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AIBU?

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Original poster

£52 to put together a chest of drawers - ripped of or reasonable?

213 replies

Fedup2311 · 07/03/2023 18:33

chest of drawers from Argos - 5 drawers. Had for 3 months, husband said will take him 3/4 hours to put together and doesn’t have time. I hired a professional to put together and he did in 2 hours and charged me £52. Is this reasonable? I feel worried as DH will be home soon and will say I’ve been a mug as the chest of drawers only cost us £85.

OP posts:
Redglitter · 07/03/2023 19:59

Okunevo · 07/03/2023 19:45

If you were my neighbour I'd happily have done it for £10 an hour, or sent my teen around. I think you were unreasonable to call a professional.

Well presumably she doesn't have a neighbour she can ask, her husband can't be arsed so getting a professional to do it is very reasonable. Least she now has a set of drawers she can use

There's a massive demand for this kind of thing. I have a friend who's a handyman, some of the things he gets asked to do seem bonkers to pay for but people just cba a lot of the time & would rather just pay then they know its done properly

gogohmm · 07/03/2023 19:59

Seems reasonable to me, but the question begs, why didn't you do it?

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 07/03/2023 20:00

This is one reason why some people buy used flat-packs on eBay or FaceBook or similar - not because of the cost of actually buying a new one but to save themselves all the hassle and expense of putting it together!

Partyandbullshit · 07/03/2023 20:01

redbigbananafeet · 07/03/2023 19:39

Who would you have called to do it? what price per hour is your local handyman?

Show quote history

I would have (and have done plenty) myself. Bigger items I've done with my DH. Don't know how much a handyman would cost. DH is quite handy, as am I!

Quveas · 07/03/2023 20:03

If he didn't like it he should have done it.

NomadicSpirit · 07/03/2023 20:03

gogohmm · 07/03/2023 19:59

Seems reasonable to me, but the question begs, why didn't you do it?

I assume because she didn't feel like she had the skills to assemble something that says it needs two people to assemble and which her husband had put off for 5 months.

Though by the sounds of her husband she might have been more afraid of what he'd have done if she'd not done it right.

Fluffymule · 07/03/2023 20:05

Well you paid £85 for drawers you didn't use, so that would have been a much bigger waste of money in the long rung.

£26 an hour is a reasonable charge for a handyman, but you could also simply reframe it that you paid £137 for a fully assembled chest of drawers.

Next time you are buying furniture consider whether flat-pack is a false economy as you will have to pay someone to assemble it. Pay more upfront and have no dilemma.

SeeYouNextTLol · 07/03/2023 20:06

Why didn’t you do it?

ssd · 07/03/2023 20:06

More money than sense

Dartmoorcheffy · 07/03/2023 20:07

You would have been better off buying a more decent quality chest of drawers that were already assembled really rather than paying £52 for someone else to put it together. But your husband has had 3 months to do it and hadn't so he shouldn't really complain. Its not really difficult to put flat pack together though, I'm crap at DIY but I can manage it.

Cosyblankets · 07/03/2023 20:10

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 07/03/2023 19:48

£1,040 a week you mean?

Regardless of the maths, though, I highly doubt that's the kind of job you can guarantee a solid regular 8 hours of work every day.

That's precisely one of the reasons why this kind of work is more expensive.
Don't forget self employed people don't get holiday or sick pay etc so all that needs to be factored in.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 07/03/2023 20:18

That's precisely one of the reasons why this kind of work is more expensive.
Don't forget self employed people don't get holiday or sick pay etc so all that needs to be factored in.

Exactly. To be honest, I don't personally have any objections at all to people who make any amount of money from selling convenience and other optional/luxury services. My ire is reserved for people/companies who get rich by selling things that people cannot manage without and thus can't avoid buying.

HellsCominWithMe · 07/03/2023 20:19

Depends on the size of the chest and the material/maker imo.

ikea chests have the same type of screws but they can be fiddly depending on the size and their instructions can me blah. They are quick to put together though. Usually.

Ive had items from other retailers that have taken a fair bit longer but have gone together smoother but require multiple bits of hardware and are really sturdy.

the price you’ve paid is reasonable imo.

hourly rate will include his Labour, insurance to replace your item, insurance for his tools public liability etc.

plus the job is done and you’ve save time and not had to negotiate the job with other household needs. If your DH earns the same or more than £26 an hour then it’s worth it.

User18695438 · 07/03/2023 20:23

Obviously if you don't want to make it up yourself or pay someone else you could just buy a ready made one which will be more expensive.

userxx · 07/03/2023 20:28

KateAusten · 07/03/2023 18:45

Sounds like a lot of money to do a simple job

Is it a simple job ?

Cosyblankets · 07/03/2023 20:31

userxx · 07/03/2023 20:28

Is it a simple job ?

Show quote history

You're paying for his time. His next job could have been hanging doors or laying a floor. He will charge for his time rather than the job. He can't charge say a tenner an hour for so called simple jobs and then turn down other work for more complex jobs.

Superunknown1 · 07/03/2023 20:33

If your husband is that bothered he should have done it. Factoring in travelling etc it’s not that high of an hourly rate and you pay for the convenience and save yourself the frustration of trying to construct such a thing 😅

User18695438 · 07/03/2023 20:35

Self employed people need to charge at least £20-£25 an hour to make it worthwhile for their overheads, there had been similar threads about gardeners and cleaners where people think they can pay 10 quid an hour because that is what the minimum wage is.

userxx · 07/03/2023 20:39

@Cosyblankets No, I'm questioning whether putting drawers together myself a simple job. I totally understand about the self employed fella and his time, I think his price was quite reasonable.

Summerfun54321 · 07/03/2023 20:50

Flat pack is aimed at time rich cash poor. Those who don't have time to assemble flat pack, buy pre-assembled furniture at a much higher price. You can't have it all ways.

nonevernotever · 07/03/2023 20:50

I adore building flat pack stuff (apart from wardrobes -they're just too tall to be any fun) but that seems a reasonable price to me.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 07/03/2023 22:24

If your DH earns the same or more than £26 an hour then it’s worth it.

In a sense, you're absolutely right; but looking at it another way, that kind of assumes that DH can get as many hours of work as he wants, when in reality, if he isn't self-employed, he likely only has a set amount of hours each week at that rate.

Cosyblankets · 07/03/2023 23:22

So what did the husband say?

Testina · 07/03/2023 23:36

“DH could easily have saved us this money”

He’s not at fault, he didn’t spend the money.
Why didn’t you do it?

Goawayangryman · 07/03/2023 23:45

My mind boggles at this, notwithstanding some circumstance preventing use of a screwdriver, such as having just birthed twins, working a 70 hour week, or being physically disabled and unable to use the required tools.

Just get the screwdriver out and get cracking. It's an hour's job max.