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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:
percypercypercy · 08/03/2023 09:56

Urgh. I DID read your comment, of course!

FrangipaniBlue · 08/03/2023 09:56

£26/hr is perfectly reasonable as far as hourly rates go. DH is a joiner, gave up being self employed a couple of years ago but he used to charge £30/hr.

HOWEVER I think 2 hours to put together a flat pack set of 5 drawers from Argos is taking the piss!!!

I'm not a joiner and even I could do that in about an hour so not quite sure why your tradesman took so long or why your DH thought it would take 3/4 hours?!

Streamside · 08/03/2023 09:57

Fedup2311 · 07/03/2023 18:38

The guys rate was £26 an hour. Was cheaper than the others I found such as £50 an hour and one even wanted £80 an hour! I just feel it’s so much money and DH could easily have saved us this money. I feel he’s going to get really angry when he comes home.

The real problem is that your DH didn't manage to put the drawers together and yet you're concerned that he'll be angry.

BMW6 · 08/03/2023 09:57

I'm expert at assembling flat pack. I love doing it.

DH is absolutely crap at it. He doesn't believe the instructions are correct 🙄and thinks he knows better. Fool.

Neither you nor DH wanted to do it so you pay someone else. You'd possibly have done better to offer a fixed price - £40 for the job but the tradesman is not unreasonable to insist on hourly rate. You should have haggled.

LumpyandBumps · 08/03/2023 09:59

I think you are being unfair to suggest that you were ripped off.
You asked him to do the job. You knew his hourly rate, and also that your husband thought it would take him 3-4 hours.
The handyman did it in 2 hours and charged you the agreed rate for those hours.
People saying £26 for an unskilled job is too high are missing the point. It doesn’t matter what skill level is required if it’s something you can’t do yourself ( for whatever reason). £26 per hour is reasonable for a handyman who will be using his own tools and travelling to you at his expense. Some jobs may be easier than others, but that doesn’t make his time worth any less. I don’t think I would be happy to employ an ‘unskilled’ handyman at any price.
I can easily fit a washing machine to an existing connection, but if the delivery driver does it the company have a set charge of around £20 for that less than 2 minute job. If I couldn’t do it myself I would pay the charge as quoted.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 08/03/2023 10:00

Actually that argument has merit. If you earn a high hourly rate, then it's reasonable to throw money at something to make your life easier, because it's likely that you value your time more than money.

I think that, if you're a high earner who thus has plenty of disposable income, it's not at all unreasonable to pay for optional services that less well-off people might need to/choose to do for themselves.

However, it's the calculation and proclamation that you therefore shouldn't do it yourself on that salary, whether you want to or not, that's a bit baffling! Especially considering that a lot of folk - whether rich or poor - will actively choose to do something as a hobby that other people do for a living.

You may earn £1m a year but spend every weekend gardening, to which people ask why on earth you don't pay somebody else to do it and enjoy your free time - but the way you love to spend your free time is by gardening!

GoodChat · 08/03/2023 10:07

FrangipaniBlue · 08/03/2023 09:56

£26/hr is perfectly reasonable as far as hourly rates go. DH is a joiner, gave up being self employed a couple of years ago but he used to charge £30/hr.

HOWEVER I think 2 hours to put together a flat pack set of 5 drawers from Argos is taking the piss!!!

I'm not a joiner and even I could do that in about an hour so not quite sure why your tradesman took so long or why your DH thought it would take 3/4 hours?!

What you're forgetting is that you're female so will read the instructions and get it right first time rather than guessing - then throwing a 30 minute strop that it's a piece of shit and you're taking it back - before actually putting it together properly Wink

OneTC · 08/03/2023 10:08

Actually that argument has merit. If you earn a high hourly rate, then it's reasonable to throw money at something to make your life easier, because it's likely that you value your time more than money. I can paint a room, or I could watch a youtube on olaying down lino in the bathroom and follow it, but I'd rather pay someone to do it, because they will come with the tools, and do it faster (and to a higher standard) than I could. If they take the same amount of time as me, but are paid a lower hourly rate, then I'm still financially better off.

No that just means you really don't want to do it or you'll think someone will go it better. How much you earn dictates how long you save to get someone in to do it for you. You are buying yourself some free time, not substituting it for paid work. Getting someone to do it for you ALWAYS costs more money. In a week paid job you don't carry that worth over into something that you might not be very good at was

OneTC · 08/03/2023 10:10

In answer to op £26 /hour is cheap.

Taking 2 hours is probably a pisstake unless it was mad complicated

Zaliea · 08/03/2023 10:15

GoodChat · 08/03/2023 09:48

If you've got time to find a handy man and then sit around while he puts your flat pack furniture together, you've got time to put your flat pack furniture together.

Show quote history

For me it's not about time, it's that I CBA and don't want to. I'd rather sit around while someone else does it.

LindorDoubleChoc · 08/03/2023 10:15

Of course £26 per hour is reasonable!

