unhappy competition

[world9563]

I feel that other plumbers are strugling a little in this ressesion as i had some competition last night come slash 4 tyres and front windscreen on my van i would not mind realy (well i do) but he is a hell lot busy than me in fact ive only had 2 small jobs in a month + and my prices have never changed and he is upset at my prices. Silly person realy as cctv picked everything up early hours this morning and thought parking van bottom of street it would not be seen. I have spoken to him not very nice by the way to offer him to pay for damage before call police but silly man again said its not me so ive had to do the worse thing ever and call police in on a fellow plumber but why do i now feel guilty as its now costing me £245 to put right. Not worth going through insurance as £150 to pay out first. Sorry for the moan guys just needed to let off little steam before i get myself in trouble

 

[unguided1]

sorry to hear of yer woes world, I had a similar problem a few years ago, turned out some local youngster were getting revenge on someone, Not me, but they thought my van belonged to someone else. Police were the usual waste of time.
got me revenge in the end but it took a couple of years.
Good luck in finding the perps, and think up a nice subtle revenge.
When I eventualy found out who did mine I found their cars, knocked the tops of a couple of expandy foam cans and chucked them into their cars. 3 cars all told, and all a lot nicer than mine, made me smile
Regards
Mike

 

[33ching]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Don't feel guilty about going to the police and if you have it on CCTV then I would push for the maximum charge which I think could be criminal damage. Personal I would have handled it different, waited a few days then pay him a visit early morning with Mr. Baseball Bat. I would have called him out on an emergency and waited till he closed his front door so he could not get back in and let him have it. I am not a violent person but when somebody damages personal property or steals from me I just see red mist and explode.
Anyway I hope everything works out for you and you don't have anymore problems.

 

[REDSAW]

MR WILSON, is always a good negotiator.
like the foam thou, remember that one try it down the door glass to seal the locks.
harder to innitially spot and a bugger to clear.

 

[stevetheplumber]

I feel that other plumbers are strugling a little in this ressesion as i had some competition last night come slash 4 tyres and front windscreen on my van i would not mind realy (well i do) but he is a hell lot busy than me in fact ive only had 2 small jobs in a month + and my prices have never changed and he is upset at my prices. Silly person realy as cctv picked everything up early hours this morning and thought parking van bottom of street it would not be seen. I have spoken to him not very nice by the way to offer him to pay for damage before call police but silly man again said its not me so ive had to do the worse thing ever and call police in on a fellow plumber but why do i now feel guilty as its now costing me £245 to put right. Not worth going through insurance as £150 to pay out first. Sorry for the moan guys just needed to let off little steam before i get myself in trouble

at your rates im suprised there wasnt a que

 

[world9563]

30 yeras been doing this is it not stevetheplumber you need to grow up abit mate and £25 per hour not cheap to most people

 

[HTB]

I feel that £25 per hour is very cheap, even in this credit crunch world, but you are entitled to charge whatever you like without fear of this sort of harassment.

Market forces will drive pricing, we've all got to do what he need to in order to pay the mortgage.

 

[dontknowitall]

I tried charging £10 for a call out recently and was told it was too expensive :-(

 

[stevetheplumber]

30 yeras been doing this is it not stevetheplumber you need to grow up abit mate and £25 per hour not cheap to most people

three hours work for £50 is £16.666666 per hour

 

[unguided1]

Hi all
the way I see it is this, its no body elses business what a person charges for their services, as long as they are happy with what they charge and they make a good living, and just because a person charges £20 an hour ( for example ) doesnt give any one the right to have a go at them.
I personally have always not charged enough, not because I am trying to under cut everyone else, but because I have been doing this trade for so long that I find I am always behind the times on pricing and sometimes when talking to fellow installers and other trades I am shocked at the prices being charged for thier services.
Another reason for not having a high income is I dont have a horrible tax bill at the end of the year, in fact I usually enjoy a nice rebate.
Regards
Mike
ps
I have also found recently that some of the more expensive plumbers around here are actually coming back down to the prices I charge.

 

[stevetheplumber]

im not having a go at anyone just suggesting that an hourly rate of £16 pounds is far to cheap for a professionally trained self employed man
when i started in this trade it was at the bottom of the pecking order only ranking higher than painters in the 30 odd years weve been regulated and licenced with various compulsary schemes we now have to belong to
at present i hold
licences to work on gas, and unvented hot water im qualified to work with an angle grinder and on a tele hoist i have a licence to carry waste matierials i have a site saftety card and a jib card
im insured for 5 million pounds public liability
i run one van and clothe my self for work
taking in all the exspence and traing for that little lot plus something to allow me to take a occasional holiday
this cant be done at 16 pounds an hour
i realise im in london and therefore have higher living costs but even allowing for that its not enough
my main point was we can all get loads of work if we work cheap but thats not the reason were in buisness

 

[unguided1]

Hi stevetheplumber
sorry mate I wasnt having a go at you, I was just saying how I see things, sometimes its hard to put across an opinion on here without it looking like your aving a go, not my intention.
As for you working in London I'm afraid you have my deepest sympathies, I have worked there several times for old customers who have moved to the smoke and every time I fall foul of traffic wardens, clampers and congestion charges. so if its any help to you, one less plumber on your patch, I now refuse to go to london any more. you need to be a specialised city dweller to live and work there, and also be very calm and patient.
Regards
mike

 

[REDSAW]

i am getting on a bit now my missis told me!!
but i would rather work half as hard for twice as much, work smart not stupid if you know what i mean. while i think about it i only work about 25 hours per week average.

i actually know a corgi guy ex-b.g, who charges £15ph in derbyshire self employed?.....
see the thing is, whetever your own personal opinion, mine included, is everyone knows how to work their trade as self employed, ho3ever only a few know how to run a business for proffit.
i am very much still learning this although my father-in-law is a multi £m aire business man he still tells me im doing something wrong.?/

 

[HTB]

The thing that constantly frustrates me with pricing is where clients seem to think that what you charge goes straight in your back pocket and is all clear profit.

Who do they think buys the van, maintains the van, insures everything, buys the tools, the van stock, the deisel, pays for the advertising, funds the training, replaces worn out equipment, buys the stationary, pays the accountant and generally shells out to keep the business running.

Plenty of people on here can't wait to have a pop at the "Fast Trackers" (yes I was one nearly 5 years ago) but the individuals that really **** me off are the bodgers driving around in rusty escort vans or clapped out estate cars with a canvas bag of rusty tools and some pipe bungeed to a roof rack, and who at best have been a plumber's mate for a while, maybe worked on building sites, and who take an advert out in the local rag with only a mobile phone no and who all work strictly cash in hand for a tenner an hour. These are the *****s who are (in my humble opinion) causing the most problems. (Rant over sorry)

BTW saw one yesterday and on side of said rusty Mk 3 Escort van he listed his talents as (and I quote) Plumbing, Heating, Tiling, Carpentry, Decorating,Decking, Fencing, Landscaping and MOT preparation!!!!!!

All true. I wonder if he also lances boils and freezes warts

 

[Dannypipe]

Wow, what a great thread this was! I can't believe one plumber set out to smash up another plumbers van. High drama. Any chance of an update I wonder? I dented my van the other day, it's so gutting. You only get one first impression, and a tatty van says the wrong thing.