20-minute plumber work charging £90, is it fair?

theGrinch

No doubt, the letting agent will be taking something.

southcoastrgi

the letting agent i do work for takes 10% meaning to get my normal hourly rate i have to increase the invoice by 10%, which of course gets passed onto the landlord

macman

Since it wasn't an emergency, and not even a same-day call out, why didn't you ask him what his call-out charge and hourly rate were before agreeing to employ him?

keystone

southcoastrgi wrote: »

the letting agent i do work for takes 10% meaning to get my normal hourly rate i have to increase the invoice by 10%, which of course gets passed onto the landlord

If you only increase the invoice value by 10% you are losing out old son.

If the agent wants 20% the invoice has to be uplifted by 25% and if he's greedy and wants 25% then its 33.3333%.
Cheers

Dovah_diva

A plumber I used recently charged me £80 for three hours work to relocate a radiator - and that's London prices

keystone

macman wrote: »

Since it wasn't an emergency, and not even a same-day call out, why didn't you ask him what his call-out charge and hourly rate were before agreeing to employ him?

Because it was arranged by the managing agent as agent for the LL and not by LL themselves?

Cheers

27col

I find the concept of "fairness" a bit puzzling. The buyer of the service thinks the price is "unfair" but the tradesman thinks the price is entirely "fair" and he's the one trying to make a living at it.
No-one ever said that life was fair.

macman

keystone wrote: »

Because it was arranged by the managing agent as agent for the LL and not by LL themselves?

Cheers

But does not the agent have a basic duty of care towards the LL not to employ the most expensive plumber in town?
However, in my (bitter) experience, it's those who never bother to ask the cost beforehand, and never provide a proper brief of the work required, who are the ones who then moan the loudest when the bill arrives.
Context is everything here. If he was called out a 4am on a weekend, then £90 is very cheap. If he was passing on his way home on a weekday, then it's OTT.

keystone

Yes I agree but thats between the LL and the agent. So in that case the thread should be about the relationship between the agent and the LL not the LL beefing about the tradesmans invoice who just did what he was asked to do.

Totally agree about the context. Thats why I asked the OP for the whole story right at the top of the thread.

Cheers