Need a Corgi engineer for a simple job in SE London

[akthar]

I've been refurbishing my house and cannot seem to get any Corgi registered plumbers to connect up my gas hob. The ones that have turned up are trying to rip me off. The job should take 30 mins max!!!

The engineers near me seem to only be interested in the big jobs. Does anyone have somebody they can recommend??

Any help would be much appreciated

 

[namsag]

What do you class as ripping off ?

 

[akthar]

Anything over £90.

The parts are if required are not expensive and all fittings are fully accessible so the job should be very straight forward.

 

[tonybhoy]

The market pays what the market pays,if £90 is less than the going rate in your area then you either pay or you don't it's as simple as that.

Your attitude is probably what's costing you money.

Going rate where I am is about £90 ish.

 

[akthar]

The market pays what the market pays,if £90 is less than the going rate in your area then you either pay or you don't it's as simple as that.

Your attitude is probably what's costing you money.

Going rate where I am is about £90 ish.

My attitude comes from when I am given a quote of £85 from the company for the work required but then am told it will be £140 by the engineer when he turns up. I am not a mug and I always give any honest engineer a score for their trouble. Money is not the issue here, dishonesty is.

 

[tonybhoy]

Well that must be the going rate then.

 

[namsag]

Akthar i hink you are being quite reasonable £90 quid is not bad parts etc prob about £20.
And i would do exactly same as you and tell them to sling it when they are upping price by over 50% on arrival.
You could try BG they used to do fixed price hob installation including up to one and half metres of pipe. for about £85 not sure if they are still doing it but worth a try

 

[akthar]

Akthar i hink you are being quite reasonable £90 quid is not bad parts etc prob about £20.
And i would do exactly same as you and tell them to sling it when they are upping price by over 50% on arrival.
You could try BG they used to do fixed price hob installation including up to one and half metres of pipe. for about £85 not sure if they are still doing it but worth a try

Thanks mate. I'll give them a try.

 

[Agile]

I only charge £65 inclusive in our local area but thats dependent on three key factors:-

gas supply in same kitchen unit
all fittings with hob which is a new unit
work surface already cut out
no timed appointments

That price is intended to be low to discourage DIY gas work and for the benefit of kitchen fitters etc. Its a reasonable for the amount of work involved but I allow about an hour and hope to do it in much less.

When a customer says something is simple then my experience is that it usually is not! I was ripped off yesterday by someone doing just that!

You have not told us what the problem is but £85 sounds more than adequate. Could it be that its not as simple as you suggest?

As for giving a £20 tip! I have to say thats virtually unheard of. In the last five years I think I have had just two tips of £10, a leg of lamb and three bottles of wine and I usually refuse them as our fee is quite adequate.

Tony

 

[akthar]

The oven unit has been removed. The gas supply pipe has at least 15-20 cm space all the way around it. The gas hob is in and the connector is available with nothing covering it.

The engineer upped the price from £85 because 'it requires specialist copper piping', his words not mine. How much is 1.5m of copper pipe, how hard is it to bend and how hard is it to weld.

Is all that worth an additional £55? Not for me it's not. The increase in price was purely for the use of copper pipe instead of a ruuber hose.

Do you still think I'm being unreasonable?

 

[Agile]

Now that you state that the gas supply is 1.5 m away that comes outside our standard charge.

1.5 m of gas supply to be added significantly increases the job time in most cases. It usually means drilling holes through kitchen units and clipping the pipe. That means I would need to bring drills and be able to park closer.

I would increase my telephone quote to about £95 if I was told that it was a ready fitted kitchen and the gas supply was behind units. If it really was simple when I arrived then I would charge less on the spot.

Tony

 

[namsag]

Not get many tips tony thats those tight southerners for you . Get loads up this way . Most memorable one was £40 on a £300 quid job which i then spent on a bungee jump in the local that night.
Its something i tend to do too when i get guys in give them a half decent tip and when you need them they remember and put you to top of list.

 

[Agile]

Appropriately, one of the tips I received was from a black cab driver !

Even when I am in a good mood and dont charge for something stupid like the customer not turning the thermostat up, I still dont get offered a tip.

I was taught to always tip the hairdresser as a boy. Mine has inflated his charges by 20p every time I go there and now that its at £10 I have stopped tipping. I can justify that because I seem to have less hair to cut than before. In any case he has a 4x4 and two horses which he admits cost about £4000 pa each to keep.

Tony

 

[ChrisR]

Simple hobs?
Don't talk to me about simple hobs!

Gas pipework already leaking
Gas pipework not correctly installed
Gas oven underneath is wrongly installed so I can't put it back
Electrics already too close to gas
Hole in worktop too big
Inadequate ventilation - you either need to take half the wall out or somebloodyhow connect to an imaginary domestic interlocked extractor fan
Inadequate clearances - often to rear, and usually above.
Cable too short
Whole work area covered in slime
Clips missing
Nothing for the clips to grip against
Fittings missing
No instructions

and someone telling you it would be fine if you just connected it up, and that if you insist on other work his mate will do it instead and you won't get paid.

 

[namsag]

2 Of the jobs i looked at this morning cover both topics here mate phoned me yesterday getting gas oven and hob can i come and look as he is ripping kitchen apart and pipe is on opposite side of kitchen. And will need rerouting .
Have a look and lucky enough just where he wants it pipe is right behind it through a stud wall so absolutle peice of cake. Nope never gave him a price because we don`t know what fittings the oven will come with but he knows what ever it is will be honest.
Then old girl across street from me says no hot water simple airlock ten mins and having to argue with her that i don`t want a penny off her.
She started to get upset and forced twenty quid into my pocket.