Electrician overcharge?

wolfwoman

Hi,
I am looking for some friendly advice regarding an invoice I have received from an electrician.  It seems like a lot of money to me.  I'd be really grateful to hear what others think.

So this is the work he is charging me for as itemised (but not individually priced) by him:
Supply and fit 2 new spotlights 
Supply and replace 3 faulty spotlights
Change 2 existing spotlight to pendants
Replace 3 front plates (switches) 
Replace 4 front plates (double sockets) 
Replace flex in standard light

I supplied the 7 new front plates and the flex.

The work took him 4 hours and he has charged me £470

Any thoughts would be really helpful.  Thanks!

LightFlare

so he supplied:

5 spotlights
2 pendants
4 hours labour 

CliveOfIndia

Depends on how much the materials he supplied cost, of course, but on the face of it, it doesn't sound too excessive.

But if you want to avoid similar costs in future, all of those jobs are pretty easy for anyone with a modicum of DIY experience.  By their very nature, if you want a skilled tradesman to do any sort of work they have to charge what, on the face of it, can seem quite a lot.  But if you look at it objectively, by the time they've supplied the materials, covered their day-to-day running costs and made a profit on top, it's often pretty reasonable.  Don't forget, this is their livelihood, so there's no way they can do anything for just "cost price".

MikeJXE

Sounds fair to me 

wolfwoman

LightFlare said:

so he supplied:

5 spotlights
2 pendants
4 hours labour 

Yes, that's right 

MorningcoffeeIV

That seems incredibly cheap.

Keep_pedalling

Have to agree with the others this seems a fair price. 

Veteransaver

Depends what the value of the spotlights and pendants was. If they were £30 total then his charge seems a bit high, but if the spotlights were £40 each it's probably about right.

Vectis

How does this invoice compare to the quote he gave you?

tripled

Did you ask for a quote? If not, you would have been billed on a time and materials basis.

Is the sparky VAT registered?

You've given no clue as to the quality/cost of the spotlights and pendants. Probably no more than 100 quid if they're pretty standard stuff?

There would have been four hours labour, but then it sounds like he also spent time getting materials specifically for your job, and including travelling about, that's probably the best part of a day's work.

Sounds like he's charged less than £400 quid for most of a day, doesn't seem unreasonable for a skilled professional, provided he did a good tidy job. Don't forget he also has to cover his insurances, tools, transport, and other business running costs out of that as well. If the lights were particularly expensive or if there is VAT included in that, then I would say it was on the cheap side.

LightFlare

wolfwoman said:

LightFlare said:

so he supplied:

5 spotlights
2 pendants
4 hours labour 

Yes, that's right 

Agree with the others.

Sounds about right (depending on the cost/quality of the fittings)