AIBU to think that plumber is overcharging?

[Sam9769]

Plumber not prepared to give me his daily rate but is prepared to give me a quote for the job.
Cost to remove existing bath, wash hand basin and toilet in ensuite and replace with shower, wash hand basin and toilet.
LABOUR ONLY - £3,000.

AIBU - This quote is fine.
AINBU - He is over charging.

He probably doesn’t need or want the work so has given you an exorbitant price.
I have a friend who has a plumbing company and he has enough work booked in to keep all his men busy for the next 12 months.

DH reckons 4 days but plumber didn't say.

Yes, but what's reasonable?

What's his expertise and skill worth?

That is a good price for labour imho. I am also in the SE (greater London) and am paying £4k for the job. It would have been £450 per day and I was predicted 8 days, but didn't want to risk it running over!

Why don’t you get 3 quotes rather than asking people who haven’t even seen your bathroom. If you get more quotes then you’ll know what is reasonable, if they’re all around this benchmark then it’s about right, if the other two are much less then it’s an expensive quote.

Offering a very high rate is ripping people off isn't it not a good technique?

Ask him. It’s reasonable to want to know what his hourly rate is. The fact he won’t tell you suggests something possibly underhand to me.

Or he doesnt want the job?

find someone else then or get your husband to do it in 4 days

It’s quite normal with trades, you’re paying for a result not the time.

Obviously, whatever the plumber values it at.

You as the client can take or leave it.

That's possible too. I don't know why some tradies do this.

I got someone to give me a quote to supply and fit 3 fence panels and 4 fence posts last month. He wanted to charge me £2000. Clearly thought the job was too small, and couldn't be arsed, so gave me a laughable quote.

I didn't use him, and ended up using someone who charged me £550.

That's an interesting way of looking at it. You're not paying for his time but the result Ha, ha!

It’s still reasonable to know what the hourly rate is so you can decide if you think you’re getting value for money. Especially as lots of tradesmen do a shit job and can’t be trusted.

why do you insist on thinking anyone is "ripping someone off" here?

As long as he's honest about the price of the material that will be added to the quote,
charging you for the job , not delivering half of what is in the quote

He's not ripping you off. He estimates his value at £3k for doing an ensuite. Sounds reasonable to me?
He's giving you a quote, take it or leave it.

He's not a charity. You are paying for his skills and experience. £3k for what is a fair amount of work is very reasonable as it happens.

The size of your bathroom is rather irrelevant anyway, the job is the same in a bigger bathroom, and probably easier.

Exactly and how can they price a job if they don't have an hourly or daily rate?
They should tell the customer what their rate is and not conceal it!

what's so funny?

How do you pay your hairdresser?

Why would you even want to pay by the hour? He might take forever, how would you know how many hours he will need?

He's employed for a job, he delivers the job and you pay the amount agreed. What's wrong with that?

How would that help? You would argue the hours he would need to do the job anyway.

You sound like a nightmare client, he'll probably regret not quoting you more

Why? Why should he tell you his hourly rate? What happens if the job takes more hours than expected are you going
to offer him more money? Or at that point it becomes price per job or should have worked faster.

You still won’t answer if it included tilling, but I reckon he worked out you are going to be a difficult customer and decided he didn’t want the work.

It's standard for trades to charge for the result, not per hour. Would you prefer he turns up, finds 'problems', takes longer and then charges you more because he's added a few days on?

The fact that you think people on the internet who haven't seen your bathroom and presumably aren't qualified can give you a view on a quote, better than the tradesmen, suggests you'd be a bit of a nightmare customer tbh. Maybe he's quoted to put you off if he doesn't need the work!

For what reason is he not telling you his daily rate? Have you asked him for ab estimated timeframe?

Most people are paid per hour/day based upon their skill and expertise.
My hairdresser charges for her time depending upon how long it takes to do someone's hair. If your hair is long, she charges more because it takes more time.
Surely the cost of a job depends on how long it will take to complete not on how it looks in the end. Time is money.
I would like to know how much he is charging me per day and not conceal it.
If its £300 per day, I'm fine with that but if it's £600 I'm not.
Customers are entitled to know how much a trade person is charging them for their time.

Depends where you are - but £15k all-in is kind what we and others pay locally in my part of the South East (for wall and floor tiles, shower units, taps, shower screen, toilet basin and cistern and connected plumbing/sewerage, bath, basin, replacing old plumbing if more than 20 years old, installation of extractor fan and external light switches/rewiring of light fittings, skim/plastering as needed - all due to building reg requirements having changed - and labour). I’d estimate at least £5k is labour.

We always ask for a detailed quotation whatever the job, and make it clear any unforeseen extras should be discussed with us before the work is carried out. That way, it doesn't matter how long it takes to complete (within reason) and you aren't concerned about an unknown final bill.

Most trades are honest, but if you don't know the first thing about the job, asking them to work on a daily rate is akin to handing out a virtual blank cheque.