On 14 Feb 2013 at 6:05pm Gerry Cortese wrote:
Paul Major plumber - nice people but a £50 call-out fee and a £60 bill for a job lasting 15 mins at a Lewes address ?
On 14 Feb 2013 at 6:58pm Deelite wrote:
As an ex-plumber this seems pretty normal to me. The call out fee is set and you must have accepted it. The labour charge is by the hour (not the minute or the quarter hour).
If Paul's charges were a surprise to you you only have yourself to blame.
Sorry.
On 14 Feb 2013 at 7:07pm p.c wrote:
i have nether pay a plumber a call out fee . that a joke well you know not to go back to him again
On 14 Feb 2013 at 7:23pm Yawn... wrote:
Christ. Don't you even know how to use a spell-checker?
On 14 Feb 2013 at 8:46pm Reliable plumber wrote:
Just to clarify was it £50 call out plus £60, total £110??
Or as I suspect £50 for the first hour plus £10 for materials, total £60. This is only slightly above what I charge for small works. Nothing unusual in these costings. What was the vat content ??
On 14 Feb 2013 at 9:05pm p.c wrote:
sorry done in a rush yawm
On 14 Feb 2013 at 11:02pm edtheplumber wrote:
Gerry,
often one has to pay people for what they know; not just what they do. But it is not just that. I am booked until the end of March. If someone calls me with an emergency; I may have to load all the tools into the van, explain my absence to the current client, then try to invent time to catch-up. The reason it took Mr. Major 15 minutes is because he had the right parts (time involved) and knew what he was doing. If it was easy I am sure you would have done it yourself.
If you were, for example, an Actor, would you only count your hours on stage to be paid?
On 15 Feb 2013 at 12:29am Dave wrote:
That's an interesting one.
As a babysitter you get paid maybe a fiver an hour
As a barrister maybe £100 an hour
Is the difference then all about the time you spend not doing the job but knowing about it?
What about nurses and teachers, how come they get nearer the babysitter wage than the barrister?
On 15 Feb 2013 at 12:41am Local wrote:
If they are also self-employed and work on an ad-hoc basis, they'd earn more.
On 15 Feb 2013 at 12:43am Billionaire wrote:
Make the most of it - when we get rid of that minimum wage nonsense, you plebs will be referring to 2013 as the Golden Age of Plenty. It'll be great for the economy if we could only make the poor (and the middle classes) poorer, trust me.
On 15 Feb 2013 at 7:37am Gullible wrote:
Gosh Billionaire, you are funny.
On 15 Feb 2013 at 8:28am Pirate Plumber wrote:
YRAAAAAAAAAGHR!
I think it is preposterous that someone invests their time in learning a skill, practicing the skill to become professional. Then spending their money to invest in equipment to be able to do that job. And then turn up to a job, do it efficiently and quickly. AND THEN EXPECT TO BE PAID FOR IT!?!?
Burn that stinking, rotten plumber. He's going to eat your children!
On 15 Feb 2013 at 11:20am Clifford wrote:
So where does the 'call out' fee come in Pirate Plumber? I don't have to pay to go into a shop and then pay again when I buy something; I don't have to pay to get on a train and then pay the fare. So why do i pay the plumber to come out and then pay for the work?
On 15 Feb 2013 at 11:43am Down South wrote:
Well if you went to the plumber instead of him coming to you, he wouldn't charge his call-out fee
On 15 Feb 2013 at 2:15pm brixtonbelle wrote:
A plumber could go to callouts all day - if they didn't charge a minimum fee they would not earn anything for the time and expertise and expense they have gone to answering people's emergencies. If it's not an essential urgent job then book a plumber in advance and don't pay call out fee.
On 15 Feb 2013 at 7:58pm Mr leak wrote:
I hope you got a guarantee
On 15 Feb 2013 at 8:03pm Sussex Jim wrote:
A tradesman has to pay certain amounts up front to set up his business, unlike a student who can get a loan to be paid back sometime never when they are earning well. Business overheads like a van, tools, insurance, phone advertising,etc. have to be factored in to the hourly rate before he even leaves home.
Then he has to drive out to your job. With fuel and other mileage costs and the time taken to get to you, he should realistically be charging you up to £2 per mile. An experienced man should be paid perhaps £15 per hour, that's £30 000 per year, in line with other skilled professional people- teachers, policemen, managers... A fair rate to include overheads must be at least £20 per hour, plus travel. (I haven't even mentioned VAT at 20% to be added).
This is for a sole trader on his own. If you call out a company you must expect to pay for running an office with all the support staff. When I was working as a sub-contractor for a firm with about 30 men out on the job there were about another 10 back in the office whose salaries had to be charged for.
