rip out warm air heating

[bengasman]

shall i offer to pay for the plumbers time to visit the property and lay a red carpet and rose petals on the floors for such an occasion.
i can tell you think you are the messiah of plumbing and should be compensated for your trouble how ever much knowledge is passed on to us mere mortals.

So you expect a pro to come over, do an assessment, design a system, cost it, and not charge you anything for his work?

I suppose you also call an accountant, get him over to have a look at your books and send him home with the message: "tell me how much tax you can save me, and if I like the amount, you can do this year's accounts." If you don't charge a lot for it.

Or your dentist, take some x-rays, if you find the cavity and can fill it for "a fair price and don't hurt me" I will give you the job.

 

[simond]

So what job do you do, Johnlewis?

I think its fair to ask, since you profess to understand our occupation so well.

Most customers invite 2 or maybe 3 tradesmen for a quote, and receive a written response from all of them.

Anyone who gets 8 to visit, and only receives three replies is either

- asking for a risky strategy of their own to be carried out at the installer's risk,
- is easily indentifiable as an a*se so that most of us will walk away
- or both of the above

I have an easy way of dealing with people who fall into the above catagories; I explain politely that I will be declining to quote. Probably only happens in 1 in 50 visits, but sometimes you have to walk away.

Or in this case, run!


I

 

[johnlewis]

shall i offer to pay for the plumbers time to visit the property and lay a red carpet and rose petals on the floors for such an occasion.
i can tell you think you are the messiah of plumbing and should be compensated for your trouble how ever much knowledge is passed on to us mere mortals.

So you expect a pro to come over, do an assessment, design a system, cost it, and not charge you anything for his work?

I suppose you also call an accountant, get him over to have a look at your books and send him home with the message: "tell me how much tax you can save me, and if I like the amount, you can do this year's accounts." If you don't charge a lot for it.

Or your dentist, take some x-rays, if you find the cavity and can fill it for "a fair price and don't hurt me" I will give you the job.

i expect a pro to come over, do an assessment, design a system, cost it. yes

sadly we have not got that far yet.

so what you are saying is i should pay for a quote right ?

have you thought about making your incoming business number a premium rate number ?
Think of the income you could generate for years of experience , and biblical knowledge

 

[bengasman]

Bet you he is a banker with a speech impediment. Second guess, he works for the council.


He is one of those people who would not get past the phone stage if he called me unless he was on the way home for me and I could come whenever it suited me.

 

[johnlewis]

So what job do you do, Johnlewis?

I think its fair to ask, since you profess to understand our occupation so well.

Most customers invite 2 or maybe 3 tradesmen for a quote, and receive a written response from all of them.

Anyone who gets 8 to visit, and only receives three replies is either

- asking for a risky strategy of their own to be carried out at the installer's risk,
- is easily indentifiable as an a*se so that most of us will walk away
- or both of the above

I have an easy way of dealing with people who fall into the above catagories; I explain politely that I will be declining to quote. Probably only happens in 1 in 50 visits, but sometimes you have to walk away.

Or in this case, run!


I

i work in IT for an system infrastructure company.

did it occure to you that i need 8 plumbers round because most do not want to do the job . ie it is too much work for them because they are lazy gits simple no other reason.

i have been hospitible with them , please do not insult my intelligence with your own conclusions as to why they dont want the job.

lazy plain and simple, more profit in the smaller quicker jobs.

 

[johnlewis]

Bet you he is a banker with a speech impediment. Second guess, he works for the council.


He is one of those people who would not get past the phone stage if he called me unless he was on the way home for me and I could come whenever it suited me.

"I could come whenever it suited me"

i think you just answered my question.

 

[bengasman]

As explained above: a quote involves time, money and expertise, and I for one, do not work for free.
What you still do not seem to have figured out, is that to produce a adequate quote for a job like yours, can take up to half a day.

The reason I would only have a quick look on the way home when it suited me, is that most of us can tell the men from the boys after about one minute on the phone. You sound like a civic, seems like I was not far off.
So far 8 others have wasted their time; I would not be bothered spending 10 minutes, but would certainly have better things to do then allocating a dedicated slot to you.

