Paying big deposit to plumber

sol2017

I've never paid upfront but can understand why someone would want a deposit. Any last minute cancellations would cost them. I would probably aim for 20% deposit, not full amount on materials. I personally wouldn't pay the full amount upfront.

AskAsk

Risteard said:

AskAsk said:

you could say that you will order the materials yourself nearer the time if he gives you the merchant details.

That is an excellent way of ensuring that you have no comeback over faulty goods in relation to the labour costs involved. Truly awful advice.

if someone is reputable, they would do a proper job and so if the problem is with the shower, you would be able to claim against the retailer that had sold the product to you.  you would have more chance with the retailer than the tradesman months down the line.

i buy materials myself where i can for jobs and have never had a problem.  this way i save money as i can source the material cheaper than off a catalogue.  also i get to choose exactly what i want by shopping around and not have to choose from one catalogue.

Risteard

AskAsk said:

if someone is reputable, they would do a proper job and so if the problem is with the shower, you would be able to claim against the retailer that had sold the product to you.

You have completely missed the point. The retailer will NOT cover the labour costs for replacing the faulty item - they will simply replace the item. If someone tries this nonsense with materials with me I automatically cancel their job and blacklist them as someone who can never be my customer. If they're that miserable with money then frankly they can't afford my services.

AskAsk

Risteard said:

AskAsk said:

if someone is reputable, they would do a proper job and so if the problem is with the shower, you would be able to claim against the retailer that had sold the product to you.

You have completely missed the point. The retailer will NOT cover the labour costs for replacing the faulty item - they will simply replace the item. If someone tries this nonsense with materials with me I automatically cancel their job and blacklist them as someone who can never be my customer. If they're that miserable with money then frankly they can't afford my services.

whenever i have had work done before and the tradesman brings over a catalogue, he was always been happy for me to get the materials myself if i want to.  they say that they offer you the stuff from the catalogue but if i want to get the stuff myself they don't have a problem.  it saves them time having to go and get the stuff.

you are the first person that i have come across that states this is not possible.  guess we move around in different circles.  this is a money saving forum after all, so you can't blame people on here for wanting to save money and reduce costs.

you are of course entitled to state how you operate your trade, but i don't think it is fair to run someone down who wants to save money and have it done their way.  there are plenty of trades people who do not mind this at all so i am surprised that you have gone off on a strop.

fenwick458

AskAsk said:

you are the first person that i have come across that states this is not possible.  guess we move around in different circles.  this is a money saving forum after all, so you can't blame people on here for wanting to save money and reduce costs.

I don't think it's not possible, but there's a difference.
if the tradesman supplies the materials, they are responsible for buying it, getting it to site, ensuring it's the right part for the job, and any warranty issues later on. and for all that, the tradesman will normally mark the materials up, lets say 10% as an example.
so if the customer wants to buy the materials themselves they then save this 10%, but are now responsible for buying it, getting it delivered to site, ensuring its the right part, getting rid of the packaging materials, and sorting out any warranty issues later on.
what if the customer buys some cheap rubbish, the tradesman installs it correctly and 6 months later it breaks(not anything to do with installation), do you think the tradesman should just have to come back for free and sort it out, all because the customer bought some cheap rubbish to start with, nope!
it's the customers responsibility to sort out a replacement, this may involve paying the tradesman to come back and remove the faulty part, then they have to take it back to the shop where they got it from, get a replacement, and then finally get the tradesman back to replace it (and paying them again for that)
or alternatively, if the tradesman had supplied the materials, it would just be down the them to sort it out within the warranty period.

SootySweep1

Hi
When we renovated our house and had bathrooms fitted our plumber advised which plumbers merchant he used (James Hargreaves) and we went and chose and paid direct. However because he had an account with them we got his trade discount and so we paid quite a bit less than the catalogue price. So just check if your plumber will be getting a trade discount.
Jen

Hannimal

I'm getting a bathroom fitted soon and I have paid quite a big deposit on the job. I am getting quite nervous reading this now!