What jobs are you happy/confident to price over the phone?

[armyash]

Hi guys just reading through a lot of threads and one thing that keeps coming up is pricing up work.

I'm not doing my own private work yet but getting a good idea from the forum how to go about pricing up certain jobs.

One thing I will always do is have a look at a job before giving a price but what about for smaller jobs such as changing a set of taps or putting a new wc in?

Could say (put fixed price here) for a tap change job but find out it's an absolute pig of a job due to access to taps etc. is it normally a case of tough luck? I can imagine a customer getting funny if you start explaining that although it should be a simple job something unexpected could cause the job to take longer than expected.

Obviously can't charge the earth for small jobs but can't be left out of pocket too often. Not specific to a set of taps just used that as an example.

What can people add to what i have said? cheers

 

[woodytheplumber]

I sometimes but very rarely price over the phone but when I do its for something like taps and I just say roughly so much I will confirm when I see the job and you can then decide

 

[armyash]

That sounds a good method.

 

[kay-jay]

Pretty much what i do as well. Just tell them its usually x pounds but can vary depending on various things.

 

[hammers4spanner]

Cant be bothered to turn up these days waste time petrol always price over the phone ,text or off a drwaing .

plumbings not rocket science been doing it long enough to gauge what i want out of it some win some lose ,

its irrelevant wether i have looked at it can still fudge your price up either way

when i was on the packs we never even cared what house it was as soon as we turned up outside we could gauge wether be done by twelve or three

 

[armyash]

Cant be bothered to turn up these days waste time petrol always price over the phone ,text or off a drwaing .

plumbings not rocket science been doing it long enough to gauge what i want out of it some win some lose ,

its irrelevant wether i have looked at it can still fudge your price up either way

when i was on the packs we never even cared what house it was as soon as we turned up outside we could gauge wether be done by twelve or three

must be good to have that experience

 

[hammers4spanner]

Dont get me wrong have proper fudged some prices up its part of this game mate

its how i have always worked tho have never had the chance on boiler changes just been told pick this boiler up from that place and install it here , only get to see the place once i turn up but imho boiler changes are piece of to many make a big deal of ugrading the gas to 22mm its part of the job so just get on with it

 

[armyash]

Dont get me wrong have proper fudged some prices up its part of this game mate

its how i have always worked tho have never had the chance on boiler changes just been told pick this boiler up from that place and install it here , only get to see the place once i turn up but imho boiler changes are piece of to many make a big deal of ugrading the gas to 22mm its part of the job so just get on with it

How do you mean they make a big deal of upgrading the gas to 22mm? Do you mean they act as though it's a major hassle?

 

[hammers4spanner]

Yes mate

same with verticle flues moan bleat more moaning and bleating just get on with it , luckily now i try not to do them get a roofer up to do the tile etc etc to old to be ursing around with roofs

give it a few years and you'l be in the game fully and when that phone rings you'l have a good idea of timescale and possible hassle

however you never stop learning in this game

 

[gassafe]

Yes mate

same with verticle flues moan bleat more moaning and bleating just get on with it , luckily now i try not to do them get a roofer up to do the tile etc etc to old to be ursing around with roofs

give it a few years and you'l be in the game fully and when that phone rings you'l have a good idea of timescale and possible hassle

however you never stop learning in this game

Haha, that's me your talking about! I like to moan at having to upgrade the gas & the vertical flues! It's what's we Brits do I thought...

 

[Ermintrude]

We price over phone or on the day. Me and me apprentice squeezed three additional boilers in this week because we told them the price and said that jobs were straight forward. Agree totally! It's not rocket science . All components are specified cost and time function.

Trv when fitting system ( bulldog) cost £6 installed £25 each plus vat.

Vertical flue £140 plus (£48 or stockpile when on offer with bundle)

Flue extension £65 (45 )

Like for like rad £120 when doing system
unless its a monster.

Combi swap inc flush 8hrs rad valves, vertical flue, cond pump.

System swap or system to combi. Flush, vert flue and about 6trvs and gas 2 days

Back boiler to combi 2 day

Warm air to system or combi 3 days inc all plastering and rubbish.

