£100 for a 2 minute job?

matticus7

Hi,

We recently purchased our new home and noticed a leak stain on the kitchen ceiling directly above the bath.

The previous owners had sealed the bath panel in with the floor tiles and wall tiles which meant having to rip the bath panel off to get underneath.

After doing some checks myself I thought it was the overflow pipe causing the issue and went out and got a new one and replaced it myself. 

As the bath was still leaking when just draining water normally I realised it must be the pipes themselves and noticed that the rubber seal of the pipe had snapped.

After many hours of working on it myself I gave up and contacted a plumber with good ratings on checkatrade and advised there was no rush as the shower (seperate) still drained fine.

3 days later I've just had 2 lads walk in (with no PPE but that's a different gripe!). He sent the lad to the van to get a rubber seal for the pipe, was done in 2 minutes and invoiced me £76+vat for the trouble.

When I booked the job in I wasn't given a price or callout charge as I thought they would come out, see what needs done, give me a quote and we'd go from there.

What they did was give me an appointment, turn up, do 2 minutes of work without mentioning costs, told me it was done and gave me a £100 bill for 2 minutes work.

I paid them as I've got the kids at home on my own and didn't want to dispute it in front of them but that feels like an awful lot for what it was and if they charge based on a callout then surely that should have been mentioned up front?

neilmcl

What you're paying is the expertise and knowledge to be able to fix the repair you couldn't do. The time to discuss the costs was before the job was attempted.

Niv

Just to be clear, you are not only paying for their time on site. You are paying for their time to get to and from you, the part, their skills etc etc. Would you have been happier with the same outcome but it have taken them 3 hours?

DiddyDavies

£76 + VAT so of that £76 they will possibly have to pay income tax (say 20%) so this brings it down to just under £61.
That's £61 to cover their time in getting to you, their wages and other expenses which IMO isn't too bad at all.

Doozergirl

Niv said:

Just to be clear, you are not only paying for their time on site. You are paying for their time to get to and from you, the part, their skills etc etc. Would you have been happier with the same outcome but it have taken them 3 hours?

...it would have cost more.   Who wants to turn up and waste time on site quoting for a job that is quicker done there and then.  OP, I think your expectations are unrealistic.  

I don't think £76 is that bad.  You're lucky to find people to do small repairs these days.  The government get the rest of it, so that doesn't count.  

matticus7

It wasn't even fixed properly so they have to come back out after they've done their other jobs so I guess I'll get more than my 2 minutes.

Also my original complaint was more around the fact I hadn't been given any indication of costs at all whether that was that they'll quote it on-site or a flat rate. Either way I'm happy to pay for the job to be fixed but as I said it wasn't done right first time either.

greatcrested

Never instruct contractors without discussing price.........

If you said you wanted them to look and give you a quote, that would have been different (though they may have explained there would be a call-out fee), or if ou'd asked for an hourly rate, but unfortunately it seems you effectively sais "Please come and fix it" which they did.

neilmcl

matticus7 said:

It wasn't even fixed properly so they have to come back out after they've done their other jobs so I guess I'll get more than my 2 minutes.

Also my original complaint was more around the fact I hadn't been given any indication of costs at all whether that was that they'll quote it on-site or a flat rate. Either way I'm happy to pay for the job to be fixed but as I said it wasn't done right first time either.

It's your job to ask.

Doozergirl

There was nothing to stop you from asking and not giving them your address until you knew their hourly rate and what the plan actually was.    You had all of that power.  

There is a pandemic.   The plan really should be to get in and get out with the least amount of time wasting, not wandering around quoting on tiny jobs. 

You needed a plumber, I don't think you'd get the job done by anyone for less than that so you've not been had.  

Jumblebumble

Niv said:

Just to be clear, you are not only paying for their time on site. You are paying for their time to get to and from you, the part, their skills etc etc. Would you have been happier with the same outcome but it have taken them 3 hours?

Indeed It is the old skills paradox
In my profession I can sometimes do a job in 1 hour where as others with less experience might take 3. 
Should I charge more or less than they do ?
Or do I take the view that the more skilled and organised I become the less I earn in total ?

matticus7

I appreciate I should have asked and the responsibility was on me. I accept that and will chalk it up as a learning experience as I'm fortunate that this is the first time I've needed to call a tradesperson out like this.