How much is reasonable for a call-out charge these days?

corner of hells · 08-06-2018 11:31PM

damianch wrote: »

Thank god GPs on call don't work that way!

But in fairness , as I mentioned earlier, thats why I think getting to know someone local is the best bet. You can presume he isn't going to charge you for the 1 hour travel there, the 10mins looking at the washing machine, and the 1 hour drive home.

I know if I call my GP out on a house call it will be 80 euro no matter what and think thats standard in Ireland. But in general if you ring a plumber , no one seems to have a clue. It can vary from in my case €25 to diagnose something to presumably €100 plus .

You could always call a GP out and see if he could fix your dishwasher.

damianch · 08-06-2018 11:37PM

corner of hells wrote: »

You could always call a GP out and see if he could fix your dishwasher.

He'd have a better shot than me

:D:D

Conservatory · 08-06-2018 11:38PM

damianch wrote: »

Thank god GPs on call don't work that way!

But in fairness , as I mentioned earlier, thats why I think getting to know someone local is the best bet. You can presume he isn't going to charge you for the 1 hour travel there, the 10mins looking at the washing machine, and the 1 hour drive home.

I know if I call my GP out on a house call it will be 80 euro no matter what and think thats standard in Ireland. But in general if you ring a plumber , no one seems to have a clue. It can vary from in my case €25 to diagnose something to presumably €100 plus .

If plumbers worked that way it’d be called price fixing and the plumbers would get into trouble.

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly · 08-06-2018 11:41PM

OP - if I asked you to visit me to avail of your skills, knowledge and service, would you be happy not to be compensated? Or how much would you expect to be paid?

kneemos · 08-06-2018 11:41PM

If a lad has to travel a bit maybe a small call out charge is justified. Most of them don't.

Given the number of suckers in this thread no wonder they get away with murder.

damianch · 08-06-2018 11:48PM

Conservatory wrote: »

If plumbers worked that way it’d be called price fixing and the plumbers would get into trouble.

I don't mean they all have to charge the same price. I just checked out a large Dublin company based in about 10 locations throughout the city and they say
"
There is a minimum Labour charge of €90 + vat for the first hour which is also an investigation charge and or diagnostic charge on site.
Any Investigation and or diagnostic on site is classed as a labour charge.
Definition of a call out charge:
set amount for a repairman to come to one’s house (traveling time, diesel etc) and would be added to the bill."

So ball park of €100 seems standard. It seems high to me, but knowing that info can help with making the decision. (I wouldn't be calling this plumber out to look at the dishwasher)

corner of hells · 08-06-2018 11:49PM

kneemos wrote: »

If a lad has to travel a bit maybe a small call out charge is justified. Most of them don't.

Given the number of suckers in this thread no wonder they get away with murder.

I'm an electrician and when I worked for a contractor he charged by the hour from where I was working if I got a call out.

So if I left a site and it took me two hours to get to the breakdown he charge two hours before I did anything.Then his hourly rate and materials if any.

He got lots of call outs because he was providing a top class service , guaranteed and insured.

His call out rate was 65euros , irregardless of what I did.

bucketybuck · 08-06-2018 11:59PM

kneemos wrote: »

justified.

A word that very few people seem to understand.

kneemos · 09-06-2018 12:00AM

corner of hells wrote: »

I'm an electrician and when I worked for a contractor he charged by the hour from where I was working if I got a call out.

So if I left a site and it took me two hours to get to the breakdown he charge two hours before I did anything.Then his hourly rate and materials if any.

He got lots of call outs because he was providing a top class service , guaranteed and insured.

His call out rate was 65euros , irregardless of what I did.

If a lad drives five or ten minutes from job to job and collects a call out charge for each one it's taking the piss.

Most folk call their local guy so travel is limited.

Guy:Incognito · 09-06-2018 12:01AM

Chewbacca wrote: »

For what you just described.

A cup of tea and a fun sized Twix. €100? Get bent fcukers.

Ya cant be paying €100 for a lad to tell you what you already knew aaaand then the cost of a new one.

Realistically, any decent bloke should take €25 max.

If you already know everything, why are you calling anyone out?

