Rip Off Of The Week??

[Whitespirit66]

I've just returned from holiday, to find that whilst I was away a neighbour needed my plumbing services. She is a recently retired lady who lives alone.

Whilst I was away, the washing machine tap on the pipework behind the machine started to leak. She realised that she needed a plumber quickly, as she wasn't strong enough to turn off the main stop tap. As I was abroad, she called in an emergency plumber from the Yellow Pages.

He turns up, and says he doesn't have the right tap in his van (pretty basic stock item I would have thought!), and spends the next hour and a quarter getting one. Why it takes all that time when there is a B&Q 10 mins. away is beyond me.

All told, he charged her for 2 hours at £70 p.h. and £32 for the tap (£1.30 at Screwfix). That's £172 to fit a new washing machine tap!!!

I was shocked when I heard. I'm obviously not charging enough. The week before I went away I fitted two small rads., inc. valves, parts, inhibitor etc, etc for about the same money.

Not bad work if you can get it! £172 for fitting a £1.30 part and pretending to go to the Merchants.

Does anyone know of a bigger rip off?

 

[wilhelm]

Yep. War in Iraq . Northern Rock, War in Afghanistan. 2012 Olympics, All Civil Servants, Road tax, fuel tax.............

etc.

 

[Whitespirit66]

Yes, fair comment.

Shall I re-phrase my question: Does anyone know of a bigger PLUMBING rip off?

 

[seco services]

we could go on for hours.

 

[satansbrother]

we could go on for hours.

Yes, but surely the answers would be more interesting than for one of Joe-90's topics!

 

[DCPlumbing]

This sort of thing makes me sick. There's a good living to be earned in the trade without ripping people off.

It's unlikely for a washing machine tap to leak from anywhere other than the rubber washer or the olive which are both repairable. I could be wrong in this case, But i'd hazard a guess that i'm not!

As an emergency plumber myself i can understand that sometimes you can turn up to an emergency job and not have the parts to fix it, I would explain the situation to the customer, Make the job safe, Then give them the option for me or someone they prefer to return and complete the job with the materials required.

If it was during the day i would probably pick up a new tap and washers on my way to the job anyway. I'd use the standard brass ones with the Red/Blue shut offs though, They're cheaper. The ones your plumber used at £32 must have been the gold plated diamond encrusted ones with porcelain handles...

 

[Shytalkz]

Yes, but surely the answers would be more interesting than for one of Joe-90's topics!

Apparently I'm Joe's rip-off scoundrel of the week, along with anyone who earns more than minimum wage, teachers and nurses (who in themselves obviously earn more than the minimum wage) .

 

[namsag]

3 of us where discussing this sort of thing the other day, this is the sort of job you would tighten something up on your way home and not charge.
But we where talking about one guy in particular that uses our merchants who charges these sort of prices and doesn`t care who or how much he rips people off. He told a pensioner £70 to service boiler then once he had done it he said it was£140 as it was a fire back boiler poor old girl paid it. Sooner a customer gives him a kicking the better

 

[marsaday]

what do people think about a plumber who came out to look at my boiler which had a problem heating the water. i explained what was happening on the phone - the hot water wouldn't come on sometimes when the heating was turned on.

he came out the next day and looked at the thing and said "yes its a feature of the ferroli combi to have a time delay of a few minutes, hence the water wont come on. and that will be £70 please.

he could so easily have told me this on the phone. anyway i said i would pay his travelling time and give him £25 cash. he said no so i gave him a cheque and cancelled it straight away. ******!

 

[snb]

cancelling a cheque can lead to a lot of trouble.

You could be charged with obtaining goods or services with deception!

It would have been better for you to refuse to pay.

 

[mark vincent]

Why don't tradesmen have to state their terms and conditions before they come out, and why isn't there a fixed rate per hr, say around 35 pounds per hr for a single tradesman this should be the law.

 

[seco services]

Why don't tradesmen have to state their terms and conditions before they come out, and why isn't there a fixed rate per hr, say around 35 pounds per hr for a single tradesman this should be the law.

that tells me your not a tradesman.

if i read all my t/c on the phone we'll be here ages.

how can you have a fixed rate for different trades you can't even do it for one trade as everybody has different overheads, mileage to jobs, different vans and fuel consumption etc.

 

[Softus]

Why don't tradesmen have to state their terms and conditions before they come out

Why don't customers have to ask about terms and conditions before agreeing to the visit?

and why isn't there a fixed rate per hr, say around 35 pounds per hr

For the same reason that there isn't a fixed salary for everyone, doing the same type of job, in the same type of industry, all over the land.

for a single tradesman this should be the law.

There already is a law, which is that the charge must be reasonable. If you can show that the callout and materials charges were not reasonable, then you can claim a refund and the law will uphold your claim.

 

[leeco]

well said

 

[Sylvan Tieger]

Yes, fair comment.

Shall I re-phrase my question: Does anyone know of a bigger PLUMBING rip off?

Sir quite honestly I will explain it this way.

Many years ago I was working in a high rise office building 42 stories and decided to go around and ask the law firms the "going rate"

I figured they were in the same building and had the same licenses to practice law and I just wanted to get an idea about pricing.

I had a low of $100 per to a high over over $1,500

Then I said well I guess each person / business has to know their own worth and overhead and what they feel is a fair profit without ripping themselves off.

I decided I wanted to work less hours them my competitors an and charged $15 more per hr and was still working a 40 hr week so I raised my prices again and again until I was almost double the other plumbers rates and over 4 times the drainers rate

Here I work 20 hours a week making the same amount as the other plumber who works 6 days a week (60 hours) on the average.

My main sewer cleaning I charge and get $225 minimum yet there is a drainer who is charging $49.

I asked many folks why do you call me and not the much cheaper guy?

They all said the same thing "you get what you pay for " Or "If something sounds to cheap beware"

Being in a free enterprise system I found If I did charge to much my phone would stop ringing and I would have to lower my prices accordingly.

I never fault a person for charging to high as long as he /she supplies quality.

I detest the the low lives who come in so cheap to cut the throats of fellow professionals.

Here we pay doctors for medical treatment (unless your illegal) and doctors rates vary several hundred dollars for various procedures.

If the plumber is a rip off cheating on hours etc then that is a fraud and the lady should contact the licensing authority.

My Vans are very well stocked (that is why I get 4 miles per gallon) but I very,very seldom have to leave a job to go to a supply house even though most are within a mile or less of my office and jobs.

High prices are one thing out and out right robbery is another.

I have the reputation as being expensive but very good at my job. I think it would be terrible to have a reputation of being high priced and a terrible craftsman.

If you honestly feel the plumber was that much out of line have the victim contact the authorities or stop payment on the check or credit card