£460 to unblock a drain. Is this a rip-off?

Markus779

My elderly 75 year old mother has just paid £460 to a plumber to unblock a drain. The plumber spent 55 minutes on the job. He used a jet and maybe some other device (sorry cannot be more specific). The plumber said it was not a difficult job, just a little time consuming. Is this a fair price or has my mother been ripped off?

Markus.

plumb1_2

Ripped off ? Dead right she has. I would have thought £150 tops and thats pushing it.

jakemillspaek

Where did she get the plumber from?
Check her invoice and act accordingly.

Marktheshark

Unless a fixed price was offered, advertised or agreed he can charge whatever rate he sees fit.
The purchase, upkeep and running of a drain jetting machine is not cheap.
I would have thought the rate included the equipment charge and specialist knowledge.

Markus779

OK, I've checked the invoice. Apparently, it was a '2-man' job. My mother has been invoiced for £285 for labour (each man's labour charge was £142.50) - remember, this was just for 55 minutes work. She was also charged £120 for 'plant hire' (presumably the use of the high powered water jet). These figures are ex-vat.

If a plumber can just turn up and charge whatever he fancies then I'm completely disgusted. I really can't think of many occupations in which you can do 55 minutes work and walk away with £142 (£170 including VAT). And is it really a '2-man' job to squirt some water down a drain?

brightontraveller

Wouldn’t say its out and out rip off pricing its towards the dynarod, Pimlico plumbers etc rates, You could certainly get cheaper you could certainly get more expensive, Jetting also depends on machinery used? Much jetting requires two people Its pretty standard to charge for first hr then x minute increments some charge call out which includes x minutes then hourly / minute rate etc
If client didn’t ask prices when they called and when workers turned up and the business didn’t say when they started whose fault is that ?

[Deleted User]

Seems quite steep - we've got a British Gas plan that covers drains, plumbing, central heating, boiler AND kitchen appliances .. it costs less annually than this single drain unblocking

antenna

Avoid using Yellow Pages......The ads cost a fortune and the advertisers charge a fortune for their services.............but in blind panic many people reach for Yellow Pages,when a local plumber in a local paper may only charge a quarter of the price

Flooky

We had a company out to clear out drains, that cost about £450 but the council paid it because the property was pre-1937 and is shared it is was their responsibility, so we didn't have to pay.

jakemillspaek

Hind sight is a great thing.
A lesson for all.
My elderly mother was cold called regarding her RCD and frightened into agreeing a price in excess of £600 for a check and replacement.
She phoned me that evening.I told the company to do one.(cooling off period).
She was still worried so I organised a local (known) electrician who replaced the RCD for £150 and answered her questions regarding safety.She now ignores cold callers and any work she requires she channels through me or my brother in law.

brightontraveller

jakemillspaek wrote: »

Hind sight is a great thing.
A lesson for all.
My elderly mother was cold called regarding her RCD and frightened into agreeing a price in excess of £600 for a check and replacement.
She phoned me that evening.I told the company to do one.(cooling off period).
She was still worried so I organised a local (known) electrician who replaced the RCD for £150 and answered her questions regarding safety.She now ignores cold callers and any work she requires she channels through me or my brother in law.

I have heard of many for double glazing , insulation , knockers for driveways gardening, roofs, PPI mobile phones etc Rarely domestic electrical( more in business pat testing , testing etc? )As you have to purchase contact info etc and its cost wouldn’t warrant the return? Domestic never ever heard of it and being specific to a component in this case a RCD how did they know she had one? Apart from large % don’t have them and those that do couldn’t tell you if they do or don’t and for all they know you could have had one replaced the day before.Whats even more amazing is the RCD was faulty ?????

If you can name the company that cold called and as they should be member of a governing body it would be pretty easy to get them kicked off it if you can produce the paperwork ?