Those of us who get more business from reputation than from advertising, tend not to bother wasting time on certain categories of callers like: quote hunters and pitas.
Maybe this gives you an idea why you have had 8 people around, without obtaining a single adequate quote.

Does your silence about the dentist and the accountant mean you are not quite willing to admit you would expect to have to pay them for a quote?

 

[kevplumb]

i have to ask WHY ????

im gonna buy a new heatpump and leave the rest as it is if it aint broke etc

 

[simond]

please do not insult my intelligence

Precious little chance of being able to do that.

PS: If you work in IT I assume you will know what a spell checker is. A tool to make you appear less ignorant in your command of the written word.

 

[mickyg]

get british gas in, they can give you everything you want

 

[EddieM]

To the original OP. Background I know s*d all about heating systems really, except what I want it to do. In my case replace a WAU, heat a 4/5 bed house (pretty much the same sq ft as yours) and provide decent pressure hot water to two bathrooms, maybe simultaneously.

Got about 3 / 4 quotes,

one was a twonk, one didn't want the job, two came in with reasonably similar quotes, didn't go with the cheapest as he didn't really seems a knowledgeable as the other.

Result, got a guy who effectively project managed a fairly large house conversion project did everything efficiently and professionally (although those of you you don't think a Potterton Ultima 90 is a good boiler may disagree)

Total cost, can't exactly remember but it was between 5 - 6K Not a bad price, but you have to also factor in the cost that his company gets to service the installation, plus any additional work I need doing I call him. It's called building up a relationship, I trust him, he trusts me. Simple really, kind of win win situation.

 

[simond]

That sounds a sensible and amicable way of doing business, EddieM. I am sure we would all get on well with you as a customer.

It really is that simple, Johnlewis.

 

[johnlewis]

To the original OP. Background I know s*d all about heating systems really, except what I want it to do. In my case replace a WAU, heat a 4/5 bed house (pretty much the same sq ft as yours) and provide decent pressure hot water to two bathrooms, maybe simultaneously.

Got about 3 / 4 quotes,

one was a twonk, one didn't want the job, two came in with reasonably similar quotes, didn't go with the cheapest as he didn't really seems a knowledgeable as the other.

Result, got a guy who effectively project managed a fairly large house conversion project did everything efficiently and professionally (although those of you you don't think a Potterton Ultima 90 is a good boiler may disagree)

Total cost, can't exactly remember but it was between 5 - 6K Not a bad price, but you have to also factor in the cost that his company gets to service the installation, plus any additional work I need doing I call him. It's called building up a relationship, I trust him, he trusts me. Simple really, kind of win win situation.

so we have finally agreed that around 6k is the right price then jolly good!

But how easy is it to find someone who actually knows what they are doing, like you said it is hit and miss to find a good one.

To bengasman i will take your advice and invoice for my time for any interview i may attend in the future on the off chance i don't get the job.
And please stop comparing being a plumber to a dentist or accountant, we are not talking about the same league really are we.

you fail to get that i have cash ready and waiting to give to a competant heating engineer , but so far all i have found is lazy gits who prefer to change taps all day.

yes i am aware it will take some time to do the quote but 2 weeks come on now ?

anyone up for it chuck a highflow440 in and 15 rads some pipes and a wireless box on the wall 6k cash

 

[johnlewis]

please do not insult my intelligence

Precious little chance of being able to do that.

PS: If you work in IT I assume you will know what a spell checker is. A tool to make you appear less ignorant in your command of the written word.

could be worse i could be an arrogant ********* cough cough

 

[EddieM]

Well, if you work in IT, you must know that getting the user expectations and requirements is critical. Say what you want, do a bit of research, ask some questions, then judge based upon the opinions and options offered by the contractors you feel are knowledgable, able to offer advice. Avoid those that don't really seem to want to have a look around, don't seem to be able to offer a solution, but simply offer up problems.

You're the client, you want options, solutions and a quote. If you're not comfortable with what they're suggesting go for some more. Experience, sometimes bitter, is you find someone you're comfortable using, then build up a relationship with them, then you know you're getting good advice and know you're not getting ripped off, it's quite easy to spot the chancers.

I wish you luck, it shouldn't be hard especially in the current climate to get a good 'un.