OVERPRICED ELECTRICIAN

[Everyflippingusernameistaken]

OPINIONS PLEASE! SORRY IT'S LONG-WINDED!

I had an electrician round this morning (won't mention his name).
Was supposed to be here at 9 and at 9.30 I texted to see if he was still coming, and he replied that he'd be here about an hour later.
Nice of him to let me know.
Not a good start.
I've have had him to do work before and he was good.

I needed a fluorescent tube replacing under a wall unit in the kitchen. As the other two fluorescent tubes have been in situ for a few years, I said I would have them all replaced so they all lasted a long time. For some reason he brought another guy with him, which was unnecessary, and he always did the work alone before. They went to get the required items. Didn't take long for the work to be done. I also had an oven light replaced and a screw put into the bathroom light fitting, which had come loose. So nothing major. The tube that wasn't working flickered if it was turned on, which apparently means the control gear inside the fitting was faulty.

Anyway I should have asked how much beforehand, but as nothing major, just replacement of oven light and 3 fluorescent tubes, and fitting a screw in the bathroom light fixture, I didn't really think of it. Anyway, I nearly passed out when he said I had to pay £170!

I had some money kept for any work I needed doing, but it wasn't enough and I had to raid my purse to make up the amount.I said it was much more than I expected. He said everything has gone up. (That old chestnut! Blame inflation, Covid, whatever) But I do realise things have got more expensive.

After he had gone I was stressing about it and I texted him and said I’ve just had a look at the lights. I only wanted new fluorescent tubes, not a whole new system! I didn’t need this extra expense, especially on top of Christmas.
You should have asked me. I was shocked at the cost.

HIM :
I’m sorry, you did say to change them all, it’s hard to get hold of them tubes now days and they will prob cost around the same about the same

ME:
I don’t know why you didn’t ask me. you could have rung me from the shop and explained how much they would have cost and I would have said just replace the tube that’s blown. (There seem to be loads of fluorescent tubes £5-£10! from what I saw on the internet.)

HIM:
Ok, it’s was just the tube as it was flickering, it would have been the control gear inside the fitting, that’s why we ask if you want to change them all so they match. (I said I wanted to change all 3 TUBES so they all lasted a long time).

No mention was made about replacing the entire fitting for THREE lights.

HIM:
Ok, well between us we have miss communicated, what you like to do about this?

HIM:
I’ll come back and give you £70 back. So you are just paying for the materials.

He came back a couple of hours later and gave me the money back, but I've still paid £100 for what I considered a small job. I wish I had just left things as they are.

He said after this don't contact me about any more electrical work. I said well I wouldn't would I? I'm still fuming.

Don't know how you do a poll of am I being unreasonable!

If you had taken the tube out you could have seen what you needed to buy and done it yourself

Sounds reasonable to me. There's a minimum - like £85 just to knock on your door. There's an average hourly rate of £40/ hour. Add in materials sounds like you got a bit of a bargain!

Wouldn't make a difference if the control unit was faulty. New bulb would flicker, too

People should learn to do basic tasks themselves if they don't want to pay a professional for their time

A lot of tubes are now not manufactured and very difficult to get hold of.

For future reference the bulb size and wattage will be on the tube. It was be T[number here usually to dictate the length) and then the wattage. You simply roll the tube until it releases.

If flickering it could be the starter (easy to replace) or the actual unit (not so easy to get an exact match so depends how precious you are about things matching)

Oven bulb - well you change it just like a light bulb. Usually 15-25w and make sure you buy heat proof. You can get a pack of two for a few quid on Amazon.

Fluorescent tubes are old style. New fittings are usually LED. If he replaced with fluorescent this may have been at a premium as they are in leas demand.

Electricians have a set hourly rate/ call out. Did you ask him to break down the costs?

So you just get that as well, we have had strip lights and it's just another part, usually means another trip to Screwfix

Doesn't anyone actually READ the post?! I wanted the tubes changed not the effing fittings! Online tubes were between £3 and £7 for that size, 1 small and 2 medium size. His mistake to replace the whole thing x 3

If you managed to find them online, why didn't you buy them?

I’ll support you OP. I also think that £170 for that job is overpriced by about £50 and I reckon he knows it, that’s why he’s caved and brought some cash back.

