I've been done but he's my friends husband

[Mottledhellibore]

My friends husband is a tradesman. I asked if he could cut and screw 3 lengths of planks to a small bedroom, cladded ceiling. I had bought the wood. He took and hour and 20 minutes to do it. I will be painting. He charged me £80. I feel this is excessive and want to ask if he had included the planks in the price
The issue is he is my friends husband and I don't want to cause any awkwardness but equally I feel hurt that I've been taken advantage of. I didn't expect it for free, just not that price. Any thoughts? Thank you

£80 sounds more than reasonable to me, sorry.

Maybe you should agree price upfront but trades people are pricy these days

That sounds about what I would expect to pay for that. Did you expect mates rates?

Presuming he's charged you his hourly rate for labour? I've no idea how much something like that would cost to be honest. Surely he knew you'd paid for the wood?

I would probably expect mates rates especially for such a quick job but equally I doubt I'd say anything to the friend. I can't see that having a positive outcome - it will either cause issues between her and her dh or she'll get defensive with you and create tension.

I'm afraid I'd probably have to chalk this up to experience and never ask him to do anything for you again.

I don’t think that price is unreasonable.
If you factor in travel, tax, NI, tools, pension etc, and skill/experience , he wouldn’t break even for much less.

This is very reasonable for over an hours work. He has to make a living!

I think that’s reasonable too

Sounds more than reasonable. Are you expecting the man to not make a living because 'mates rates?'

You've not been taken advantage of, price is what I'd expect.

Bit pricey, but then when friends do jobs for me they often try under charge, then I have to insist on giving them more. If it's his wife that's your friend, not him I would expect to pay near going rate.

And what if his wife has 20 friends/colleagues etc, has her husband got to cut the price to a point when he makes fuck-all from it for all those people?

Daft. 🙄

Are you happy with the work? It’s on the high side but not massively. Skilled labourers are expensive.

Where are you based, OP? I’d not be delighted at paying that where I am, but would have expected about than when I lived elsewhere.

Sounds reasonable to me really - lesson learnt though, agree a price upfront or learn how to do it yourself.

I've had my house renovated, different trades people and no one charged as much on an hourly rate. He didnt have to travel more than 10 minutes.Yes probably say nothing is best but I won't ask him again.

BatchCookBabe, you seem to have misunderstood my post. I said I would expect to pay near going rate.

Sorry. I did misread.

When did you have all these renovations though? I am guessing not recently. Post 2021 everything is much more expensive than before the 2020/2021 Covid lockdown(s.) So of course this man charged more than the old tradies who did your renovations.

How much did you think it should be?

Thats a reasonable price for a qualified tradesman. If he has used his own hardware ( screws) that will have been part of the cost. I would expect to pay £40-50 an hour for someone’s time. It includes the cost of tools, transport, insurance and wear and tear. If you had done it yourself you would have needed to invest in the power tools which would have cost far more. You are also paying for his knowledge and experience. Insurance covers accidental damage to your property.

Employed people have no idea about overheads, wages are only a percentage of the running costs of a business. Hourly rate for self employed includes all the business costs. His actual profit may be half what you paid him.

I rarely do mates rates or expect mates rates unless I can provide a reciprocal service. It often becomes a one way transaction.
Mates rates doesn’t usually apply to actual mates but to other trades where you can offer a reciprocal service. Actual mates are usually just CF who want something for nothing.

Thank you everyone it helps to have perspective 😊

Did you not agree a price beforehand?

It's a very reasonable price for that amount of time for a tradesman

I should think it’s the rate for the job. He may just be thinking of it as a business transaction not a favour. The favour might be that he fitted you in quicker which is worth a lot nowadays.

That's £60 an hour, so quite reasonable as long as he did a good job. Decent trades are hard to find and usually have long wait times.