GoodChat · 08/03/2023 10:24

Oh yeah and that's a completely reasonable viewpoint @Zaliea, but then you won't begrudge paying for it

DuvetDownn · 08/03/2023 10:29

Getting someone to do it for you ALWAYS costs more money* Does it though, if I use the two hours for example to do some day trading while the markets are open and make myself a quick £500 surely I’m quids in?

mumof2many1943 · 08/03/2023 10:30

Wish I had employed someone to put my kitchen table and chairs together I did it myself and managed to break the table leg! 😡 My MN name gives you a clue to my age. However I do not think £52 is definitely not excessive.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 08/03/2023 10:36

We're asking why the OP didn't do it because she said that her DH could have saved the money by doing it himself. The obvious question is why just her DH? Why couldn't the OP have done it herself and saved the money? Why is it just a task that falls to her DH?

Yes, precisely - I thought it was quite obvious, but others really do seem not to get it.

We're being told not to be mean to OP and make assumptions, but she seems to be being 'mean' to her husband and assuming that it's automatically his job. He may not want to/be able to do it for exactly the same reasons that OP doesn't/can't, but he's being blamed for the cost to the household for a job that needs a third party, and OP is taking it for granted that he alone has incurred an unnecessary cost.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 08/03/2023 10:41

If you read my comment, you will see that I clearly said she could just have said "I am unable to do it myself".

I didn't read your comment, you also clearly said...

It wouldn't have been unreasonable for her to mention in the OP if she's a wheelchair user, blind, has arthritis etc.

Which is what I was talking about.

So you think it would have been unreasonable if she'd wanted to give the specific context of why she couldn't do it?

Posters are free to give as much or as little detail as they want. I was saying that she could have either specifically said "I am blind" or a simple "I am unable to do it" by way of explanation why she was automatically blaming her husband for unilaterally costing them the money by not doing it himself, when it's a job that most adults of either sex could do.

percypercypercy · 08/03/2023 11:02

So you think it would have been unreasonable if she'd wanted to give the specific context of why she couldn't do it?

Let's not go making up things I didn't say.

MotherOfTheGruffalo · 08/03/2023 11:06

Flamingogirl08 · 07/03/2023 18:42

Is that how much people pay for this service? I might need DH to have this as a side job. He's a dab hand at flat-pack 🤣

People do actually do flat pack assembly as a side job!
A few years ago we had a wardrobe that needed assembling. We found a couple of brothers who do this sort of thing on the weekend/evenings for a bit of extra cash.

OneTC · 08/03/2023 11:45

DuvetDownn · 08/03/2023 10:29

Getting someone to do it for you ALWAYS costs more money* Does it though, if I use the two hours for example to do some day trading while the markets are open and make myself a quick £500 surely I’m quids in?

No.

This is a question of how much you value your free time only. You earning 250/hr just means you afford it quicker than most people. It doesn't make your free time any more valuable than anyone else's 😅

SchoolQuestionnaire · 08/03/2023 14:00

Fedup2311 · 07/03/2023 18:38

The guys rate was £26 an hour. Was cheaper than the others I found such as £50 an hour and one even wanted £80 an hour! I just feel it’s so much money and DH could easily have saved us this money. I feel he’s going to get really angry when he comes home.

The rate is fine and I’m not sure why your dh would be angry. He’s had three months to do it and didn’t bother, now you’ve saved him the trouble. If he’s not happy with the cost he should have done it in a timely manner.

Thise asking why op didn’t do it herself, why the fuck should she? If she’s anything like me she does enough without adding stuff that dh has promised to do to the list. I am perfectly capable of doing this sort of thing but if I ever had to dh would be mortified. I do my fair share so wouldn’t be happy to take on things that he has committed to.

Anyotherdude · 08/03/2023 16:12

Fedup2311 · 07/03/2023 18:38

The guys rate was £26 an hour. Was cheaper than the others I found such as £50 an hour and one even wanted £80 an hour! I just feel it’s so much money and DH could easily have saved us this money. I feel he’s going to get really angry when he comes home.

“D” H has no right to get angry, if he couldn’t be arsed to do it himself and for some reason you are also unable to assemble assemble-at-home furniture.
However, I’m curious as to why you didn’t have a go yourself? My DD, with no previous experience, assembled furniture (using the instructions that came with it) delivered to her Nan’s house when she was waiting in for the delivery because Nan was on holiday! She did a great job too - she was 18 at the time…

Dixiechickonhols · 08/03/2023 16:18

£26 an hour doesn’t seem unreasonable for a handyman. He’s providing tools and will need insurance eg if he damages your drawers. That’s his gross he’s paying tax, petrol etc too.
If your dh thought 3-4 hours and he’s done in 2 he’s obviously not taken liberties with time.
If dh had wanted to save money he could have done it.
I assume you didn’t feel able to do it ie it was a skilled job.

feelinglikeanewparent · 08/03/2023 16:46

" I feel he’s going to get really angry when he comes home."

Then he should've done it

Garrie · 08/03/2023 18:05

Are you scared of him? I hope you're okay.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 08/03/2023 18:45

Let's not go making up things I didn't say.

That wasn't a direct quote - it's what I believed I understood from your comment.

You don't believe that OP should be expected to give her medical circumstances and neither do I; I just said that she could if she so wished.