Has our plumber taken us for a ride

smelly sock · 22-09-2017 9:23am

kyeev wrote: »

Give him 300 or 350 which seems about fair for the job. And then see how much of a fuss or effort he makes to get the rest of the money?

Id agree. 300 is more than generous.

His tax affairs are his business. Id pursue him for an invoice on that also out of principal. Pure greed.

Bellview · 22-09-2017 9:24am

I'm close limerick city but had a similar experience. I got quote for 450 for day and he added an extra 500 onto parts he was buying...so he was hoping to make nearly 1000 for a days work. Luckily I spotted that he was trying to screw me on parts so when I asked him if Bill correct he said ok for me to buy parts...and we agreed that he would do work for 450 on a given date
Along came the date and he forgot to call but would fit me in later..at that point I told him where to go...at plumber travelled from kerry did the job and a few extra bits that we found for 220....
Tradesmen are back to their old tricks pre recession

smelly sock · 22-09-2017 9:26am

Bellview wrote: »

I'm close limerick city but had a similar experience. I got quote for 450 for day and he added an extra 500 onto parts he was buying...so he was hoping to make nearly 1000 for a days work. Luckily I spotted that he was trying to screw me on parts so when I asked him if Bill correct he said ok for me to buy parts...and we agreed that he would do work for 450 on a given date
Along came the date and he forgot to call but would fit me in later..at that point I told him where to go...at plumber travelled from kerry did the job and a few extra bits that we found for 220....
Tradesmen are back to their old tricks pre recession

The trick is to shop around. To be fair ost just want to male an honest living but the like of 450? Thats theft.

LeinsterDub · 22-09-2017 9:28am

kyeev wrote: »

Give him 300 or 350 which seems about fair for the job. And then see how much of a fuss or effort he makes to get the rest of the money?

It's not the trades man fault his wife was foolish. Pay the man his rate and chalk it up to experience
Honestly who in there right mind hires someone for a job and doesn't know their rate?

Wearb · 22-09-2017 9:28am

MOD NOTE: Don't turn this thread into a tradesmen bashing thread. Stick to the original post when answering or I will hand out infractions.

smelly sock · 22-09-2017 9:31am

veetwin wrote: »

Hi all,

My wife engaged a local plumber (North Co Dublin) to do the following;

Fix 2 cisterns in ensuite and downstairs WC that were taking ages to re-fill - access to both is difficult and involved removing tiles and plasterboard due to the crap design and construction of our house.

Replace tap in downstairs WC - very straightforward job with easy access

Replace tap in ensuite - access difficult here also.

Wife went to suppliers and bought taps, came back and they were somehow wrong. Wife returns to suppliers and long phone argument between shop and plumber ensues. Wife eventually returns with correct taps.

9 hours later as he is finishing up I ask how much I owe him. He says 9 hours labour x €50 = €450. I arrived home at 3pm and helped him for the last 2 hours. He still left the place in an awful mess. If I want an invoice he will have to charge VAT on top of that.

Now I know it wasn't the easiest of jobs but I would have said 5 hours at an absolute maximum would have been adequate for any competent tradesman.

Thoughts?

My own is if he arrived this morning and quoted a figure of €450 he would have been swiftly shown the door
MOD NOTE: Don't turn this thread into a tradesmen bashing thread. Stick to the original post when answering or I will hand out infractions.

Yes you are been taken for a ride. Not your wifes fault or yours that thus guy is trying to pull a fast one. Dont pay it.

RobbingBandit · 22-09-2017 9:34am

Telling you if you get an invoice he has to charge VAT, get out of here I'd throw him 250 max and if he bites back get on to revenue about him, he'd be gone in a flash.

LeinsterDub · 22-09-2017 9:36am

smelly sock wrote: »

Yes you are been taken for a ride. Not your wifes fault or yours that thus guy is trying to pull a fast one. Dont pay it.

She didn't ask the price of course it's her fault. I can't walk into a BMW dealer sign up for the car then whinge when it costs 50k and sure look the Kia garage is selling cars for 15k the BMW has to be a rip off.

jacksie66 · 22-09-2017 9:36am

This post has been deleted.

A2LUE42 · 22-09-2017 9:38am

I'm curious how badly the cisterns were fitted that it required tile removal to swap out a couple of washers.

smelly sock · 22-09-2017 9:40am

LeinsterDub wrote: »

She didn't ask the price of course it's her fault. I can't walk into a BMW dealer sign up for the car then whinge when it costs 50k and sure look the Kia garage is selling cars for 15k the BMW has to be a rip off.

No its not her fault. Foolish yes but thats it.

This person saw an oppurtunity to fleece someone and took it.

Sleeper12 · 22-09-2017 9:41am

smelly sock wrote: »

I dont agree that its op mistake. Its a case of a plumber trying to fleece them. But there are a lot of dishonest ones around.

50 euro an hour.......

I'm not blaming op here either. I'm a plumber. If I couldn't give a price I would have given a good guess. It will be between 000 000or whatever. The only time I'd jump in without talking money is if there was a leak the place was getting flooded.

€50 an hour sounds expensive? your car dealer charges more than €50 per hour to work on your car. Admittedly you'll get a VAT receipt at the end

smelly sock · 22-09-2017 9:43am

jacksie66 wrote: »

This is one of the reasons why I packed in plumbing. You do a job, agree a price and then when the job is done the customer thinks they're paying you too much. They see what you did and realise it wasn't as big as they thought, even after agreeing a price. You end up in a big argument and sometimes have to hound the person for money. Granted 450 for what he did is a bit much though..

I dont think anyone is having a go a plumbers in general. Your point is excellent. If i agree a price before the job based on the spec and work required i pay. No arguments or quibbles.

This isnt what happened though. Materials supplied etc and labour charged at 50 per hour.