Think yourself lucky to get a man* round for less than £50 for a small job.
*The term "man" also implies the female tradeswoman.
On 15 Feb 2013 at 10:33pm tom wrote:
call out free thats out of date . i would shop around a lot of god plumers would not rip you off . like that
On 15 Feb 2013 at 11:34pm SOM (15A) wrote:
callout is a fair thing to ask ,
If you think the guy has had to travel to you ... he would have to put fuel in the van , pay to park it, tax it insure it etc. if you did not need to call him to your home then there would be no charge ... you could do the job yourself .......
On 16 Feb 2013 at 12:26am jo wrote:
shop around for a better deal i do
On 16 Feb 2013 at 10:42am Plumbcare wrote:
No call out fee at Plumbcare.co.uk local Lewes co. formerly Roy Hammond &Son.
On 16 Feb 2013 at 1:53pm Leaky wrote:
In this age you should not pay call out for plumbers! Should be glad they got the work
On 16 Feb 2013 at 4:15pm Guido wrote:
So leaky, your saying they should work for practically nothing and should be grateful they are going to people's houses. Using their own fuel to get there. Using their knowledge and skill in which they spent years learning..... Absolute tosh.... Good on major plumbing..
On 16 Feb 2013 at 8:07pm Cliffe Hanger wrote:
@Dave. It is basic economics.
Think about how much a barrister can achieve in a few days' work. He or she may convince a jury to put away a dangerous individual for life. Or, he or she may convince a jury that someone accused of a heinous crime is actually innocent and deserves to remain a part of society. People, quite rightly, value these skills highly.
That is not to detract from the skills of a baby sitter. But think how many people have the ability to be a barrister, and how many the ability to be a baby sitter? Then think about how much each can achieve in one day.
That is why they get paid different amounts.
The pay of teachers and nurses is determined in a similar way.
Supply and demand, innit?
But then I am sure you know that really.
On 17 Feb 2013 at 2:47am Leigh Voff wrote:
Ah, you're from Lewes, you can afford it. Even though this site is free to view, I have to pay mentally to deal with the long lingering effects of people like this mumpet moaning about things that are really quite reasonable, like paying for the knowledge of someone who knows more about a problem in a system you know nothing about. Trying to discredit anyone on a forum like this is exceptionally closed minded. But that's why I view the Lewes forum, to make sure all the closed minded folk are still there not affecting East Sussex in general. Toot toot, all. X
On 17 Feb 2013 at 10:15am demons eye wrote:
Plumbcare. Isnt that the bloke who got caught on the fiddle with someone at Firle estate a few years ago? Touch and bargepole...........
On 17 Feb 2013 at 5:33pm Sussex Jim wrote:
Demons eye, I have heard about this. It's none of my business- but I think it was a case of the client not paying the plumber.
On 17 Feb 2013 at 9:13pm Plumbcare wrote:
Thank you Sussex Jim. It's so nice to know that not everyone believes all they read. Going back to the earlier posts I for one can verify that a good barrister can certainly win an un-winnable case, similarly an awful barrister can lose a perfectly winnable one.
On 23 Feb 2013 at 8:50pm mickyboy wrote:
I used to quote by the hour or part there of based on site arrival time, one elderly lady phoned up to say my engineer had cleared her blocked drain in 5 mins and she wanted to pay less, I advised her it was for the hour or part there of, the charge stood but if she wanted any odd jobs done to make up the time just ask the engineer, he happily mowed her lawn had a cuppa and everybody was satisfied
the main point is that a tradesmans charges are his business to set, as long as they are quoted first (we always did it before an engineer was dispatched) then there is nothing to complain about assuming a proper job has been carried out.
as an aside the cheapest quote I had to change a 6 gang consumer box in cornwall was £640.00 (from a guy that lived 2 doors away) I did the job wednesday, parts £74, petrol £80 Labour 2hrs including changing 3 ceiling pendants plus 8 hrs driving time. cornish oil boiler engineers are £80 per hour for every visit including those were they have to return later with correct parts. in fairness they have a fair distance to travel, unlike the local electrician. I always found that people will pay professional fees with out a blink of an eyelid, but moan and groan about a tradesmans fee usually with out reasonable cause. a gas safe registered engineer pays a high price to remain annualy registered, far more I believe than a solicitor pays annualy
On 23 Feb 2013 at 10:26pm FFS don't do that. wrote:
Is that why you call your plumber an engineer, rather than a tradesman? It makes the customer think they're getting something more highly skilled?
If I phoned up asking for a plumber and was told an engineer is on his way, I'd cancel it immediately, its not a trustworthy company.