Cutting your throat

[Deleted member 32524]

Hello All,

My name is Duncan I live and work in Glasgow. I am getting really annoyed at the moron engineers selling themselves short. This morning I had a meeting with a potential letting agent who informed me that he was getting landlord reports done for £30 a pop for all appliances. This is not the first to inform me of this price.

Why charge so little? Are they being done right as I have spoken to a tenant of this letting agent and was informed that both a report and service was carried out last week and only took 10 mins? I think that is about enough time to fill in the report but not a full check and service.

Another example is I was asked to quote for a new pump on a boiler and was astonished to find that someone had quoted £25 to fit it??!! At this price I would not even break even on that job.

Come on guys sell on quality, service and reliability not price. You are not doing anyone, including yourself, any favours. Stop now and put your prices up to a decent level.

Too many people flooding this marketplace with no experience in gas or business. Stop this quick route to ACS. if pricing continues this way the job will not be worth doing. Get a grip! If people will not pay that price they will have no option if we all charge a decent level.

 

[REDSAW]

is jib rates price fixing then?

 

[kirkgas]

How do you know my cars a. 3L ?

cause you need 65 for a LGSC

 

[grahamgas]

In a slightly different vein, to the OPs original comment about being too cheap, lets not forget the ones that are trying to blatantly rip off people.

Job today was to cut and cap a 15mm feed to a fire. Tee'd off of main 22mm pipe in cupboard right next to the fire, that also housed the meter.

So,Tightness test, remove and cap meter, cut and solder cap on, cooldown time, refit meter, test purge and light other appliance(boiler)

Was in there for a grand total of 28 minutes. Charged £35. The lady had another quote from someone else...... £150 plus vat.

Either I am too too cheap or the other guy had no scruples etc

Graham

 

[REDSAW]

your too cheap.
i thought there was more cost of living in p'mth than where i am yet i charge that to change a tap washer?.

then +£10 for gas work and registration etc..

 

[Kev the gas]

In a slightly different vein, to the OPs original comment about being too cheap, lets not forget the ones that are trying to blatantly rip off people.

Job today was to cut and cap a 15mm feed to a fire. Tee'd off of main 22mm pipe in cupboard right next to the fire, that also housed the meter.

So,Tightness test, remove and cap meter, cut and solder cap on, cooldown time, refit meter, test purge and light other appliance(boiler)

Was in there for a grand total of 28 minutes. Charged £35. The lady had another quote from someone else...... £150 plus vat.

Either I am too too cheap or the other guy had no scruples etc


IMHO Far to cheap fella.

I live/work near Worthing, min charge 1hour £ 55 plus vat, dont forget your travelling time/ diesel and other overheads ect.

 

[Deleted member 25704]

I think the OP has a good point and we must start to understand the impact of thousands of training centres selling courses to those who believe that setting up a plumbing/gas business is viable in a depression.

Its not a new phenomena - in late nineteenth/early twentieth century New York, there was a battle between plumbing unions and a college which set up to train brickies and plumbers without the need for them to time-serve (in the depression era). The paper was named 'Plumbing the origins of American vocationalism' Taylor & Francis Online :: Plumbing the Origins of American Vocationalism - Labor History - Volume 37, Issue 2

At that time, the unions stepped-in to argue that the safety of people's health was being risked, and there was a compromise - that students did theory in college and practical training at work - this was the foundation of our current system, which is based on American behaviourism. Depressions and recessions throw up get-rich schemes and enterprises to con the unwary and desperate.

The currrent system of allowing people on gas courses with little experience is folly of the highest order - I certainly believe that as crafts-people we learn things that are not necessarily taught - which means what is taught is not necessarily learned or practiced.

I would refer to the current system of education and training as a delusion, and one that working people and those who are desperate to work, have bought into.

There is much more to this than meets the eye, and I hope this post gives some food for thought.

 

[GQuigley67]

In a slightly different vein, to the OPs original comment about being too cheap, lets not forget the ones that are trying to blatantly rip off people.

Job today was to cut and cap a 15mm feed to a fire. Tee'd off of main 22mm pipe in cupboard right next to the fire, that also housed the meter.

