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.

Oops read update no 60 too much

Oh!

no that’s terrible! That really is. I would be phoning some kind of Chartered place.

where did they find him?

I hate this kind of stuff the most. My granny got taken advantage of

I believe he has totally taken advantage of your parents!!

For those suggesting very low amounts such as £5, they need to remember that tradesmen are not working when travelling to the job so the 10 minute job would be an hour with travelling, plus the cost of a light bulb and the cost of fuel.
It is so difficult to find people willing to do small jobs so it's worth paying more than you think the job is worth just to ensure he will be happy to come back for another job,

I think people were picking up on your saying "so generally a fiver or tenner at best unless they'd worked more than a day, then consider 20".

Did you mean if they'd popped over after work on a Monday and then had to grab a special tool from home before popping in again after work on Tuesday?

From what you said, it did sound very much like you were saying to only even consider giving a professional £20 for doing more than a full day's work for you - hardly 'do us a little favour' or 'beer money' territory.

We had some building work done. We gave the bricky that was onsite every day for weeks 'a drink' and that was £20 of bottles of ale.

My ukulele group played for an afternoon at a local social club for a Christmas do. They said we'd get a drink. Bearing in mind the place has a bar at club prices. We got a cup of tea each. A cup, mind you, not a mug. And no biscuits.

£20 here

I agree, and I would give £20 for a “drink”.
But you have to remember that yes they are doing customers a favour by fitting in small jobs at discounted rates. But they’re doing themselves a favour too, because that money is tax free. I don’t begrudge them that, and I have several regular tradesmen who fit in jobs for me for £20, so I’m happy with that arrangement. But it isn’t a one-way street. It benefits the tradesmen too. They get a bit of tax free cash, and a potentially a future customer for bigger jobs (except in the OP’s case, because he’s a bloody criminal!)

he tried to make himselflook good but then ripped them off

you dont take 60 off anyone for a ligtbulb fitting

I think this is a bit cheeky of him. I have gone to my local garage because my bonnet wouldn't shut properly. I have never used them before. They greased and shut it. A 5 min job and did it for nothing. I have taken my car there every since they did this. And to be honest I'm glad I did. They have also come a jumped my car as I had mot booked but couldn't move my car, again for free

Nightlight robbery.

I’ve never heard of being asked for “a drink” by a tradesman - learn something every day

Me either. I read the op and though he wanted a cup of tea, which I though odd as he was on his way home, until I got to the question.

You'd graciously consider £20.00 fair payment for more than a day's work. Are you serious. Do you live in the UK or Bhutan?

😥

Your poor mum. He has totally taken advantage of your elderly parents. I would be messaging him on the FB page and asking why he took £60 from them

He saved them a bit of work that could have been straightforward but equally could have expanded into something complicated - getting a ladder out and climbing up to remove the bulb, doing the online research to see what kind of bulb it is, ordering it, getting the ladder out again to change it, and potentially other awkwardness with getting the right screwdriver to remove the fittings, or finding out the bulb wasn’t the correct one so having to order another, or finding you’ve dropped and lost a screw in the process and need to source another, and through this, having no outdoor light for a few more days, plus having the uncertainty that this would fix the problem and that if it had turned out to be not the bulb they’d have to pay someone to come in after that to assess it.

I would have expected him to take £20 given he’d said ‘a drink’, but I still think a minimum call-out of £50 would not have been unreasonable, plus the cost of a bulb.

The first time I heard the phrase I was baffled. It was a young car mechanic who’d fitted a windscreen wiper for me (that I’d brought with me but wasn’t able to fit). It took him 5 minutes, I asked how much I owed him, and he said “just buy me a drink”. For a moment I thought he was asking me out, which would have been ridiculous - me a frumpy middled aged mum, him a young hunky mechanic. There was a very awkward moment while my brain processed it, and luckily I guessed he meant cash. I cringe when I think how awful it would have been if I’d said “you’re on, see you in the pub tonight at 8” !!

I see what you're getting at, but he was clearly exploiting the power imbalance that he had over vulnerable people.

For starters, a younger person would have been far less likely to call out a tradie in the first place for a very simple job like this. If they had done so, do you think the tradie would have tried to get away with £60 for it, on a 'favour' basis?

Considering that they never offered him £60 - just asked which notes he needed and he grabbed the lot. Maybe their eyesight is very poor, or they have extremely painful arthritis, so they had to trust the man to take the right money rather than being able to give it to him directly.

Most people approaching 90 are very vulnerable, and they know very well that they are. If the electrician had told them with a threatening snarl that the cost of the work - even a 2-minute job - was £1,000, or £5,000, that they had to pay him now, most of them probably would if they had the money available.

It's the same principle as when a violent man intending robbery will seek to intimidate and overpower a petite lone woman in the street but wouldn't dream of trying anything with a massive 6'4" rugby player. It's not just what people try to do, but the grounds on which they have sized up and chosen their much weaker victim before deciding to deliberately exploit that weakness.

In which case, OP can get a receipt and he can put his £60 through the books. Which of course he won’t want to do…..

£20 for a day's work? Where is the cheeky fuckers thread?

I really wish you were telling that story though 😅

My uncle is an electrician. He swapped out MIL’s outside light, job took 30 mins and he charged £15. No mates rates. I hate it when tradespeople don’t charge a proper price. It’s awkward and often results in a hugely bumped up payment.

I think age is relevant. They're unlikely to be earning a wage at knocking on for 90. £60 is a big chunk of a pension.

Plus we all know that cognitive decline is linked to age - I would like to be clear that I am not saying this is the case for OP's parents - and arseholes will target older adults for this very reason.

I think if he actually wanted to rip them off he would have stated a price but it sounds like he thought your mum was offering him the lot, he may think they were well off! On the plus side you know he will reliably turn up if you need him again! Knowing a tradesman can be well worth the extra cash this time in the long run.

Wow, he took it all. That is really shocking.

yeah it does go both ways, this is why I insist on agreeing a price before and make it clear I will only pay by bank transfer or card.

I think one big issue with all this is he pretended as if he was being all benevolent and that he was not going to charge them. £60 is not no charge.

He should’ve been upfront and honest but sadly a lot (not all)of tradesmen are not. My mum was a single parent and I lost count of the amount of tradesmen trying to rip her off or outright intimidate her.