Ripped off on a Sunday

cocobutter

I have just had a plumber fit a new valve to the cistern in the loft. He stayed for just over half an hour and charged me the princely sum of £152.75p. Was I ripped off? I think so; as soon as he was through the door I explained what we had done to resolve the problem and told him that the cistern was not filling properly so it was obvious what the problem was. He charged £55 per 30mins for labour and £20 for the new valve, plus vat of course.

By the way, he laughed at my Readers Digest DIY Manual, but did show us what we needed to look at, which was pretty much what we had gathered.

I just find it so galling that I have a first and second degree and yet cannot command £55 for thirty minutes work; and I fail to see the skill level in changing a valve. If it was not the fact that I have children, I would have been more than happy to have waited and wandered along to to the DIY centre and spoken to the guys there tomorrow.

raymond

If its so easy and requires no skill then you should have done it yourself .. B&Q are open on Sundays !!

Anything is easy when you know how, most people dont know how though

Having a degree only demonstrates your ability to retain knowledge, it does not guarantee any degree (pardon pun) of intelligence or common sense.

Anyway, £55 + £20 + VAT = £88.12, so he actually charged you for one hour + parts + VAT which was very reasonable considering it was a Sunday and double time at least.

moneysavingplumber

I understand your frustration but if you choose pretty much any Yellow Pages single page advertised emergency service plumbing firm you will be paying at least what you paid per half hour. Most of us are alot cheaper than that, but will not always be able to respond 24/7, which is why it costs a premium rate for these type of firms, that all use a network of sub-contractors. In fairness, it's no more than you would pay for the average washing machine repair person or similar. Next time try and hang on until you can get a locally recommended independent plumber in.

24_hour_sparks

unbeliveable in my opioion on the information to which you have supplied us.
surely the emergency plumber gave you a costing of his/her charges before he entered your property?.
if you didnt agree to his charges why did you ask him to attend?.
after all he is there to make a reasonable proffit isnt he, especilly if he does emergency callouts?.
i belive his charges are middle of the road for the work which you said he has done on a sunday, but thats my opionion based on what the companys i work for charge.

i charge even more than this £55 per half hour but hey if u dont want me for example then i just go to anouther, thats supply and demand.

just out of instance i have been on call thruought christmas last year and on christmas day at 1pm a plumber colegue of mine was charging £350 per hour, suffice to say he got 2 calls, and he and his family had his chrismas a week later.



horses for courses as they say.

Queenie

cocobutter wrote:

. ..

I just find it so galling that I have a first and second degree and yet cannot command £55 for thirty minutes work;

Not quite sure which is your real gripe Is it the fact it is Sunday? Or that you have 1st & 2nd degree's and feel undervalued? What are your degree's in? Or is it that you regret not waiting until tomorrow?

cocobutter wrote:

.. If it was not the fact that I have children, I would have been more than happy to have waited and wandered along to to the DIY centre and spoken to the guys there tomorrow.

Not being pedantic, but ... what stopped you, other than yourself?

I also have children and have had plumbing/central heating/electrical/gas/water failures over the years; however, there is *always* a "choice".
Ultimately, you made the choice to have your valve changed on a Sunday and agreed to the plumbers call out charges/rates. You could also have chosen to leave it until tomorrow so you could have gone along to the DIY centre and spoken to a guy there. You may also have chosen to take out an emergency insurance to cover such eventualities. Or, you could have set up a budget to fall back on in the event of such emergencies.

How would you have dealt with it, if it were not a Sunday? Would you have phoned around for a better deal? Would you have tried to fix it yourself first and then resorted to phoning around?

From the posts above, it would appear that you haven't been ripped off, or charged an over inflated price for the time/work (regional differences allowed).

In reality, I know it's a case of stable door after horse has bolted, but perhaps it's time to put into place a budget/plan for these types of emergency so that you feel more empowered in the future? Especially with children to think about.

I'm also going to wish you luck in the employment field and hope that, with your academic qualifications, you find an income that fits your worth. All the best.

robowen

Don't see what your problem is
If I go out on a sunday, I charge for the hour whether I'm there 10mins , 30mins or 59mins.
Lots of people get paid double time on a sunday, so he's only earning about £27p/h.

I got more qualifications than you can shake a stick at.....but I can't command the wages of a footballer.......so what !!

That's life !

rob