in plumbing, surely you want to earn the same amount an hour (or hour) every day/week/month regardless of what job is being asked for.

 

[mike_s]

The logic is that if they are not willing to pay as much for small plumbing repairs then they will call someone else, so unless I'm absolutely snowed under then I would still be gaining money if I can fit the job in. I think there is a small argument for it but a big one against charging less for plumbing work that is not heating or gas work.

 

[Howsie]

Not a nice feeling at all. In those situations(as long as it doesn't owe me too much) I tell them to pay me the cost if materials and not to call me again.

Cust-turds I call those ones. Let them stick to someone else.

 

[SimonG]

Mechanics £75+ an hour.
Lawyer/Solicitor £120+ an hour.

Your price was right as far as I'm concerned.

Wrong time of the month?

 

[galaxy_plumbing]

😀😀 made me laugh that one Simon

 

[mike_s]

To be honest my Dad said probably the menopause, she was around 50. No coincidence the top 5 biggest moaners I've come across have been middle aged women.

 

[SimonG]

No coincidence the top 5 biggest moaners I've come across have been middle aged women.

A mate of mine once said that there's many a good tune to be played on an old fiddle.