Hi guys, Had a phone call today from a customer who said his macerator is blocked, I popped round there about an hour ago. First thing he asked me on the phone was do I charge a call out rate, I said no - will lose the job straight away probably. Anyway I get there and he flushes the toilet and it starts backing up immediately. So a blockage is obvious, I said I wont start messing with it tonight as it was already gone 6 (and I'm not 100% sure how long it was going to take). I said £35 p/h. That is more than reasonable seeing as it's going to be evening time, he said that is too much, he said the most he will pay is £50 in total "but it has to be working". I said I will happily come back tomorrow night but I can't guarantee how long it will take, the blockage might not be in the macerator itself it could be further along. He started telling me how it should only take an hour (so he is hoping to have it done for £35 obviously). When I was going out on weekends to get experience we had a similar job, turns out it needed new waste pipe re-routed as no amount of unblocking and trying to flush through would clear it. We ended up back there for half a day doing it and I also seem to remember that the guy I was going out with told me he ended up changing the macerator a few months later anyway!. I'm probably not going to go back, I am trying to build up my own customer base and I'm not exactly rolling in it but this could turn in to a nightmare of a job and I know he will not pay more than £50. I might get lucky and it could be the macerator just needs clearing and it works straight away but if not and it needs more work I doubt I will get a penny due to the "it must be working" comment. How do I go about this? I would like to do the job but where do I draw the line?
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Sanitop macerator blocked. Do I attempt the job? Possible nightmare customer.
- Thread starter armyash
- Start date
View the thread, titled "Sanitop macerator blocked. Do I attempt the job? Possible nightmare customer." which is posted in General Plumbing Jobs Discussion on UK Plumbers Forums.
J
jase158
Walk away!! I charge 2 hours minimum for this job! 1 hour taking apart and putting back together, 1 hour cleaning up after!!
D
Dotty
Tell him to do one. If a custard starts dictating how much you're going to earn you know they're going to be a bad payer.
Go with your gut.
Go with your gut.
Hi Army,
As soon as he said its too much , i wouldve said see ya, You havent charged a call out and folks like that are the bone in our arses,
You cant put a price on a fix like that as you rightly said you dont know how long it will take and your probably better off away from grippit people like that
As soon as he said its too much , i wouldve said see ya, You havent charged a call out and folks like that are the bone in our arses,
You cant put a price on a fix like that as you rightly said you dont know how long it will take and your probably better off away from grippit people like that
I told him I would be allowing 2 hours for the same reasons you suggested so I said looking at approximately £70 which is where his £50 max came from.
lol said the same thing to my girlfriend, told her i'll take the lid off and offer him £35 to mess with it.
D
Dotty
The good news is that you're starting to spot the wrong'uns!
Walk !!!
I will send him a message in the morning to say that I will come and have a look and clear the macerator for £50 but if the blockage is further or that doesn't solve it then more will need to be done at extra cost. If he agrees to that then ok but if he says no then it's his loss.
Won't bother mate just file him in your phone under bell -end
L
lambchop
respect to to you ash, you seem willing to take it on. Tbh is it the sort of "experience" you want, over 12 years I have turned down 3 jobs involving a macerator, one of which was a new install. It took time but I'm still earning without being a skilled macerator cleaner outer.
i will pay £5 for the DVD of this custard solving his macerator problem within 60 minutes, hopefully the rest of the lads will do the same and the custard will be rolling in it
Best post in a while
D
Dotty
You'll learn you don't like people very much.
Whilst I respect your enthusiasm to learn I would just like to add sometimes we all need to learn to say no and popping along in the evening to tackle a job like this that may turn into a can of worms leaves a lot to be desired but most of all being dictated to as to how much he is prepared to pay ...tread carefully Ash best of luck whatever you decide ...regards Turnpin:smile5:
N
newcastle phill
If he phones up id just decline the job and think for 50 quid do I want to be upto my ears in someone elses poop
Its gonna be a crap job anyway
Its gonna be a crap job anyway
Thanks for all the replies so far. I will contact him in the morning and let him know what's what, the more I read these replies the more i'm thinking about telling him to go else where. I'll inform him that it's not likely to be a straight forward job that can be done in an hour or less so he needs to pay me my £35 p/h or go else where. Will update tomorrow night.
saniflow charge 115 per hour
D
Dotty
Or more to the point, there guts!
I recently fixed an under sink one! full of grease and other stuff! just needed a service to get it back working!! have had some float switches and stuff going in some! worst thing was I did the kitchen one for free, I keep my boat and fishing gear in the lads yard , and he doesn't charge me anything! deals like hat re good sometimes!!!!
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