Fitter's mark up - too high?

cymrulady

New boiler recently installed - we paid for it directly. There's the cost of the installation now to pay and the fitter also wants £200.00 for some extras which, according to the receipt for them, came to £80.00.

Is this mark up too high or normal practice? We hadn't agreed to this sum - it was sent to us in a very receipt invoice following the fitting.

Many thanks for any thoughts.

System

cymrulady wrote: »

New boiler recently installed - we paid for it directly. There's the cost of the installation now to pay and the fitter also wants £200.00 for some extras which, according to the receipt for them, came to £80.00.

Is this mark up too high or normal practice? We hadn't agreed to this sum - it was sent to us in a very receipt invoice following the fitting.

Many thanks for any thoughts.

The cost of the parts is not the only factor in the cost to you. Without knowing what was fitted and how long it took the installer to carry out the work, I am not sure that anyone can help. I recently had a £75 valve fitted to an unvented hot water cylinder which needed some pipes to be moved and the work cost me £400 inc VAT. A big chunk of the cost was the plumber!!!8217;s time.

That said, in my opinion, it is fair to ask why this additional work was not quoted for before it was carried out.

cymrulady

Thanks, Hengus. Installation cost was £700 which will of course be paid. This mark up was simply in relation to a room stat and a couple and pipe - total sum on the receipt from the vendor £80.00 The £200 he's charged has nothing to do with installation costs - that's all wrapped up in the £700.

Over 100% mark up on materials alone does seem very high.

ValiantSon

cymrulady wrote: »

Thanks, Hengus. Installation cost was £700 which will of course be paid. This mark up was simply in relation to a room stat and a couple and pipe - total sum on the receipt from the vendor £80.00 The £200 he's charged has nothing to do with installation costs - that's all wrapped up in the £700.

Over 100% mark up on materials alone does seem very high.

Was the fitting of the thermostat and pipe included in the original £700 quote? (I assume you have a written quotation that details the work). If it was then he is chancing his arm. You agreed to pay £700 for the work and to pay for any additional materials and parts, so he shouldn't be charging you more than £780. If, however, the thermostat and pipe weren't in the original quote then he can charge more, but you might want to question why he didn't advise you of the costs in advance.

Assuming the quotation did include this work then pay him £780 and enclose an explanation of why you aren't paying any more, i.e. he has added on charges that are in excess of the additional parts and he did not advise you of this.

cymrulady

Hello ValiantSon. Thank you for your reply. Both the estimate and the invoice clearly state that the £700 installation fee includes replacing the thermostat. The £200 in question is for materials only - but of course they came to considerably less than that.

I have now written to ask the fitter to explain the discrepancy - if he doesn't reply, I'll probably follow your advise by sending him £780 with an additional note.