Is my plumber ripping me off?

SPOODZ · 7 Sep 2006

Hi,

I had a leak on the lead water main coming into my house. My uncle works for a firm, so I gave them a call. They came out the following morning, and after me telling them that the leak was between the external and internal stoptap, they confirmed with me that the leak was probably under my patio in the back yard by the drain, and that taking up my decking myself would save me a few quid. I took there advice, took up the decking, but then had a dig and found the leak. I shifted the dirt from around the pipe to allow good access, then called them back. They said they would come out the following day.

They turned up at lunchtime, cut a piece of lead pipe away, took it to the local builders merchant (0.2miles) and got a LeadLoc kit. They returned and spent 1 hour fitting this. They left me to fill the hole back (which I was happy to do to save a few more quid).

The bill came today. £190. Is that what plumbers earn per hour these days? I was expecting maybe £100 if they were including an emergency callout fee, but its not like they rushed round - I was without water for the best part of 2 days.

I intend to get a breakdown of the bill, but wanted to see if you guys had any comments?

Edit: expanded on a few points following chrishutt comments

chrishutt · 7 Sep 2006

Well, for a start they came out twice, and correctly located the leak, spent time collecting the right sized lead-loc, etc. Total time involved is a lot more than 1 hour, isn't it? Maybe you should have asked them what their rates were before you asked them to do the work!

doitall · 7 Sep 2006

Sounds about right to me as well.

A solicitor would have charged you £1000.00 plus for the same time

An estate agent would be nearer £5000.00 for sticking a photo in the window and showing a few people around

Ever been to a garage lately.

yep sounds like a bargain to me.

SPOODZ · 7 Sep 2006

doitall - thanks for giving me a straight answer (some other people on this forum are just down right rude and arrogant when replying).

RigidRaider · 7 Sep 2006

I'm no plumber but I dabble and what I have realised is that non-plumbers seldom account for the cost of the expertise, the equipment and above all, the time spent setting up a job.

Also how much would it have cost you if not repaired in good time?

chrishutt · 7 Sep 2006

SPOODZ said:
some other people on this forum are just down right rude and arrogant when replying.

Anyone in mind? Since you pointedly didn't thank me.....

kevplumb · 7 Sep 2006

jeez i'd have dug it out and repaired it and backfilled it for £50

then i woke up

Systemfix · 7 Sep 2006

Similar position I was in but was charged £210 and the plumbers did not identify the original leak, I did. But I can tell you if plmbers do charge what you think is a high price I can tell you that a plumbing career is not an easy job in the first place as there is a lot more to it than just joining pipes!!

Paul Barker · 7 Sep 2006

In all seriousness for my area of operation that price charged top the OP is very expensive. I do this kind of work quite often, takes me half a day on the whole with all the trips too and fro and to dig out and make good even on a simple one which doesn't have expensive block paving or anything else like that. I charge the labour it takes and the cost of the parts. That would be around £20 parts for two connectors to the lead and a bit of blue p.e. pipe between and £100 labour, and I would do all the work.

Not many original mains are the required depth range, they are quite shallow, so it's noit much digging. I have my own heavy breaker trenching shovel, other shovel, pick, large crow bar, and scaffold pole to hold pick with. Not much you can't dig out with that little lot.

fela kuti · 7 Sep 2006

what skill is involved in fitting a leadlock and how many years does it take to learn.
why did two turn up when you had already done the labouring.

Nige F · 7 Sep 2006

leadlock.....bo- lock

I would have wiped a new piece of lead in .2 joints ....I bar grade d........drop of tallow jobs a good `un ...what regs

earth clamp

Health and what

efficiency........PS. 12/-an hour (Thats twelve shillings)

Paul Barker · 7 Sep 2006

fela kuti, there is very little skill in most plumbing jobs which is why it absolutely amaises me at the complete ineptitude towards plumbing tasks of our customers.

The market decides at the end of the day.

If the householder with the need isn't prepared to acquire the tools knowledge skills and in some cases qualificatiuons required to p-erform the task, then they pay the market what it demands for someone who is prepared to do the work.

Likewise you can buy a haines manual a pocket conveyancing guide, or a Gray's Anatomy and cut out a few other specialists. It's your choice.

2scoops0406 · 7 Sep 2006

kevplumb said:
jeez i'd have dug it out and repaired it and backfilled it for £50

then i woke up

I heard you don't even bother waking up for less than a "Monkey" as we call it daaarn here.

Systemfix · 7 Sep 2006

Ok guys how about an ending, getting boring init? take care

SPOODZ · 13 Sep 2006

Thought I would provide the breakdown details:

day 1 - £45 - 1 hours labour for 2 men coming to my house for 2 minutes, telling me i need to take my decking up (I forgot to mention in the original post, it was raining, and the plumbers said they would rather save the job for a drier day, hence I said I'd dig up the decking and they could come back)

day 2 - £90 - 2 hours labour for 2 men. From what I saw, that was for 1 to do the work, the other to smoke cigarettes.

Parts £55 - 2 leadloc connectors, 12" of copper pipe and a piece of foam insulation.

I'm supprised I wasnt charged separately for petrol money and wear on tear on the van.

I'm going to dispute the first days labour on the grounds that they said they wanted to come back another day- if i'd know they'd charge me £45 for that I would have had them out there diggin in the bloody rain.

Are leadloc parts really that expensive? - fine if they are, just asking.

diynot

If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.

Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.

Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local

Is my plumber ripping me off?

2scoops0406

Similar threads