Conservatory · 09-06-2018 12:07AM

kneemos wrote: »

If a lad drives five or ten minutes from job to job and collects a call out charge for each one it's taking the piss.

Most folk call their local guy so travel is limited.

How much would Donald trump charge to come out to your house?
Supply and demand when it suits people.

bladespin · 09-06-2018 12:09AM

SEPT 23 1989 wrote:

You would want to see the invoices for industrial machinery mishaps

â‚¬500 for up to 4 hrs onsite, â‚¬1k for over 4 hrs, includes travel.

corner of hells · 09-06-2018 12:10AM

kneemos wrote: »

If a lad drives five or ten minutes from job to job and collects a call out charge for each one it's taking the piss.

Most folk call their local guy so travel is limited.

The local , a one man operation with reduced overheads and that's fine , he's happy enough working that way relying on word of mouth.

Signore Fancy Pants · 09-06-2018 12:15AM

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corner of hells · 09-06-2018 12:20AM

Chewbacca wrote: »

Calm your tits guy.

Is that a rhetorical question? Has to be, otherwise it's a stupid question.

Um, in the OP's example. If you think your washing machine is fcuked but still get a guy to check in the hope its economical to fix it but it turns out, he is of the same opinion.

Then he charges you €100. How much time and labour went into the call out?

Not €100 worth anyway for "a minute or two".

The issue is you're guessing , he's giving a professional opinion based on years of experience backed up with an apprenticeship and a clatter of qualifications.

Signore Fancy Pants · 09-06-2018 12:22AM

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bladespin · 09-06-2018 12:25AM

Chewbacca wrote:

Not â‚¬100 worth anyway for "a minute or two".

It's not really that simple though, giving over time is costing you other work, comitting to a call means freeing up the time the job 'might' take, possibly giving up a couple of hours work which would have to be covered; even if the job itself only takes a couple of minutes.

corner of hells · 09-06-2018 12:26AM

Chewbacca wrote: »

I'm not disputing that.

So, €100 is a fair price for "a minute or two" of a call out?

Are you talking about a minute or two looking at a washing machine and not considering he may have spent a hour driving , left another job etc

bladespin · 09-06-2018 12:30AM

corner of hells wrote:

Are you talking about a minute or two looking at a washing machine and not considering he may have spent a hour driving , left another job etc

There does seem to be an opinion that people in service jobs are sat by phones waiting for a call, if it was that simple it would be great, all round.

damianch · 09-06-2018 12:38AM

If my kitchen was flooding I would have no problem paying 100 or more for a callout . If my washing machine was on the blink I'd weigh up the options (age of machine, cost of replacement etc) Plus a pumber doesn't need to rush to get here to throw an eye on my machine. I'd happily wait a week .

Signore Fancy Pants · 09-06-2018 12:39AM

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corner of hells · 09-06-2018 12:42AM

Chewbacca wrote: »

Im just commenting on the OP's example.

We are getting into "what if" territory here to justify the OP's figure of €100.

A bogey washing machine would not warrant me dragging a lad an hour away for a non emergency.

IF I was stupid enough to ring a chap an hour away, taking up his time and knowing he had to drive back another hour, €100 would be reasonable. Thats a 2 hour drive and an experienced consultation. Id have no issue with that.

In my own experience of ringing trades, Id ring a local lad and he gives me a time that suits him to turn up.

If he came from around the corner on his way home at a time that suited him, popped in and had a cup of tea, spent less than 2 minutes looking at the washing machine, told me it would be cheaper to buy a new one then stuck his paw out for €100....nah.

Do we know how far the OP's guy travelled? Do we know if he missed other jobs? Do we know how much time he really spent there?

In summary.

If you call a guy, he travels for over an hour, misses a job, tries to fix it but assesses it wouldnt be cost effective then yeah €100 is acceptable

However, if he came from 10 minutes away, as a nixer, did fup all, decided it would be easier to get a new one instead of fixing it and charged €100. Well thats bollox.

But, my point and your point dont mean anything unless the OP answers the questions above.

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and just charge you 85 euro for that post.

Signore Fancy Pants · 09-06-2018 12:44AM

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jester77 · 09-06-2018 12:47AM

I had a lad out recently to look at the washing machine. €140 for less than 5 minutes work. The little one is always filling her pockets with bits of glitter, and a largish piece made it into the wash and got caught in the pipe near the exit. It was causing issues for the pump and it wouldn't pump out the water from the washing machine.