So,Tightness test, remove and cap meter, cut and solder cap on, cooldown time, refit meter, test purge and light other appliance(boiler)

Was in there for a grand total of 28 minutes. Charged £35. The lady had another quote from someone else...... £150 plus vat.

Either I am too too cheap or the other guy had no scruples etc

Graham

I would have personally charged £50 for that work, wouldnt go any less than £40

 

[woodsy]

In a slightly different vein, to the OPs original comment about being too cheap, lets not forget the ones that are trying to blatantly rip off people.

Job today was to cut and cap a 15mm feed to a fire. Tee'd off of main 22mm pipe in cupboard right next to the fire, that also housed the meter.

So,Tightness test, remove and cap meter, cut and solder cap on, cooldown time, refit meter, test purge and light other appliance(boiler)

Was in there for a grand total of 28 minutes. Charged £35. The lady had another quote from someone else...... £150 plus vat.

Either I am too too cheap or the other guy had no scruples etc

Graham

Ansawer is that you are far too cheap - min £ 50. With all the current costs of been self employed you imho should not charge any less than two hours time for any job to allow travelling, invoicing, the time at some point you took to get your cap etc and the 28mins plus you were there - even at this unless you are in the £50 hr bracket you will still not be retiring anytime soon.

 

[REDSAW]

or at all?.

 

[mickie]

i'd love to watch someone do a cp12 within 10 minutes..

its 5 minutes just drop testing and letby at the gas meter, 3min drop, 1 min let and another min getting set up, another 5 min saying hello and pulling the tools in and filling in a cp12.. im guessing while he is drop testing he is also looking at the appliance and jotting down its details with out checking anything..


i knew of a company that is now shut down that used to write down the form in the van, then pretty much walk in and out of the property without doing anything...

the letting agent started using me and i think the tenants started getting annoyed at how long i'd be testing things for and if their was faults, they'd get even more annoyed.. i think the most of them are getting used to be staying around an hour now though..

im happy most of the lads in this area charge an ok amount..well i say this area, i drive 25miles to work but i live in the sticks, ive found most people in this area dont like paying much but the odd job i have done, like servicing the back boiler round the corner, the local plumber he had used had never serviced the back boiler before and left it in a dangerous way and i find that a lot with homes in small towns, most of the work is not good and plumbers i think must charge more, i never seem to get any work where i live, im probably charging too much.. 25 an hour..

im sure these types of plumbers think they can get away with anything because of where they live, in the sticks, they charge less but dont do a good job.. i dont get it though because everythings more expensive living here, like food and diesel

 

[Jamie Plumbteq]

I agree Leo21, obviously kirkgas has no ambition I wonder how he gets off paying no mortgage or rent as its obvious he never bought his own house charging so little.

Maybe also he has little outgoings because he has little incomings lol.

 

[Gray0689]

I agree Leo21, obviously kirkgas has no ambition I wonder how he gets off paying no mortgage or rent as its obvious he never bought his own house charging so little.

Maybe also he has little outgoings because he has little incomings lol.

Lol read some of kirks posts if your half as good you will do all right but doubt it with that attitude towards people
Ps kirk could probably buy and sell you ten fold lol

 

[Jamie Plumbteq]

Lol read some of kirks posts if your half as good you will do all right but doubt it with that attitude towards people
Ps kirk could probably buy and sell you ten fold lol

Probably or probably not, his first post on this thread showed a poor attitude in my opinion !

 

[Gray0689]

Probably or probably not, his first post on this thread showed a poor attitude in my opinion !

And yours showed a bad attitude
Prices are for the individual to decide what they want to earn no one is going to know better than them so for us to say its to expensive or to cheap is not fair IMHO and different areas will cost different prices

 

[barronbathrooms]

The market in which we are in is overcrowded and extremely competitive. Prices have dropped dramatically over the past 5 years. But there is no way around it! The government demanded more engineers the colleges opened up and lined there pockets with gold! I do my best to provide a service I am proud of! It will be a tough couple of years but I believe only the good will come out still trading! Stick with it!