Service 1hr no matter what boiler / system

Repair by the 1/2 second £65 unless common repair :-

Diaphragm £65

Ignition electrode £75

Air admittance £75

Change pump or 3 port and clean tanks £375

Programmer £170

Mag/power rush 4 hrs £400

Cp12 with two appliances £45 plus vat

Cp12 with three or more or with boiler service £75 plus

Just a rough guide obviously area has a massive impact on prices. These are not real prices but just an example obviously .

 

[woodsy]

Small jobs which are generally below £ 100, i give prices over the phone with the price somewhere between x and y. Spent too many nights/ weekends riding round giving quotes for £50 jobs to be told i was a fiver too dear.

 

[armyash]

Small jobs which are generally below £ 100, i give prices over the phone with the price somewhere between x and y. Spent too many nights/ weekends riding round giving quotes for £50 jobs to be told i was a fiver too dear.

Sounds very frustrating.

 

[BN9Pete]

I give prices for small jobs over the phone, ballvalves, syphons and new taps, i do loads of this type of work and usually get it right.
However i always tell the customer the job will be extra if i have a problem turning off the water,i usually get extra work fitting new stopcocks and replacing gatevalves with lever valves.

 

[SimonG]

No prices over phone.

 

[BN9Pete]

No prices over phone.

Simon if you do small jobs would you drive to a property to estimate changing a ballvalve in a cw tank?
Sometimes i tell a customer its X pounds an hour + materials.

 

[SimonG]

Simon if you do small jobs would you drive to a property to estimate changing a ballvalve in a cw tank?
Sometimes i tell a customer its X pounds an hour + materials.

Wouldn't price a job like that. Cust phones with dripping overflow, not saying they need a new float valve. Could be float valve, could be arm needs bending, could be needs a new cylinder, could be pumping over, could be immersion heater. This type of job is a repair. They either want it fixing or not.

But that's the way I operate.

 

[BN9Pete]

Wouldn't price a job like that. Cust phones with dripping overflow, not saying they need a new float valve. Could be float valve, could be arm needs bending, could be needs a new cylinder, could be pumping over, could be immersion heater. This type of job is a repair. They either want it fixing or not.

But that's the way I operate.

Fair comment, it's not always the ballvave!
I am quite lucky as i have loads of regulars that trust me with pricing.

 

[Ermintrude]

Just say price with relevant conditions. Better than loosing money!

 

[Kyle87]

Does anybody just quote hourly rate or do you think it's better to price a job on its own merits.

And if not using an hourly basis how do you determine how much?

I'm curious as sometimes I want more than an hours pay for a job I can do in less than an hour

 

[hammers4spanner]

i'm do council response work at set hour rate, however its bent to suite me so to speak ,

turn up find urinal needs new trap ,

off to merchants sit down their drinking coffee ,

pop round mates house

arrive back on job

have snack

replace trap

pretend to do paperwork for 30 mins

job done 4 hourts later lol

 

[BN9Pete]

Does anybody just quote hourly rate or do you think it's better to price a job on its own merits.

And if not using an hourly basis how do you determine how much?

I'm curious as sometimes I want more than an hours pay for a job I can do in less than an hour

I quoted an hourly rate for a recent underground water main repair, just told the customer i could not price this type of job.
Also some customers ask for an hourly rate if i am fitting taps they have purchased. Suits me fine.

 

[PatchettPlumbing]

Very rare I quote on the phone, some of my work is based on one price such as basic installs or repairs, but I say it's a rough amount.

 

[stevetheplumber]

i often give a phone quote especially if their a new cutomer ,half of them are just trying to save a fiver of the last bloke they phoned so its a waste of time going out
ive lost full installs over a fiver my thinking is if they are this mean before we start whats the chances itll be a row at the end

 

[BN9Pete]

Small jobs which are generally below £ 100, i give prices over the phone with the price somewhere between x and y. Spent too many nights/ weekends riding round giving quotes for £50 jobs to be told i was a fiver too dear.

i often give a phone quote especially if their a new cutomer ,half of them are just trying to save a fiver of the last bloke they phoned so its a waste of time going out
ive lost full installs over a fiver my thinking is if they are this mean before we start whats the chances itll be a row at the end

Life is too short to worry about customers like this, both your posts explain why i price some jobs on the phone.
I went to a house recently to give this bloke a price for a ballvalve in a CW tank, l was working near his house so i didn't go out of my way, he said he had already got a price for the job, i was £10 too much.
I have wasted hours in the past with timewasters like this.