Is plumber being reasonable?

OneWarmHazelQuail · 2025-08-25T10:28:59+00:00

We use a local plumber, really nice chap. We asked him to come over and reseal shower, check why shower water was draining slowly and fix dripping toilet. He charged us £80 for sucking debris out of drain but said that essentially there wasn't anything in pipe as slow draining seemed to be due to a design flaw. He also gave us 2 options for toilet - cheaper work around for £60 or replacing components. We opted for cheaper option, which only worked for a week. We've given him a ring now and he says that permanent for toilet is £160. I'm feeling a bit annoyed that £140 of our last bill was essentially for nothing!! Is it reasonable for me to be annoyed or is this quite common and just bad luck?

Cherrysoup · 25/08/2025 11:32

But he has labour fuel costs. Maybe you could’ve gone for the more expensive option in the first place? We did similar recently and had to call back the plumber, pay more, but that’s just life. We tried to cut a corner, knowing it might not work/was cheap for a reason. In the long run, you’ve now got a hopefully permanent fix?

FiveShelties · 25/08/2025 11:36

Who are you annoyed with, yourself or the plumber?

Original poster

OneWarmHazelQuail · 25/08/2025 11:39

FiveShelties · 25/08/2025 11:36

Who are you annoyed with, yourself or the plumber?

Hahah great comment! Honestly, a bit of both!

OP posts:

Boing98 · 25/08/2025 11:40

But the plumber just followed your instructions?

Weekmindedfool · 25/08/2025 11:40

Yes it’s what it costs these days for any trade. £80 for a basic call out is normal.

FiveShelties · 25/08/2025 11:40

OneWarmHazelQuail · 25/08/2025 11:39

Hahah great comment! Honestly, a bit of both!

Show quote history

I would be the same to be honest! 😂

PsychoHotSauce · 25/08/2025 11:41

I'm not sure what you expect him to do, except take the financial hit instead of you? He's done the jobs as you asked him to.

'Check' why the water was draining slowly - he did that.
Gave you a choice between a cheaper work around and full replacement - and gave you the one you chose.

It's annoying but there's no way in hell he has been unreasonable sorry.

Original poster

OneWarmHazelQuail · 25/08/2025 11:43

Cherrysoup · 25/08/2025 11:32

But he has labour fuel costs. Maybe you could’ve gone for the more expensive option in the first place? We did similar recently and had to call back the plumber, pay more, but that’s just life. We tried to cut a corner, knowing it might not work/was cheap for a reason. In the long run, you’ve now got a hopefully permanent fix?

I think you're right. I felt as though I may be being a bit unfair by feeling annoyed, hence the post so good to hear another take on it.

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spoonbillstretford · 25/08/2025 11:43

I don't see what is unreasonable there, sorry. Only perhaps the very temporary nature of the easy solution, which could just be bad luck.

Original poster

OneWarmHazelQuail · 25/08/2025 11:52

PsychoHotSauce · 25/08/2025 11:41

I'm not sure what you expect him to do, except take the financial hit instead of you? He's done the jobs as you asked him to.

'Check' why the water was draining slowly - he did that.
Gave you a choice between a cheaper work around and full replacement - and gave you the one you chose.

It's annoying but there's no way in hell he has been unreasonable sorry.

I guess I thought he would be able to visually identify drain issue without needing to pump if he could see nothing there.

Re cheaper fix, I wondered if he knew whether it was likely to fail.

On balance and reflecting on these comments, it sounds like I'm definitely being unreasonable!

I had no intention of showing him my annoyance but was curious as to whether my feelings were rational!

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Original poster

OneWarmHazelQuail · 25/08/2025 12:07

Weekmindedfool · 25/08/2025 11:40

Yes it’s what it costs these days for any trade. £80 for a basic call out is normal.

This was part of bill, not whole bill so excluding call out etc

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Poshjock · 25/08/2025 12:40

I have a good friend who is a tradie and he tells me that there is quite a lot of pressure on him to fix 'cheap'. To the point where he will offer a cheap fix even when he knows there is a chance of failure.

Ultimately there is expectation gap - we all want cheap. But what we really want is a proper fix as cheap as possible. The question you need to ask yourself is "Do I want this fixed cheap or do I want it fixed right?" And the answer to that is always I want it done right. Cheap is almost always false economy.

Once you get that mindset right, then you start asking your tradies the right questions. "what is the actual fault here and how will it be fixed properly" then "how can I fix it properly in the most economical way possible"

Your plumber told you what the problem was, what was required to fix it and how much that would cost. He then offered you a gamble - to take a chance on luck that a patch up repair might work - or at least buy you time to budget for a proper fix later. You took that gamble and it didn't work. And it's ok to feel annoyed that luck was not shining on you on this occasion.

Laura95167 · 25/08/2025 13:23

I think hes very cheap

Whaleandsnail6 · 25/08/2025 13:31

Did he tell you the cheapet option may not be a permanent fix? I'd be annoyed if he sold it as "will definitely work" and then only worked for a week. I'd expect any work that I had done on my house to last longer than a week

Original poster

OneWarmHazelQuail · 25/08/2025 13:39

Laura95167 · 25/08/2025 13:23

I think hes very cheap

Oh really, that's good to know - as you can tell, I'm very clueless about this stuff!

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Original poster

OneWarmHazelQuail · 25/08/2025 13:43

Poshjock · 25/08/2025 12:40

I have a good friend who is a tradie and he tells me that there is quite a lot of pressure on him to fix 'cheap'. To the point where he will offer a cheap fix even when he knows there is a chance of failure.

Ultimately there is expectation gap - we all want cheap. But what we really want is a proper fix as cheap as possible. The question you need to ask yourself is "Do I want this fixed cheap or do I want it fixed right?" And the answer to that is always I want it done right. Cheap is almost always false economy.

Once you get that mindset right, then you start asking your tradies the right questions. "what is the actual fault here and how will it be fixed properly" then "how can I fix it properly in the most economical way possible"

Your plumber told you what the problem was, what was required to fix it and how much that would cost. He then offered you a gamble - to take a chance on luck that a patch up repair might work - or at least buy you time to budget for a proper fix later. You took that gamble and it didn't work. And it's ok to feel annoyed that luck was not shining on you on this occasion.

This is v interesting!

Yeah, I have learnt from this and will avoid cheaper fix going forward if possible! Am on mat leave so funds are a little tight..had been hoping to kick the can down the road for a year!

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DiscoBob · 25/08/2025 14:59

But he did the work. You agreed to it. He sucked the stuff out and did a fix on the toilet. It's not nothing.

And plumbers always charge £80 an hour, that's before parts etc. so the new quote for toilet seems fine.

I don't really know why you think it's unreasonable?