Round here we’ve variously been charged call out/first hour as one cost during normal working hours and only been charged separately when it was a Sunday afternoon emergency plumbing call out (which was fair enough).This has been for electricians, plumbers and appliance repairs.

So why didn't you buy and change them then?

I disagree. I think reputation is everything in the trades game and he obviously spotted someone who would publication grumble a mile off. The OP posted this on Nextdoor where lots of local people will see. OP may not name him but he might fear that she will. Times are hard for everyone at the moment. This is his livelihood. His gesture of goodwill was protection of his reputation.

wow. My toes are curling with embarrassment for you op, yeah you go girl ask for that work then ask for some money..his embarrassing for you

You sound so rude and your attitude is awful. I'm glad he told you not to contact him again. Change your own bulbs in future instead of fleecing a man out of his wages.

*publicly grumble

Since you had an electrician in it would have been better to tell him to change the lot for more modern, energy efficient led lights, probably wouldn't have cost any more

The flickering tube had a broken part that meant that the bulb holder needed replacing, not just the tube. What is available now is probably not going to match your existing ones which must have been in for a while. How long ago were those lights fitted in the first place? My kitchen is 10 years old and all undercab lights were LED when we got ours. He was doing you a favour by giving you matching undercab lights with matching light brightness and colour (ie warm white, cool white, and lumens)

My electrician charges £240 for a day rate so depending on how much of the day I use him for he charges me for. For other customers he might charge £240 because he isn't necessarily able to fit another job in. However, we have had him back many times for different things needed round the house, including wiring my kitchen extension 10 years ago, plus outside lighting and a shower cable where I paid him £1.5k.

Expertise and knowledge cost money, not just the fitting of the bulb. There would have been information online that you could have found but you might not know how to search for that. Fitting something yourself obviously saves you money. We install our own bathrooms saving at least £3k on labour.

Hmm. Hiring an electrician means he has a daily cost. If I'd asked my Dh or a handyman he would've searched eBay and every other possible site to find just one tube. Easier said that done if you don't have a good general overall diy knowledge.

So he charged you a perfectly reasonable amount, refunded you and yet you’re running to MN and Nextdoor. Nice.

We charge 40 plus Vat per hour, this would include getting materials. old style tubes are expensive as LED they way forward. I hate it when someone rings to say it’s only a five minute job. It may well be for someone who’s qualified taking three years has relevant EICNIC 18th edition qualification ( this gets updated to keep them current ) belonging to professional standard bodies and insurance
if it’s that easy you know the answer!

Jesus, yabu.
Perhaps rather than an electrician, an odd job man is more what you want. He was v reasonable tbh. I also think he was right to tell you not to contact him for future jobs.
I see you say you are getting the reverse of what people on Next Door said. I had that app for about 7 minutes and deleted as a load of nonsense from curtain twitchers. I’d take advice from mn over that tbh.
Clearly though, you are even more furious that we aren’t all agreeing with you.

You’re paying for the skill, the training, etc - and if you’re calling them out it’s a skill you don’t have. I think that’s a decent cost for what he did. Always get an idea of price up front though, saves shocks!

Purely out of interest OP, how much do you reckon the job was worth? If it was just the tubes?

Factoring in any call out charge, hourly rate, fuel to get the parts, fuel to get to you, and relevant professional insurances and the parts you wanted...

You do it next time then

YABVU.
The price sounds reasonable for the work done.
He sounds like a good tradesman - good luck getting anyone decent again. He'll warn all his mates to stay away.

@Everyflippingusernameistaken It’s not confusing, you remove the tube and look at the sticker with the specs on it, or just take the tube into a store and get them to find a replacement for you.

I’m a bit perplexed that you say you couldn’t find the exact tubes yourself because it was confusing, but then somehow think the price of the tubes he purchased to replace the yours was unreasonable without even knowing the price of the exact ones you needed.

You’re paying him for his time, his skills, his insurance etc, doesn’t matter if the job is silly (buying bulbs & changing them) or complex, he has to earn a certain amount to cover his expenses regardless. Instead of wasting his time with you he could have taken on a better bigger job. You could have hired a handyman to do it, with a cheaper hourly rate.

Don’t know what to say about your comment that people agreed with you on Nextdoor, other than there must be a lot of divvy people in your area.