Feedback required THE WEEKEND PLUMBER

derrick

BobProperty wrote:

You just don't get this do you?

Until you establish the norm, you can not say what is EXTRA.

Tell me what the normal rate is for a plumber in Lancashire/Cheshire and we can continue this discussion.

I don't get it? neither do you :wall:

The rate is irrelevant, it is the fact that to charge premium rate for doing less hour is not on whatever day of the week it is on.
Read my post #31

derrick

robby-01 wrote:

Bob you wont win with this guy he is clueless about business.
I never ever work sundays,i am not a churchgoer but I just try my best to spend sundays at home with the wife and kids.If I ever have to work and it is very rare .I charge the customer more ,I inform them of this before hand an 9 out of 10 agree to it as I am usually working to help them out.

No need to get nasty, that is not OK for this forum

That is OK, you have worked your "normal hours" and need to work extra, you ask the customer, the OK it no probs, but OP is wanting to work less hours,( for his convenience), and charge more, sorry that is just wrong.

You should also read my post#31

derrick

End of discussion as for as I am concerned, just glad I won't need or want to use any of you people for work I may need , have got reliable people round here for work I have not got the qualifications for,(and I do have qualifications for my trade), who don't charge extra for w/e.

BobProperty

derrick wrote:

The rate is irrelevant, it is the fact that to charge premium rate for doing less hour is not on whatever day of the week it is on.
Read my post #31

Oh so the rate is irrelevant now.
LIKE I KEEP SAYING until you tell us what the RATE is, how do we know a PREMIUM RATE is? I don't think that's a difficult question, but you have yet to answer it.

Let me put it another way. plumb1 works 40 hours a week for £5 an hour so he takes £200 a week. He changes to working weekend and Monday and only does 20 hours. He charges £10 an hour. He takes £200 a week. Now, according to you, this is wrong. The possibility that no plumber within 50 miles works for less than £15 per hour has no relevance according to you, because plumb1 has increased his hourly rate he is now charging "a premium" and customers shouldn't touch him.

derrick wrote:

End of discussion as for as I am concerned, just glad I won't need or want to use any of you people for work I may need , have got reliable people round here for work I have not got the qualifications for,(and I do have qualifications for my trade), who don't charge extra for w/e.

Well lucky you. Presumably you will stop using them if they ever increase their prices or change their trading practices such that they either charge more for weekends or no longer do weekend work.
I'm glad I don't bother with customers like you, who seem to be obsessed with a tradesman's hourly rate irrespective of other considerations (like insurance, reliability, and guarantees). If you want to buy on price alone......

"There is hardly a product of our culture that someone cannot make a little worse and sell for a little less, and the one who puts price above all other considerations is the natural prey of this man."

John Ruskin

Alan_M_2

He can charge whatever He likes, the end user, competion and market forces will dictate if the charges are acceptable or not.

Whether you think they are wrong, resonable or not is completely irrelevant as in this wonderful free market economy in which we live, you're free not to use his services.

Before I ran my existing business I was a tile fitter, I would ocassionally do unsociable jobs, usually a shop fit which required either night work or straight through a weekend. This wasn't additional to the daytime hours, it was instead of but there was a 100% premium (sometimes more) for working in this manner, basically I could charge double and that was accepted.

I would earn in 48 hrs what I'd usually earn in a week, so how do you pigeon hole that in your clear cut black and white mentality?

Does that make me a capitalist pig or something?

susieb1967

derrick wrote:

If you work 3 days Mon-Fri you get 3 days pay/rate at your normal, now if you choose to only work 3 days but choose Sat/Sun as 2 of those days, it is my opinion that you should still charge your normal rate, as a premium should be for something you are paying to have an extra to the service, OP is just shifting his working hours and not providing a premium to his services, just adjusting his work/life style and expecting others to fund his self imposed reduction in hours worked.

If some one does a part time job, (and that is what the OP is suggesting), then they do not get premium rates, even when that part time job is done at weekend,(waiters, petrol station attendants etc), why should he?

I am a night nurse, I work 20 hrs/ week which equates to 2 night shifts/week. This is classed as working part time. I work nights to fit in with childcare. Research has shown that working nights in the long term has health issues and it is damned unsociable so you are paid a premium rate for working nights ( as you are on late shifts and weekends) do you not think I should get paid extra either?
I think you may find that a lot of employers pay their employees extra for working out of the normal 9-5, mon-fri bracket even if they are part time.

My goodness plumb1 what have you started?!!!!:rotfl:

Moneymaker

I'm semi-retired but, if I get called out, I charge a minimum of £60 an hour. More for weekends and evenings - just because I can!

I'm not a plumber or an electrician. I fix Apple Mac computers. Usually it's as simple as changing the memory battery or running the customer's own reinstall CDs! Money for old rope? But they always pay without complaint.

Why? Because the Apple Mac centre charges £200 for a callout and doesn't work weekends. I can virtually name my price at weekends and the customer will still pay.

OK, here's the scenario: It's mid winter, Sunday, and your boiler has packed up. It's leaking water and threatening to flood the living room. You've got no heating, no hot water, the baby is screaming, wife's screaming, you can't fix it and you don't know anyone who can fix it. You start ringing round. Eventually you get an answer from a plumber and he wants £100 to come, plus £100 an hour, plus parts. He's your only hope. What do you do?

BobProperty

Moneymaker wrote:

.......It's mid winter, Sunday, and your boiler has packed up. It's leaking water and threatening to flood the living room. You've got no heating, no hot water, the baby is screaming, wife's screaming, you can't fix it and you don't know anyone who can fix it. You start ringing round. Eventually you get an answer from a plumber and he wants £100 to come, plus £100 an hour, plus parts. He's your only hope. What do you do?

Tell you one thing, you won't get me......:rotfl:

(Do be careful how you respond to this comment, you may be making an assumption )

plumb1_2

Just had my first out of hours callout 1hr ago, the lady of the household decided to clean the floor under the washing machine.

She pulled the washer out from under the worktop and snapped the cold water hose:eek: water flooding the kitchen floor.

Who was the mystry lady? Mrs Plumb1

Hopefuly i will get my fee paid later tonight :kisses3:

tru

:rotfl: :rotfl: