Need a Corgi engineer for a simple job in SE London

[ChrisR]

A tenant gave me a £10 tip the other day. Pretty, too.
I absolutely don't understand it.

 

[akthar]

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

The hob is not 1.5m away from the supply. I estimated a maximum of 1.5m copper pipe which is being very generous as half that amount is what is probably required. The supply is roughly 40-50 cm straight line distance from supply to connection on the hob. There are no kitchen units between the supply and gas hob.

Your reaction to all the things I've mentioned seem very defensive. I have not at any point stated any fault with Corgi registered plumbers other than the one that tried to rip me off.

I'm sure there are many situations where a job is a lot harder than described. This is not one of them. I could do the job quite easily myself but will not as I agree with the guidelines and various insurance implications that stop dodgy plumbers from undertaking this type of work.

This whole issue is down to principle. My friend is a property developer and he has looked at the pipes himself and stated that it should not cost more than £100 at a push.

 

[gremlin16]

My friend is a property developer and he has looked at the pipes himself and stated that it should not cost more than £100 at a push.

That says it all

Allways screwing contractors in order to make a big profit when selling or renting their developement.

Your reaction to all the things I've mentioned seem very defensive. I have not at any point stated any fault with Corgi registered plumbers other than the one that tried to rip me off.

So why dont you phone some one else.
Its not easy to price for a job on a forum.

 

[namsag]

FFS the guy has only aked a simple question and by the sounds of it he is right to tell the guy to sling his hook.

 

[Agile]

The hob is not 1.5m away from the supply. I estimated a maximum of 1.5m copper pipe which is being very generous as half that amount is what is probably required. The supply is roughly 40-50 cm straight line distance from supply to connection on the hob. There are no kitchen units between the supply and gas hob.

In that case our £65 would suffice!

I dont think that I am being defensive. All I am doing is telling you in considerable detail how we would deal with a request to quote for your job.

Our basic price is very reasonable in my opinion but its also based on a simple job. Its not so much the cost of copper which is about £1/m but the additional complexity of drilling kitchen units etc.

At our base price, I expect to be able to walk in with all the tools and materials that I will need. Making further visits ( x 2 ) to carry drills adds to the time taken and the complexity of the job.

Tony

 

[Corgigrouch]

I'm in agreement with Tony here, I use the same criteria for pricing too though some customers can try you patience with what they expect you to do for 65 quid.... Five burner hob under a 600mm extractor with cupboards each side anyone??

Hang on luv, I'll go and get me chainsaw

 

[Gasguru]

And nevermind the undersized pipework, no FSD (where req.), the paperwork for the dodgy gas fire, the open flued boiler that no ones looked at for years.......

Customers buy this carp and want it fitted for even less.

 

[tonybhoy]

And nevermind the undersized pipework, no FSD (where req.), the paperwork for the dodgy gas fire, the open flued boiler that no ones looked at for years.......

Customers buy this carp and want it fitted for even less.

Oh good this has turned into a rant thread. I'm away to think up bad stuff about dodgy customers

 

[Agile]

Tony, dont forget that all the bad stuff about dodgy customers has to be posted in the Combustion Chamber forum which is only available to CORGIs.

 

[spacethegas]

Customers buy this carp and want it fitted for even less.

the 5 year warranty looks like a bargain.

 

[Softus]

I've been refurbishing my house and cannot seem to get any Corgi registered plumbers to connect up my gas hob.

I can arrange that for you. The fee is one million pounds, including all fittings and VAT.

 

[tonybhoy]

Tony, dont forget that all the bad stuff about dodgy customers has to be posted in the Combustion Chamber forum which is only available to CORGIs.

Oooh! Yer a bad man Tony

 

[akthar]

Well, the job is now complete. It cost me £85 in total. I gave the guy a £20 tip and he was done in 20 minutes. I asked him if for any reason it was difficult and he explained that he wouldn't get many jobs as easy as the one he'd just done and he couldn't believe the story of the original Corgi guy that showed up.

He even stated that I should make a complaint to the company the guy works for. As for all the ridiculing suffered in this post, I will not react but will thank the individuals with all the helpful comments.

As for the Corgi engineer who did the work, I have now lined him up with 3 boiler installs, 1 being complete with new rads.

 

[Agile]

In my view a £20 tip is too much if it was done as a standard job during normal working hours.

£10 is quite sufficient.

Oddly perhaps, if I have a trainee with me the customers quite often give the trainee a tip, usually £5.

If I was to get a tip when I had a trainee then I would share it or give it to him

Tony

 

[JohnD]

Surely you're the boss, Tony?

It isn't done to tip a business owner or a professional man, only a workman.

This is probably based in the mists of time when workmen were hard-up lower-class types who would touch their caps and say "Ta, guv, yer a toff"