Charging for mileage

sujman

I was charged mileage (48 per mile) by a plumber who came to fit a mixer shower tap. This cost added £16 onto everything else.

We had the previous day agreed £50 labour plus parts and in the initial call, I mentioned the village I stay in (which many mistakenly think as "miles away" from the normal bounds of the city).

Would you agree that having been to my location, quoted a labour + parts costs, that it is wrong to then add mileage on top, without ever mentioning before?

Up until this point, I would have considered him for more work around my house and gladly recommended him to others but not so sure now.

I've paid the invoice and didn't query the extra. Something I don't normally do but did on this occasion.

What would you have done in my situation? Indeed, what should I have done!!

baldelectrician

It relly depends where you live

I don't charge mileage, but if a job is more that 15-20 minutes away I may

I don't do work outside my local area, but if I were to do so I may charge time from starting the job until the next place of work (or from the last place of work until finishing their job if that is cheaper).
Let me put it this way - how happy would you be if your boss asked you to visit 3 sites each day but you would not get paid for travelling between them?

I'm not saying he is right (I am inclined to think he is extracting the urine), but try and see it from another point of view

Another point
If he had more business accumen then he could have increased tha labour rate to cover this lost time and you would have been none the wiser.

Is his hourly rate comparable to (or less than) others ?

cattie

I've never been charged mileage, even when a tradesman is coming from a good distance away. I would assume that anybody quoting for a job would take the travel distance into account & make it part of the quote, rather than an added extra.

I'd certainly query any addition of mileage if it hadn't been mentioned prior to agreeing the work & price.

baldelectrician

I don't charege mileage, but if a quote is out of my way I tell them there will be a price to quote (prior to leaving)

I actually prefer to work close to home. It takes at least an hour off the day

sujman

I am clearer now, this guy was dishonest and was certainly "extracting the urine"!!!

I'm annoyed with myself for not dealing with it at the time, I had every right to.

"...how happy would you be if your boss asked you to visit 3 sites...". Not sure what the relevance of this comment is. The plumber had full information about the job in hand before he quoted. I did not change or increase the specs of the job. I didn’t call him to one address but then expect him to do the work at another address!!

Me travelling to sites for my job without being told about it before I agreed to my salary and expense claim conditions is not the same thing.

"...but try and see it from another point of view...". Again, not sure of the relevance of this comment. What is his point of view that I should consider? Did he not know the travel involved despite just having driven to my location to provide the quote?

"...he could have increased tha labour rate.." I fully expected him to do this and considered the £50 labour charge to include it.

"Is his hourly rate comparable to (or less than) others". Dunno. For a £50 job, I didn't want to ring round to squeeze out an additional £10-£15 saving. A friend had used this guy for a small job recently, so he was kinda recommended.


He told me he budgeted 1.5hrs for the job (and it took about that long), so works out to £33 per hour. I fully expect small scale jobs to carry high average hourly rates, with longer jobs averaging lower hourly rates.

In the end, this guy has lost out. I was going to line him up for other jobs I needed doing (which I valued at £500 - £600) and also would have given him the opportunity to quote for an extension I was planning as he mentioned he worked with a team of differently skilled people and they have done extension projects in the past.

baldelectrician

sujman wrote: »

I am clearer now, this guy was dishonest and was certainly "extracting the urine"!!!
I think you may be right

"...how happy would you be if your boss asked you to visit 3 sites...". Not sure what the relevance of this comment is. The plumber had full information about the job in hand before he quoted. I did not change or increase the specs of the job. I didn’t call him to one address but then expect him to do the work at another address!!
My point here was you do not get every job you quote, but your business expenses need to be met by your paying customers

"...he could have increased tha labour rate.." I fully expected him to do this and considered the £50 labour charge to include it.
Most companies don't round labour down. So the extra half hour (rounding 1.5 hours up to 2) is what many firms would have done.
This would have resulted in the same price (but you would not have had a 'mileage' elimiment)

I think 2 hours labour (inc travel time) is reasonable for 1.5 hours onsite.

Maybe I am thick, but if the guy had changed the invoice to remove 'mileage' and inluded 2 full hours you would have paid the same but not hit the roof when you saw 'mileage'

In the end it seems a reasonable (final) bill.

sujman

Baldelectrician - I agee with almost everything thing you say and I understand the costs of a tradesperson more so than most of the customers that use them.

But you will agree with me (I think you have) that it is unreasonable to charge for costs known before the event but not mentioned until after the event.

Next time you take you vehicle for a service/mot, imagine they charge you £1,000 for a raft of repairs that they didn't dicuss with you before hand. Lets say that the work was actually done to a good standard and costs were in line with industry standards. Would you say to yourself "...In the end it seems a reasonable (final) bill...."?

The guy was free to charge any amount he wanted at the quote stage, dont care whether he put 1.5hrs, 2hrs or 20 hrs for the job, as long as the final bill was in line with what I expected him to charge. The mileage was clearly not expected.

In other words, this trades person was clearly intended to charge me £65 for some work but only quoted £50. That is the crux of the issue and certainly warrants "hitting the roof", as you put it - albeit after the event!

Anyway, lesson learnt, skin hardened, thanks all for your input.

kev.s

i've never been charged milage ever!!...that was a blatant effort to get more cash from you

baldelectrician

I think the guy was taking the preverbial.

If I quote then it's a fixed price, if it's an estimate then it's just a best guess (which is usually in line with my initial thoughts)

I am booked up until mid-end February, this is because I have an established base and I try to be open and honest.
You can't please all the people all the time, so 2 complaints in nearly 6 years is as good as I can get.

I have noticed the downturn- I have went from 25 calls a week (new work) to 5. My existing client base and word of mouth has kept things going.

I agree with you- the guy should not have added charges but it's his loss (no more work and poor reputation).

Clive_Woody

I once had a plumber try this on, he asked for £10 for petrol as he had to nip out to a local DIY place to get a part. I politely told him to get stuffed, also owing to the fact he was gone over an hour and half (the shop is 2 miles away at most). He just smiled when I told him where to go, I guess this is sort of a sucker tax they try and add on to a job (no disrespect to the OP).

baldelectrician

Now there is anothe issue

I know of another electrical firm who will take an item away for repair and return it later.
Their policy is NOT to have spares in the vans, but have every job obtain spares for each site directly- this makes more money
The labour will be around 2 hours and they may just even replace a 5A glass fuse (26 pence).

Now, you can not have everything in the van (otherwise you would be driving a lorry to someones door), so where do you draw the line?

Sorry about hijacking the thread slightly