To think that tradesmen take the piss with their rates?

It is off topic a bit but I do agree with independent vs corporate chains. I really value and rate my independent vets - they are amazing and often save me more expense with their advice. The price of drugs however and what insurance covers is another matter entirely - all vets have their hands tied there, that's for sure!

But you also don't get the snobbery aimed at vets as you do tradespeople.

So what you’re saying is you are worth more than a skilled trades person because you have a uni degree?
Uni isnt everything and this post proves it, good for the trades man. And whilst I’m here £270 for 6 hours work is quit cheap.

Echo others about the value of university and thinking carefully before you go.

I was top of the class at school and college, prime university material. My parents were very disappointed with my decision not to go. However, I didn’t have a clear career in mind and didn’t want to go to university aimlessly.

I started my own business and now out earn my peers by a significant amount, despite being the only one who didn’t go to university.

I think we need far more discussion about the merits of university.

Thanks for that bit of Fawlty Towers 😆

There's a bit of a difference between someone (yourself) who has practical skills and uses them vs someone (often a man) who overestimates his ability and ends up shelling out for repairs which cost more than if he'd just paid a professional to do it in the first place.

The Austin reference was from Fawlty Towers. Basil is supposed to take the car to the garage. Sybil says "you're not going to do it yourself" before he pushes it around the corner out of sight and lifts the bonnet. Long story short, he ends up breaking down at a critical moment and loses his rag:

Not necessarily. Electricians have a first hour fee, say £60 then the cost of the fitting.

I have said exactly this to my son! He wont as it means getting his hands dirty but he will make dfar more money and be self employed, as an adult it seems a no brainer

So you are moralising as well as moaning about prices.
It takes as long to qualify for some trades as it does to be a teacher. So you aren't a special case, you are a tradesperson just as much as they are. You trade your 'skill' for cash. Your job is no bettrr or worse than theirs.

You're not only paying for their time your paying for their knowledge. I was surprised at how much it cost to get some rubbish removed from our garden, old fencing etc. I was expecting a man with a van for 50 quid but was nearly 400....but I was paying for them to do something I didn't want to do myself, to mess their van up instead of my car. It took them half an hour in total but saved me back ache and several tip runs it is what it is. Many tradies also go through dry spells with not much coming in so they might as well make hay while the sun shines. My brother in law is an electrician and the amount of people who take the p with paying him is ridiculous.

That's a different thing altogether; funny how vet bills have gone up exponentially since vet practices have been taken over by trading groups.
My independent vet's fees have remained in line with what's to be expected, not cheap but commensurate with the service they provide. Unlike those of the factory group practice down the road.
Their advice is also second to none, driven by care and professionalism, not greed and profit.

You sound very entitled OP. You agreed to paying cash - you're not exactly in the best position.
I think the 'looking down on my trade neighbour' tax might have been added, in this case.😉

Loving how everyone is supporting the tradesman here.
Please also bear this in mind when you are all criticising your vet over bets bills too.
Everything everyone has said is relevant to them too.

Retrain .

or learn to fix things yourself.

Maybe he nipped off to price a job at lunch or to collect items from Screwfix etc for this job or the next.

you paid for his time in your house, but also his tools (and their replacements from the huge number of van break ins that have been happening in UK with no care from police)
you are paying him to source the items you need (or advising you to what they are)
you are paying towards his pension and in work sickness benefits and holiday. (My trade brother broke a leg and had 9months off with the most minimal of government support, and no employer to bolster him during the time) You are paying towards his accountancy and admin. You are paying towards his vehicle and its upkeep.

of your salary how much do you pay towards the school admin, and resources, to training, to technical support and equipment? have you accounted the employers contributions to pension and NI? To your holidays?

learn to do basic DIY, fix stuff at home. We replaced our loo last weekend. I can’t afford to get a decorator, so will have to go through the time consuming trauma of doing it myself. But I don’t begrudge someone making a living from their skills.

Those who can do.
those who cannot, teach.

Very often the small jobs are the ones that cost a tradesman the most. Fixing a light switch might only take him a few mins, but he's also travelled to you and probably doesn't make that much from the job when you take into account all his costs.

Tradies often have to go to college and have a few years of shit wages as an apprentice, then they have their own business so have to cost for the transport, fuel, tools not to mention the many certificates they have to keep updating. So it might seem like a 30 min job cost you £200, but that includes all the above.

I've often thought of if I ever got made redundant I'd retrain to become an electrician, plumber or something similar, but I can't afford the pay cut for the first few years and to build a business up.

In the days when cars were easier to work on, we often paid more for a job because OH had tried to do it himself and they had to undo it first!

Do you also complain about underfunding in the NHS, or poor pay for teachers or nurses? How do you think they are paid for??

Do you do a tax return? Assuming your a FT teacher, you're at least paying BRT and NI on that, right? Hardly worth the effort, really.

Often tradespeople are more skilled than a person who went to university, particularly in trade.

So you're happy to knowingly be a part of tax avoidance because it gets your job done cheaper than paying the going rate for an actual tradesman? And you have the audacity to complain? FFS.

Your time off is more valuable to you than your time at work which is why overtime rates arrived. You could spend the weekend generally happy and stress free with friends and family or you could spend the time fixing up your house. That's why we get the trades in and are happy to pay their rates notwithstanding all the extra tools /fixings we would need to stock to be able to DIY.

Is this not the scene from Fawlty Towers?
I'm showing my age