If anything the plumber should have covered themselves and told them the rate before they started. Which leads me to believe this guy was a chancer.

smelly sock · 22-09-2017 9:45am

Sleeper12 wrote: »

I'm not blaming op here either. I'm a plumber. If I couldn't give a price I would have given a good guess. It will be between 000 000or whatever. The only time I'd jump in without talking money is if there was a leak the place was getting flooded.

€50 an hour sounds expensive? your car dealer charges more than €50 per hour to work on your car. Admittedly you'll get a VAT receipt at the end

You raise a fair point and i agree. I feel the onous is on the tradesmen to set out his price before he starts?

LeinsterDub · 22-09-2017 9:51am

smelly sock wrote: »

No its not her fault. Foolish yes but thats it.

This person saw an oppurtunity to fleece someone and took it.

How do you know that isn't his rate? She should of asked him before hand and refused the price or agreed a set rate. It's 100% her fault.

smelly sock · 22-09-2017 9:54am

LeinsterDub wrote: »

How do you know that isn't his rate? She should of asked him before hand and refused the price or agreed a set rate. It's 100% her fault.

Im making assumpions on his rate for the type of job from what other plumbers are saying.

Generally not a good business model to
A) Rip the customer off

Blame said customer when they complain about getting ripped off.

Sleeper12 · 22-09-2017 9:58am

What I hate about these threads are comparing jobs you got done by "Handy Andy" down the pub who might also be on the dole, to prices of registered tradesmen paying their taxes being fully insured

Someone saying " I got a whole bathroom fitted for €200" is only confusing things. They always forget to say that he was on the dole, I sat outside his house each morning trying to get him out of bed & I had to go to the suppliers several times a day cos the "plumber" has no transport. He wasn't insured he wasn't paying taxes and if he fell off the ladder he'd sue me.

Bottom line is going forward best practice is to get a few quotes. It's better to know something about their work the dearest isn't always the best quality

phobia2011 · 22-09-2017 10:05am

What would be deemed acceptable for 9 hours work?

backspin. · 22-09-2017 10:21am

The price is outrageous, lets get a bit of perspective here the guy is a plumber not a heart surgeon. The price is a complete rip off. There are people out there doing a full weeks work and not even getting €450.

Karangue · 22-09-2017 10:24am

The big dildos are back out by the plumbers.

Bellview · 22-09-2017 10:26am

smelly sock wrote:

The trick is to shop around. To be fair ost just want to male an honest living but the like of 450? Thats theft.

I agree on honest living but looking to take a 1000 out of the job for a day was acting the mick

qhe0i9zvfgdou8 · 22-09-2017 10:46am

smelly sock wrote:

I dont agree that its op mistake. Its a case of a plumber trying to fleece them. But there are a lot of dishonest ones around.

But if a price is agreed before the job is started he can't fleece him as you put it. He may well still quote the same price for the job but the op has a choice if he accepts or not

phobia2011 · 22-09-2017 10:51am

The price is on the high end,granted but 40 ph would be what I'd charge. This is what's required to cover costs of wages, van, insurance and liability. We don't know where he's travelled from etc.! Where I think the plumber has lost all credibility is cash/vat offer. Prices should be agreed in advance, but simply saying I'm not paying him is hardly the way to go. I'd definitely haggle and try to get a reduction and I'd make sure to get a invoice. A costly lesson none the less.

veetwin · 22-09-2017 10:56am

phobia2011 wrote: »

What would be deemed acceptable for 9 hours work?

What would you deem acceptable?

I'm going to give him another €150 next week making €300 in cash for a days work.

That is by any measure a fair amount for a days work.

Realistically there was never more than half a days work there especially since the parts were bought for him.

LeinsterDub · 22-09-2017 12:32pm

veetwin wrote: »

What would you deem acceptable?

I'm going to give him another €150 next week making €300 in cash for a days work.

That is by any measure a fair amount for a days work.

Realistically there was never more than half a days work there especially since the parts were bought for him.

Are you now claiming he was dossing or on the go slow? You gave him a hand for quarter of a day's work I assume he wasn't on the go slow then? How much work was carried out before you turned up?

saltandpepper10 · 22-09-2017 12:43pm

Very dear imo but best of luck to anyone who tries to get 3 different quotes for a job that size you would be lucky to have it sorted in 3 months from the start of the "tendering " process ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜

Caliden · 22-09-2017 12:45pm

Get the invoice and pay him by cheque.

veetwin · 22-09-2017 12:53pm

LeinsterDub wrote: »

Are you now claiming he was dossing or on the go slow? You gave him a hand for quarter of a day's work I assume he wasn't on the go slow then? How much work was carried out before you turned up?

He was unbelievably slow. We had both expected him to be finished by lunchtime. I was due home at 3pm and when I got home I was amazed that he was nowhere near finished. While I was with him he took at least 5 phone calls and certainly didn't rush any of the conversations.

Sleeper12 · 22-09-2017 12:53pm

Caliden wrote: »

Get the invoice and pay him by cheque.

Any local pub will cash the cheque. Even if the cheque is crossed you can lodge this into your mortgage account or credit union and it becomes almost untraceable. This is why the government wants to get rid of cheques. They'll phase out cash in the next 10/15 years. It'll all be electronic payments. Much harder to hide

veetwin · 22-09-2017 1:05pm

Caliden wrote: »

Get the invoice and pay him by cheque.

I don't see how that improves my situation. If anything I'll have to pay even more as he will add VAT.

I don't care whether he declares the income or not. His tax affairs are his own business and that's not the issue here.

The issue is that I feel I was overcharged and the general consensus here appears to agree.

Thinking about sending him an invoice for 9 hours parking in my driveway:mad:

Has our plumber taken us for a ride

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