How much is 'a drink' in payment terms for a tradesman?

[cockapup]

My elderly parents contacted a tradesman on a local FB group as needed an outside light replacing. The tradesman said he'd pop round after finishing another local job to assess. As it turned out it was a bulb needing replacing so took him less than 10 mins. He kindly said no charge but just give me a 'drink'.

How much would you give? Just wondering if what my parents gave was excessive- I'll reveal amount later.

Should have been no more than £10! Especially as they provided the bulb! I'd contact him OP

I think a nice bottle of something is in order, maybe a speciality beer or an entry level bottle of wine, but nothing extravagant (I would class a spirit to be excessive on this instance).

If you want someone to drive over quickly and sort your issue in the future £20 - can’t believe people are suggesting £5 - tight wads

What a pig, sorry he took your parent's food money for the week, £20 for ten minutes work would have been plenty. What has the world come to.

I'd give a tenner or twenty depending on which I had on me/could get out of the cash machine. If I was anticipating having to spend more to replace the whole light or whatever I'd still consider £20 to be decent value tbf, considering the bloke came over, didn't try and upcharge me for anything, and did the thing I couldn't do myself on his own time after his proper work day had technically ended

£20.

Maybe he only drinks champagne 😂

£10

I would’ve given him a tea bag!

It may be he was thinking of a nice Chateau Margaux, 1989 Red, in which case it was a great deal !

Hertfordshire

£10. He took the time to come out to the job, assess it and change a lightbulb.
He said "Just a drink."
If they throw more than £20, they don't have a good basis for him pricing up any further jobs.
But where were you?
Why don't you buy and send them a lamp, so that if another bulb blows, they won't be in darkness.
And this is one of the reasons we make sure we have good relationships with neighbours.
The good neighbour will pop round and say, "new lightbulb", or "I don't know, think you need to call out a professional"

I'd have paid £20 if he said it was the cost of a drink. He's definitely ripped your parents off with £60.

I'd also be wary about him returning & saying further work needs to take place. Please make sure they're prepared & say no if he does return.

Tenner

You do realize 'A drink' doesn't mean one drink' it means a few pints' so £20 would be fair unless you thought that modern slavery was ok and £20 should be a days wage.

I’d give £20, or (only if I knew for certain he drinks) I’d take him at his word and buy one of those big cases of Stella which are about £18.

My DH is a builder who is now sober, and now dreads beings given a case of beer as a perk!

I think in future it would be better for them to just say ‘I don’t know what you mean, how much do you want?’ rather than showing all the cash they have, he must’ve thought she was offering him £60. If he’d said that to my grandad he would’ve given him £1.50 because he still works on prices from 30 years ago!

It’s not a question of a drink

He’s being decent by not putting the correct price on it which should be £100 at least to drive to some dickheads place and deal with whatever you find there.

It’s the very least £20. Very least. He has a living to make and if you call him out you have to contribute to that including diesel, van depreciation, time there and back etc…

It's a tenner all day long.

I usually give the guy that does my garden an extra £10 just to get a drink to say thanks

£10.00

But surely it's because of the very minor nature of the job that he offered to drop in on his way home from work and do it 'for a drink' (which, to everybody else apart from him, usually means £10 or £20).

He's not family or a friend; he's definitely not going to do a major job for strangers that takes him a day or more and just say "Give me a token amount/whatever you think for it", is he?

When we've had builders or tradespeople in for a few days I'd tip them twenty quid each at the end of the job (if it was well finished) and tell them to have a drink on us. I'd offer the same in your parents case. Shame they've experienced this chancer.

Good grief- my parents aren't dickheads

What a truly nasty way to refer to a couple in their late 80s who just need their light to work.

Think yourself lucky that you aren't elderly and frail or otherwise vulnerable, and that you can still do simple jobs yourself that are now beyond very old folk.

They aren't calling him out of laziness or stupidity; have some compassion, can't you?