How long to...

Sammz

change 9 socket/switches, test a shower to try and find a problem, mount bedroom heater and tighten a couple of taps?

Handyman phoned after 2 hours and said he'd done bathroom, was nearly finished and just had heater to do. I've been charged for 6.75 hours work.

And is it normal to charge mileage?

justjohn

2 hours seems quick!!...
mileage charge ...i have seen some people charging this rather than a callout fee

Query it if you know what time he arrived and time he left??

Sammz

I have no idea what time he left as I was at work. Second time I've not been happy with stuff done to my flat when I've been out so won't be leaving anyone to get on with it again.

So, so you think 6.75 hours is about right?

justjohn

i am unsure ....Sorry

You should always get a price for the job if you can.

27col

It is all a bit vague, as to exactly how much had actually been done when he called you after 2hours. I have often been left alone to get on with a job and without having given a fixed price in advance. But, on the other hand, I would never charge for a minute longer then it took me, either.
Sometimes it can take quite a while even to do an apparently simple job like changing a socket. It is quite difficult to know what might crop up while doing a job. It could well have taken 6.75 hours, especially if you have to muck about fault finding.
I would never have charged for travel or a callout fee. Well, I would expect to get any parking costs back, but that would be all. Different people charge in different ways, and you should have at least asked for an estimate of the likely cost.
You say that you were not happy with the job. Is this based entirely on the cost, or was there some other shortcoming.

ormus

most S/E peeps charge for the job. not the time taken. i do.
sometimes i win, sometimes i loose. i charge mileage to companies, but not to domestic clients.

Sammz

He was finishing the electrics when he called. When he dropped off my keys he said there was no problems at all with what I asked him to do. He said he spent ages looking to find out why the power on one socket wasn't working. I'd already told him that I didn't use the heater. I didn't ask him to sort out the power. In fact there is a switch in my living room that controls it.

He's calling me later as there is one thing on the invoice that he said he provided but didn't. I'll talk to him but don't expect him to take any money off. To be fair the amount of hours was what he said originally. It was him calling me that made me think it would take a lot less time.

Small things were wrong but I didn't say anything as I thought I'd be charged about a third less. The heater is on the wall slightly squint and not in the middle under the window (which would cover up most of an unsightly wallpaper join), there are marks on the wall that I assume are from is toolbag scraping against it and one tap is still leaking and the other is permanently squint rather than loose.