To think that tradesmen take the piss with their rates?

[Pomegranatecarnage]

Just that really. I have had a few repairs needed and some DIY recently. I paid £130 to have a leaking toilet valve fixed (it took 45 mins), £75 to have a pull string light replaced (10 mins) and then £270 labour for 6 hours work putting up some shelves, a small area of tiling and replacing skirting boards. He arrived at 10, left at 12 for lunch, back at 2 then was finished by 4pm. I can’t help wondering why I spent 5 years at University to get paid far less per hour as a teacher.

Loving how everyone is supporting the tradesman here.
Please also bear this in mind when you are all criticising your vet over bets bills too.
Everything everyone has said is relevant to them too.

You sound very entitled OP. You agreed to paying cash - you're not exactly in the best position.
I think the 'looking down on my trade neighbour' tax might have been added, in this case.😉

That's a different thing altogether; funny how vet bills have gone up exponentially since vet practices have been taken over by trading groups.
My independent vet's fees have remained in line with what's to be expected, not cheap but commensurate with the service they provide. Unlike those of the factory group practice down the road.
Their advice is also second to none, driven by care and professionalism, not greed and profit.

You're not only paying for their time your paying for their knowledge. I was surprised at how much it cost to get some rubbish removed from our garden, old fencing etc. I was expecting a man with a van for 50 quid but was nearly 400....but I was paying for them to do something I didn't want to do myself, to mess their van up instead of my car. It took them half an hour in total but saved me back ache and several tip runs it is what it is. Many tradies also go through dry spells with not much coming in so they might as well make hay while the sun shines. My brother in law is an electrician and the amount of people who take the p with paying him is ridiculous.

So you are moralising as well as moaning about prices.
It takes as long to qualify for some trades as it does to be a teacher. So you aren't a special case, you are a tradesperson just as much as they are. You trade your 'skill' for cash. Your job is no bettrr or worse than theirs.

I have said exactly this to my son! He wont as it means getting his hands dirty but he will make dfar more money and be self employed, as an adult it seems a no brainer

Not necessarily. Electricians have a first hour fee, say £60 then the cost of the fitting.

There's a bit of a difference between someone (yourself) who has practical skills and uses them vs someone (often a man) who overestimates his ability and ends up shelling out for repairs which cost more than if he'd just paid a professional to do it in the first place.

The Austin reference was from Fawlty Towers. Basil is supposed to take the car to the garage. Sybil says "you're not going to do it yourself" before he pushes it around the corner out of sight and lifts the bonnet. Long story short, he ends up breaking down at a critical moment and loses his rag:

Thanks for that bit of Fawlty Towers 😆

Echo others about the value of university and thinking carefully before you go.

I was top of the class at school and college, prime university material. My parents were very disappointed with my decision not to go. However, I didn’t have a clear career in mind and didn’t want to go to university aimlessly.

I started my own business and now out earn my peers by a significant amount, despite being the only one who didn’t go to university.

I think we need far more discussion about the merits of university.

So what you’re saying is you are worth more than a skilled trades person because you have a uni degree?
Uni isnt everything and this post proves it, good for the trades man. And whilst I’m here £270 for 6 hours work is quit cheap.

It is off topic a bit but I do agree with independent vs corporate chains. I really value and rate my independent vets - they are amazing and often save me more expense with their advice. The price of drugs however and what insurance covers is another matter entirely - all vets have their hands tied there, that's for sure!

But you also don't get the snobbery aimed at vets as you do tradespeople.

For one thing life isn’t just about making money and nor is success marked by who earns the most

And he'd be well within his rights to go back upstairs a d undo the work done
You agreed a price, then refused to pay it?
That's despicable

I don't think many tradies go for long without work, especially not if they have a good reputation.

You can hardly get anyone to do a job, especially if it's a small one, because most of them don't want to know. They have plenty of larger jobs!

I know they have expenses, obviously, but prices are through the roof because there's not enough supply to meet demand.

Our neighbour asked for 400 after having spent 4 hours in our appt...so it could be worse. Also cash in hand and we now got a leak again but this time we will call someone else. A shame, he's a plumber so we could have used his services but he decided to take the piss...

It does but the tradie starts much younger.

I had a tiler here last year same age as my teacher DC. From what I was charged, the tiler is outearning my DC exponentially!

However, DC has a good pension (hopefully!) to look forward to, sick pay when needed, paid leave and no business admin.

You pays your money, I guess!

I won't pay cash in hand. I'm PAYE - I'm not subsidising some fucker who isn't paying their share!

Teaching seems to be one profession where the good are very good and can change the lives of some for the very best

But there are far too many who are average at best, and can ruin multiple lives in every generation that has the misfortune to end up in their class

But, you could have gone to uni, and maybe your learning would have broadened your mind, and contributed to starting your business - which you still could have done post-uni?

Did you ever consider taking a p/t time degree later in life - because learning now really is lifelong? You don't have to do it all at 18.

I'm old so I went to uni long before there were fees but when roughly only the top 5% of pupils went, so obviously it's a different decision in many ways now because of the financial implications. I wouldn't have missed out on my uni experience for the world! It was one of the best times of my life. However, I find myself now coming up to retirement with less of a pension than others my age who left school and went straight to work! Plus when I started my working life, it was in the expectation that I would retire at 60, and of course now I am expected to work an extra 7 years... but that's another debate!

All three of my DC have followed in my path to uni too. None of them would make it as a plumber, or an electrician or whatever trade! They're just not geared that way. If they had wanted to take that path, I'd have been fine with it. They have all followed their passion, three very different ones.

Completely agree about independent vets certainly charging less than large groups, and in my limited experience of the latter, the independents provide at least as good a service
Mine outlines the prices for the vaccinations and other needed drugs and for their time
The latter is always reasonable, the former far less so

This literally applies to every profession though? And if we didn't have some 'average' teachers, then we wouldn't have sufficient teachers?

Don't get me started on the crap ones though!!

You need to choose your friends more carefully.
You paid a friend in the same street, who is not a tradesman, and then you complain about tradesmen.
Your ‘friend’ ripped you off, not a professional tradesman.

This person wasn’t a tradesperson.
why are you using subpar black market people to do work for you?

The amount of student debt these days is a big factor in the decision though.
I'm old too but maybe if i were a youngster now i might not go