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Original poster

Have I been ripped of by a plumber?

20 replies

Pipbin · 27/08/2014 11:24

We have a really friendly nice plumber. He has come out to us for small jobs, boiler service etc. He has also come out very quickly when our boiler died.
Today he came out to fix our leaking toilet. It needed the ball valve (?) replacing. He had the part on the van so could get it done there and then. He left the part box on the side. While he was fitting it I looked it up in the Screwfix catalogue, the part was £14.
He charged us £30 for the part and £45 for the labour.
He is a nice guy, I think I'm a good judge of character and he doesn't seem like a shill but I'm a bit pissed off at being charged double for the part.
Have I been ripped off? Do I say something?

OP posts:

trevortrevorslattery · 27/08/2014 11:48

I don't think you should say anything as I don't think you've been ripped off.

He's charged you £30 for the part but if he hadn't had it on the van he'd have had to go and get it so you'd have had to pay more to him in labour/time so it would probably balance out. Plus he will have some kind of mark-up on parts supplied to you - there's no reason why he should supply them at cost anyway.

Were you happy with the price before you looked in the Screwfix catalogue?

If it's turned out more expensive than you expected then just make sure you agree an acceptable price in future, before anyone does any work for you.

MummytoMog · 27/08/2014 11:49

Meh. He buys the parts and carries them round so he can fix loos very quickly and without having to go out for parts - so you're kind of paying for the convenience really and for him being out of pocket until he needs the particular part. It's not a massive overcharge. If you are going to get worked up about this sort of thing, you should probably learn how to do small plumbing jobs yourself. It's mostly quite simple and a good DIY book will show you how to do things like replace ball valves, repair dripping taps etc.

vickibee · 27/08/2014 11:51

he is a business and it is common practice to mark up goods for resale. 75.00 seems reasonable to me. He has to earn a living

Original poster

Pipbin · 27/08/2014 12:12

I'm not 'worked up', not in the slightest.
I just wanted to check that this was normal practice.
As said above, if he didn't have it on the van the I would have had to pay for the time to go to a suppliers.
I was very happy with the price before I checked, as said above, £75 for a chap and his lad to do an hours job is fine with me.
Just wanted to check this was a fair price before I get him to fit a new boiler for me.

OP posts:

DonkeysDontRideBicycles · 27/08/2014 12:16

Ime it's often more than £50 charged by a plumber just for the first half hour whatever the task. Sounds like something that the poster PigletJohn would know but if you're not trying to do DIY jobs yourself and the plumber is a nice guy and normally does a satisfactory job it doesn't sound like a big rip off.

Mintyy · 27/08/2014 12:20

I do admin for a tradesman (not plumber, but similar) who charges £30 for a call out + £20 per half hour for working on the job and marks up parts by 1.5 - 1.7 x. He has a local reputation for being very fair and reasonable.

Dolallytats · 27/08/2014 12:28

Heating engineer/plumber husband says that is a fair price. You can't expect a business to charge the same as Screwfix!!

burnishedsilver · 27/08/2014 12:58

I paid a plumber for a new immersion and for his time to fit it. It never worked properly aftwerwards. I got another plumber to give a second opinion. It turns out that the first guy hadn't put the new immersion in at all. He just tinkered with the old one! He even left for an hour to go buy a new one. That is seriously being ripped off by a plumber.

LEMmingaround · 27/08/2014 13:01

Maybe he didn't get the part from screw fix. They are considerably cheaper than other places

LEMmingaround · 27/08/2014 13:03

My dp is a builder and charges the customer what he is charged for the part/materials. Maybe thats why weare piss poor

Original poster

Pipbin · 27/08/2014 13:05

Fair enough. I'm very happy with him and his work. Good to know I've got a good one!
He has come out before for a super quick job and only charged £20.

I guess the mark up is like the cost of a can of coke from the supermarket and the same in a pub. You are paying for the other costs in running the pub too.

OP posts:

Original poster

Pipbin · 27/08/2014 13:05

I guess he has to factor in the cost of keeping it in the van on the off chance too.

OP posts:

ohbladee · 27/08/2014 13:10

The van, the fuel, the time spent travelling to and from yours while he can't do another job, the accountant, the parts, any storage costs, advertising, any membership/professional body costs, etc not of course counting his mortgage, bills etc

Totally reasonable OP.

soaccidentprone · 27/08/2014 13:10

I know a couple of plumbers. They don't use Screwfix as they aren't impressed by the quality of their stuff (I buy things from Screwfix and have never had a problem). They buy from plumbers merchants, which are better quality fittings, ergo more expensive.

And don't forget the plumber has to travel to yours, it's not just the time at yours he needs to account for.

Mintyy · 27/08/2014 13:12

LEM - I think most customers expect to pay a mark up on parts? I'd try and get your dh to change that if I were you. Maybe to just 125% or something if he feels uncomfortable about it ... or does he factor in the costs into his hourly rate?

ohbladee · 27/08/2014 13:12

I'll tell you what is being ripped off OP- I once got shafted £85 to have the windows cleaned. One bed ground floor flat. I still have no idea why I paid it. Never told DH.

Original poster

Pipbin · 27/08/2014 13:12

Just to say again, I am very happy with him. I just wanted to check that this was a fair price.

OP posts:

MrsWinnibago · 27/08/2014 13:19

That sounds normal but my DH who is a painter and decorator would NEVER charge people more for materials. He tells them what the price is AND uses his trade discount and then charges for the labour.

Why should people pay more for the parts/materials? It's not honest. He has done very well as people know they can trust him and he is always upfront and understands that it's a cause of some anxiety for people...a lot fear getting ripped off and with good reason!

ohbladee · 27/08/2014 13:41

MrsWinnebago - it's not dishonest, that's business. I suppose if you're DH can teleport products it's fine, but if he's collecting them, transporting them etc then he's making a loss and undervaluing his time.

CatherineofMumbles · 27/08/2014 14:01

We had our fridge fixed last week, and were delighted the man had the part in his van! I think its reasonable to pay extra for this - ie the convenience. Its a bit like people complaining that they paid twice as much for a cold coke in a pub in the middle of the Pennines than is charged by their local Tesco - reasonable to pay a premium for something being where you need it when you want it.
There is nothing to stop you keeping small plumbing items at home - but then you are paying for storage.
If you are prepared to source things yourself, often tradespeople are happy to fit them for you. DH often sources car parts when he knows what needs replacing etc and the garage fits them for him. So then all you are paying for is the expertise, not the part.

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