Plumber's Charges

[FiremanT]

OP, I've just re-read your post. It ISN'T £120 per hour, it is £60 - did that include VAT? I would have thought that was perfectly reasonable in London, and OK in most other parts of the UK. Also, what would they do with the spare hour of a full day? It is too late to start another job. Your solicitor (being in a nice warm office) would, however, find some paperwork to shift around and bill for.

I am afraid your posting is disingenious, although I can't comment on the accusation that they were wasting time, as none of us were there.

And the gas fitter, assuming he is registered, also has to comply (and pay for the privelege of being registered), or run the risk of joining quite a few of his colleagues incarcerated at Her Maj's pleasure.

 

[bdh198]

OP, I've just re-read your post. It ISN'T £120 per hour, it is £60 - did that include VAT? I would have thought that was perfectly reasonable in London, and OK in most other parts of the UK. Also, what would they do with the spare hour of a full day? It is too late to start another job. Your solicitor (being in a nice warm office) would, however, find some paperwork to shift around and bill for.

I am afraid your posting is disingenious, although I can't comment on the accusation that they were wasting time, as none of us were there.

And the gas fitter, assuming he is registered, also has to comply (and pay for the privelege of being registered), or run the risk of joining quite a few of his colleagues incarcerated at Her Maj's pleasure.

£60 for half an hour = £120 an hour.

There was no VAT added, and I'm assuming they are not VAT registered, otherwise HMRC might have a few questions. Although now you mention it, an average of £800 a day is equivalent to £16,000 a month or £210,000 a year (quite a bit more than my solicitor) so perhaps HMRC should be informed...

'what would they do with the spare hour in the day'... They are charging BY THE HOUR, not the day - that's the problem!! Also, after receiving over £800 just for their labour for seven hours work, I don't believe many honest traders would worry about not working the eighth hour.

In future I won't be instructing a plumber on an hourly rate without agreeing in advance a maximum daily rate. The vast majority of traders are honest and professional; however, it makes me angry when the rogue few act in this way and give the rest of them a bad name.

Finally, my solicitor may be pushing papers around, but their profession is very much more strictly regulated then even gas engineers. If you believe your solicitor has ripped you off then you as the consumer have some very powerful and effective methods of recourse. And a dishonest solicitor can find themselves serving very lenghty custodial sentence.

 

[Inky Pete]

, I should have made sure before the work was carried exactly what the hourly charge was going to be.

I certainly never thought it would be £120 per hour.

My problem is when charges are not honest and open,

So you DIDN'T get a quote before the work was done - or even an estimate, by the sound of it.

Not sure how you can accuse the plumbers of not being honest and open with their charges when you didn't even ask what their charges were!

Yes you paid through the nose, possibly well over the odds. But that's completely your fault for not checking the price first. You wouldn't sit down in a restaurant and stuff your face without checking the prices on the menu and wine list first, now would you?

 

[bdh198]

Yes it was my fault; I'm not trying to pretend it wasn't. My concern, and the reason for the opening post, is whether it is a reasonable price to be charging. If it's not a reasonable price then the fact they are going to be relying on those charges as part of the service contract is something that has to be absolutly clear from the begining.

It's a mistake I have learnt by and I will be making sure in future that all quotes are in writing before work starts.

However, again the analogy with the restaurant is misleading. In a restaurant you will have the prices displayed on the menu when you choose the items BEFORE you consume them! I was given no indication that suggested I would be paying anything like £60 every half hour.

And one other thing... They told me they would not be able to give me a quote for the work because they did not know before they started the work what would be involved. That's where the maximum daily rate is required!

 

[Inky Pete]

No, what you did was to sit down in a fancy restaurant and ask the waiter to bring you the best dishes they make and the finest wines they have - without asking to see the menu.

The plumbers charges WOULD have been clearly displayed on their menu (their quote). You just never asked to see it.

 

[noseall]

I think what some of the guys are saying is if you don't ask for a price up front then tradesmen are free to charge what they like and bring in as many people as they wish and bill for these also.

Total bollicks.

You can dispute the bill pure and simple.

However......

 

[FiremanT]

£60 for half an hour = £120 an hour.

He has spent most of the day there (seven hours) and has had a colleague with him who is a gas engineer for the boiler. The work they have carried out has been very straight forward, cleaning the boiler, changing the odd pipe etc.


£60 for each half hour - £120 an hour. That's £840 just on labour!


For TWO men. Therefore £420 EACH / 7 =£60 PER HOUR.

Or am I missing something?

 

[FiremanT]

Therewas no VAT added, and I'm assuming they are not VAT registered, otherwise HMRC might have a few questions. Although now you mention it, an average of £800 a day is equivalent to £16,000 a month or £210,000 a year (quite a bit more than my solicitor) so perhaps HMRC should be informed...

Hmm, as there were TWO men, assuming they get work EVERY day, the "average" £800 actually works out at £104,000 per annum. Of course, they couldn't possibly have overheads, or desire to have, say, the average time off that employed folk enjoy - around 6 weeks including bank holidays, and sick days. Of course they can get their training and aseesment days in over the weekend, or evenings. Their accountant (who won't want paying) will be overjoyed to meet them over dinner.


In future I won't be instructing a plumber on an hourly rate without agreeing in advance a maximum daily rate.

Or even asking the basic questions

The vast majority of traders are honest and professional; however, it makes me angry when the rogue few act in this way and give the rest of them a bad name.

It does me, as well

And a dishonest solicitor can find themselves serving very lenghty custodial sentence.[/quote]
Unless they are good at their job

 

[FiremanT]

Where ie the OP? Have you done the mathematics now, and feel a bit silly?

 

[Johnmelad]

I am sure the OP does feel silly in that he did not get a figure for the job up front. I am sure he has learnt a lesson.

But he quite rightly feels ripped of because he was ripped off.

Many of my customers ask me to do work without getting a quote, estimate or hourly rate, but I don't then rip them off with a sky high price.

 

[noseall]

Where ie the OP? Have you done the mathematics now, and feel a bit silly?

Probably bored rigid by your rantings.

 

[Nige F]

Where ie the OP? Have you done the mathematics now, and feel a bit silly?

Probably bored rigid by your rantings.

 

[FiremanT]

I am sure the OP does feel silly in that he did not get a figure for the job up front. I am sure he has learnt a lesson.

But he quite rightly feels ripped of because he was ripped off.

Many of my customers ask me to do work without getting a quote, estimate or hourly rate, but I don't then rip them off with a sky high price.

£60 per hr in London isn't rip off rates. Try locking yourself out of your house, and call a locksmith.

 

[FiremanT]

I am sure the OP does feel silly in that he did not get a figure for the job up front. I am sure he has learnt a lesson.

But he quite rightly feels ripped of because he was ripped off.

Many of my customers ask me to do work without getting a quote, estimate or hourly rate, but I don't then rip them off with a sky high price.

£60 per hr in London isn't rip off rates. Try locking yourself out of your house, and call a locksmith.

 

[TonyW2]

The biggest problem arises from an hourly rate with an open-ended arrangement for time needed.
Where the job time cannot be determined and quoted until after work has started, the service user is ill-placed to deal with an unscrupulous service supplier. A relationship of trust would be ideal, but is often not possible when a service is only required as a one-off.
The professions, as opposed to trades, are required and regulated to work at prices that can be referred for assessment.