not what it used to be.

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thinking of packing in this ever decreasing wage full of regs and paperwork profession and going in to tiling. guy today did about 5 hours of easy going non paperwork very littled tooled work tiling an extension floor for 500 quid in his back pocket.customer thinks hes done a good job for a good price.us gas guys i suppose are only throwing a few pipes in or sticking a part in a boiler.
 
Sadly all the customer sees is the tin box on the wall once we have gone and doesn't see what else is involved.. A tiler / decorator / kitchen fitter leaves something that the customer can see and has transformed bare walls and floors in to a place of beauty but without our magic spanners their world would be a cold and inhospitable and lethal place to be
 
I walked off a job today where I had quoted £65.00 plus price of part to fit a new pcb to a 24 cdi. I had been given the wrong price for the part by the suppliers and when I went to pick it up I was charged thirty quid more than I had told the customer. I got the pcb anyway and took it back to the house and explained to customer and even gave her the reciept. She told me to fit it anyway but when I went upstairs to fit it I could hear her on the phone complaining to somebody about my labour charge. It went something like " 65 pounds I mean why 65, why not 60 what's the extra fiver for" in a very agitated voice. Now I was listening to this having just spent 163 quid on a pcb which, if I fitted would be non returnable, and I got a funny feeling that if there were any further problems with this boiler I would have trouble getting paid. I originally went out sat evening and the boiler would not run, it was sending an on/off pulse of power to the pump and fan about every second continually. To my mind it could only be the pcb and worcester tech line confirmed this. Anyway when I got that feeling I just picked up my tools and parts and walked out, she wasn't very happy when I told her to get somebody else. Personally I thought 65 quid for 2 visits and a trip for the part was too cheap anyway.
 
I agree Ray. I'm £60 + VAT first visit, then full retail of part at partscenter price, then per hour for returning to fit.
 
up here in the north the general public think we have already earned our fotune so we dont or shouldnt be charging them for "small repairs".
 
Had something not to disimular myself last week Ray, customer speaking in raised voice to hubby so I could here, (tell it like it is in Lancashire) completed repair and collected payment in full(cash), then I proceded to to pass on my sympathies to husband in having to put up with two old boilers. Laughed all the way to the van when I seen him smiling :D

Going to make a post in the chamber about charges, feel free to comment :wink:
 
We all get them from time to time.
Had a guy tell me that £60 pound was too much for diagnosing the fault, which, incidentally, was that the boiler had been turned off by Transco, whilst he told me “it just stopped working”.
“I don’t earn that, and I am an accountant.”
Shrugged it off and advised him to become a plumber.
 
Yeah, but public don't think of cost of van, time getting there, cost of diesel, insurances, £orgi membership etc etc. They think it all goes in our back pocket :shock: :x
 
Bet you've got a part time job as a copy writer for the News of The World Matt :shock: :lol: :lol:
 
that reminds me of a story (I've modified it a bit)

man in big house calls plumber for leak. Plumber works all day, fixes it and says "that'll be £xxx"

"£xxx for a day's work!" says householder "That's more than I make, and I'm IT Director of ICI!"

"Well of course" says plumber "It's more than I used to make, when I was IT Director of ICI"
 
Bet you've got a part time job as a copy writer for the News of The World Matt :shock: :lol: :lol:


CORGIMAN HEADLINE WRITING SHOCKER!!

Today Corgiman, 36 married father of two childrens, denied claims that he has a part time job as a copy writer for your soar away News of the World

Next Week

"He did it to me four times in Twenty Minutes"

Stunner Spills the beans on "copy writer" Corgiman

:)
 
A doctor once complained about my charges.

I had to remind him there is not NHS for boilers!

AND

I quoted £65 to supply a new hose and fit a cooker. Was told that was FAR too much. Asked how much she had expected and was told her friend had paid £30 !!!

The trouble is that in London there are some asian CORGI registered people who work all hours during the evening and DO fit them for that price and also do very cheap boiler repairs using repaired PCBs and fans from Adlink.

When a small Transco van hit the back of my car and I asked to see his CORGI card, out fell lots of little cards for his "private jobs"!

Tony
 

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