Plumber's quote on shower replacement

girl_athena

Our shower has been playing up: the water hasn't been very hot recently. British Gas tested the heating system and declared the shower mixer was the problem (not Br Gas responsibility). So I phoned a plumber from Yellow Pages and got a visit at £56 per half hour + VAT. The plumber dismantled the shower, declared that the cartridge needed replacing and that I really needed a new shower because it'd cost the same - the diagnosis job took 2 hours, cost me £257.00 (I signed a piece of paper in advance agreeing to this half-hour charge) and left me with a hole in the wall, apparently now broken shower and a quote of £550 + VAT for:
- installing the new shower (thermostatic mixer shower)
- replacing the 8 tiles, which he'll need to break to get into the wall - the shower is (or rather was) concealed.
I'll provide the materials.

Now, I'm not saying he's a crook or anything; I'm just inexperienced at that, as well as frustrated at having a hole in the wall He was OK to talk to; he did explain what I needed to buy, cleaned everything up etc.But before I say good-buy to any more money, I'd appreciate some advice on whether this quote of £550 + VAT is extortionate and he'd just spotted a mug, or whether this is what I have to pay to get it done. I'm not bothered about saving a few quid here or there, I'd just like to know if this is not massively overpriced or anything like that.. I'm in outer London..

Thanks!
GA

andyhop

Way too much

I am not london based(edinburgh) but a good plumber would have diagnosed that in 1hour or less

Cartridges depending on manufactor and availability range from 50-150 and would take approx 1-2hours to install and test, there is no need to damage tiles

If you could not locate a new cartridge then you would need to remove tiles, replace shower valve and repair/retile but this could still be done within a day and on Edinburgh prices your labour cost would be less than half of what he is quoting

Get another plumber preferably from recommendation as this guys sounds like a rogue

naijapower

ooh dear what shame. You are in a difficult situation. In all cases, i strongly recommend using a known good referral.
Ringing up strangers on Yell can always be a problem. On the other hand it is the only option if you dont have a referral

Canucklehead

girl_athena wrote: »

Our shower has been playing up: the water hasn't been very hot recently. British Gas tested the heating system and declared the shower mixer was the problem (not Br Gas responsibility). So I phoned a plumber from Yellow Pages and got a visit at £56 per half hour + VAT. The plumber dismantled the shower, declared that the cartridge needed replacing and that I really needed a new shower because it'd cost the same - the diagnosis job took 2 hours, cost me £257.00 (I signed a piece of paper in advance agreeing to this half-hour charge) and left me with a hole in the wall, apparently now broken shower and a quote of £550 + VAT for:
- installing the new shower (thermostatic mixer shower)
- replacing the 8 tiles, which he'll need to break to get into the wall - the shower is (or rather was) concealed.
I'll provide the materials.

Now, I'm not saying he's a crook or anything; I'm just inexperienced at that, as well as frustrated at having a hole in the wall He was OK to talk to; he did explain what I needed to buy, cleaned everything up etc.But before I say good-buy to any more money, I'd appreciate some advice on whether this quote of £550 + VAT is extortionate and he'd just spotted a mug, or whether this is what I have to pay to get it done. I'm not bothered about saving a few quid here or there, I'd just like to know if this is not massively overpriced or anything like that.. I'm in outer London..

Thanks!
GA

Good morning: Typical 'yellow pages' extortionate plumbing charges for London(inner and outer)...foot in the door, tell you need 'blah,blah,blah',..don't fall for it. Post the make and model of your current mixer and a photo if possible. Just out of interest...what is the replacement shower?

The OH has worked as a plumber/RGI in London for years now and has seen this scenario too many times.

HTH

Canucklehead

Rosebery_2

girl_athena wrote: »

So I phoned a plumber from Yellow Pages and got a visit at £56 per half hour + VAT.

Theres the first mistake then. All that is is an encouragement to spend 31 minutes doing a job that can be done in 10 or if I'm being generous 28.

The plumber dismantled the shower, declared that the cartridge needed replacing and that I really needed a new shower because it'd cost the same

and he worked that out how?

- the diagnosis job took 2 hours,

Well it shouldn't have.

cost me £257.00 (I signed a piece of paper in advance agreeing to this half-hour charge)

The math works but you already having agreed verbally to the half hour charge ie you had a contract there should be no reason to get you to sign a piece of paper to agree to it as well. Actually it would be interesting to test this one in a court of law. Under the recent changes to the doorstep selling regs which now covers you signing bits of paper such as this strictly speaking you have a cooling off period to change your mind about having the work done. Anyway I digress "£ 56per 30 minutes or part thereof" AND "you sign first" should have set alarm bells ringing frankly and its your own fault in truth.

and left me with a hole in the wall, apparently now broken shower

It was broken before apparently but he should have put it back together. Even with a concealed shower it should be possible (with the right tools) to get the cartridge out without doing damage to tiles or actually removing the valve assembly which is what it sounds as if he did. He may have needed to though - remember that I can't see it.

and a quote of £550 + VAT for:

- installing the new shower (thermostatic mixer shower)
- replacing the 8 tiles, which he'll need to break to get into the wall - the shower is (or rather was) concealed.
I'll provide the materials.

So you provide the shower, tiles etc and its 550 for labour plus VAT? Now that IS taking the p....s. Such should be priced on a per job basis not n hours x56 per 30 minutes. Andy is correct its at least a factor of 2 too high.

which he'll need to break to get into the wall

Mmmm - thought he'd already done that.

OK then what shower is he suggesting?

What is the current shower make and model?

When was the current one installed?

I think 550 labour + VAT is too high so answer me the above and I'll give you a better feel. BTW I'm also in Outer london so am familiar with prices around here.

Cheers

girl_athena

Thanks for all the responses. I feel better and clearer now.

Just to clarify - the plumber I phoned from Yell wasn't some anonymous guy - he was from a big name cross-country company with lots of big adverts. I guess someone must pay for their adverts - i.e. me in this case, as it turns out

Anyway, I've got somebody through a referral now and I'm going to contact him tomorrow. I'll also phone round for a quote, just to be sure.

I haven't bought a replacement shower yet but I had a look at B&Q today and there were a few I liked. I need a 'thermostatic mixer shower' apparently. But I'll wait till the other guy comes before buying anything. At least, the extortionately expensive 1st guy cleaned everything up nicely so all is ready for the new shower to be installed. No tiles damaged yet so I'll wait to see what the other guy says. But Ive also found identical tiles to those I have at Topps Tiles for £8 a box, so I fell better and more reassured, in case any tiles do get damaged.

Thanks again everyone! In the future, I'll post here first before inviting strangers into my house

Rosebery_2

Rosebery wrote: »

What is the current shower make and model?

When was the current one installed?

Are very important questions. First I don't accept that a completely new shower will cost the same as replacing the cartridge. A new cartridge will cost prolly iro £ 100. Compare that to the cost of a new shower especially when considering that the pipework will prolly have to be changed (= more cost for labour and materials). If its a decent make then you'll probably find that there is a significant warranty period (up to ten years in some cases) on the cartridge, you may still be within that and the manufacturer will supply FOC. In that case you only have to swap it out with minimal work and certainly no tiles broken.

Cheers