New Consumer Unit

poorlywallet

Hi John,

I wouldn't want you to mis-interpret anything i've said. I'm not suggesting that you must take the most expensive quote to get a decent job done. Im simply saying 2 things,
1) There are more costs to consider than the headline piece of kit, there is often more cost than just a consumer unit used when changing one, so i think 'it cost £100, charged me £500, rip off' is unfair and blinkered.
2) 'cheapest=best' is not true with matters that involve safety. A quality job with VFM is, IMHO, what people should be looking for.

As someone who has been on both sides of the fence (employed/self employed) im sure that you understand the relative differences in gross charges against take home money. You understand all the various little pitfalls like, sick/holiday pay/customers booking jobs in weeks in advance, then cancelling 9pm the night before the job, other trades letting you down so you cannot get on with your job in good time, causing knock on effects with other customers. Customers picking your quote to bits because they 'just feel' that you are charging too much. Self employed folk building a margin into their price to cope for the down-days. The list goes on and on......

As a consumer, we could all try to drive the price down to the bone, in the long run, that will serve to put the sole traders out of business and leave just the larger companies who can de-fray the overhead costs across jobs. The average customer will then have to go to the big-boys who will then relish in putting up their costs as they have a captive market. The law of unforeseen consequences come into effect then...

Im really not whinging, but those who whinge that the price is too high often give no consideration about any of the above.


BTW, don't get me going about plumbers either, with their 'think of a number, multiply it by 7' pricing stucture.

Typical boiler swap - old for new 'efficient' model, £750 boiler, 1 days work, a single pressure test on a single piece of pipe work, cost £1800ish.

Cher-Ching, how they get away with it is unbelievable, but customers see the worth in heating and water supplied safely :rolleyes:

keystone

poorlywallet wrote: »

BTW, don't get me going about plumbers either, with their 'think of a number, multiply it by 7' pricing stucture.

Typical boiler swap - old for new 'efficient' model, £750 boiler, 1 days work, a single pressure test on a single piece of pipe work, cost £1800ish.

Cher-Ching, how they get away with it is unbelievable, but customers see the worth in heating and water supplied safely :rolleyes:

I really can't believe you just wrote that frankly considering the rest of your post. Is it one rule for one and another for everyone else?

Cheers.

poorlywallet

it was meant to be a bit tongue-in-cheek (note smilies), but i suppose comparsons could be drawn...

keystone

poorlywallet wrote: »

it was meant to be a bit tongue-in-cheek (note smilies), but i suppose comparsons could be drawn...

didn't read that way though - smileys notwithstanding. It read like you were being downright hypocritical - which I'm sure you weren't.

Cheers

poorlywallet

HI Keystone,
No, no hypocracy involved, it was a just a bit of a cheeky comment.

I suppose its not really relevant to this thread and im not sure if other threads have already discussed this, but there is a little hint of truth there in so much as customers place more 'worth' in services provided by a plumber then by an electrician, IMHO. That is not suggesting that anyone is ripping anyone off, its just that a new, efficient boiler providing warmth in the home and a ready supply of hot water seems to hold greater value in the eyes of a customer compared to just some socket and lights. I doubt this has gone un-noticed amongst the two trades and prices can sometimes be set according to the perceived value.