The initial thought was a pump issue and the hotline said that if anything went wrong while I was looking the warranty could be invalidated. If I knew it was a bloody piece of glitter in the pipe I would have did it myself

Bloody annoying, but at least he updated the firmware!

greencap · 09-06-2018 12:48AM

even the pizza/chipper guy gets a few quid for the bother.

and all he does is ring the bell and hand you a bag/box.

are you honestly going to call someone who did 4 years training, and then spends some time examining something quite complex, absolutely nothing?

can we agree that based on the law of pizza there should be at least some transfer of money.

Fol20 · 09-06-2018 12:53AM

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Now if the education policy of this state, and the Hyacinth Bucket notions of so many people, could give as much dignity to the concept of trades, craftsmanship and skilled workmanship as they give to university education our society would benefit enormously from it. Where's pride in workmanship?

I've just finished gutting and renovating my entire house so this is raw. There's a massive dearth of skilled tradespeople in Ireland in 2018 - and no end to the number of chancers, cowboys and arrant buckos. And the tax evasion from tradespeople is unfúcking real. It is the norm. It's all cash in the hand until it gets to a certain level and they say "I better put some of it through the books" and then back to cash in the hand. And you're paying these cúnts cash from your income which is mostly taxed at 50% and they smile and say "Nothing like cold, hard cash". Bring on the bust!

And because we have no culture today of skills being nurtured/sufficient number of skilled tradesmen, you have very few options but to pay him as he wants. We, the Irish consumer, are the ones to suffer. Meanwhile loads of people leave universities with useless degrees but "social status". Crazy.

I don’t understand why your giving out. Iv dealt with those types of people and you can go one of two ways. You can agree an invoice up front knowing that you will pay more and the added benefit of vat added on as well or you can pay cash. At the end of the day it’s completely up to you to make up your mind on who you want to go with so it’s not like he’s putting a gun to your face telling me give me cash or else...if he declines how you wanted it paid. Move onto the next person. And if you come back saying everyone only accepts cash. That’s completely wrong. Your more than likely not happy with the price of the people that are ok with receipts.its one of these things where you you can’t have all the cake and eat it too.

corner of hells · 09-06-2018 12:54AM

greencap wrote: »

even the pizza/chipper guy gets a few quid for the bother.

and all he does is ring the bell and hand you a bag/box.

are you honestly going to call someone who did 4 years training, and then spends some time examining something quite complex, absolutely nothing?

can we agree that based on the law of pizza there should be at least some transfer of money.

Is there pineapple on the pizza ?

greencap · 09-06-2018 01:10AM

corner of hells wrote: »

Is there pineapple on the pizza ?

is the pizza on the books?

Del2005 · 09-06-2018 01:48AM

Chewbacca wrote: »

Im just commenting on the OP's example.

We are getting into "what if" territory here to justify the OP's figure of €100.

A bogey washing machine would not warrant me dragging a lad an hour away for a non emergency.

IF I was stupid enough to ring a chap an hour away, taking up his time and knowing he had to drive back another hour, €100 would be reasonable. Thats a 2 hour drive and an experienced consultation. Id have no issue with that.

In my own experience of ringing trades, Id ring a local lad and he gives me a time that suits him to turn up.

If he came from around the corner on his way home at a time that suited him, popped in and had a cup of tea, spent less than 2 minutes looking at the washing machine, told me it would be cheaper to buy a new one then stuck his paw out for €100....nah.

Do we know how far the OP's guy travelled? Do we know if he missed other jobs? Do we know how much time he really spent there?

In summary.

If you call a guy, he travels for over an hour, misses a job, tries to fix it but assesses it wouldnt be cost effective then yeah €100 is acceptable

However, if he came from 10 minutes away, as a nixer, did fup all, decided it would be easier to get a new one instead of fixing it and charged €100. Well thats bollox.

But, my point and your point dont mean anything unless the OP answers the questions above.

For a legitimate trader a €100 charge will most likely end up with them only having a few Euro for themselves when they pay all their outgoings. Comparing a company call out charge to someone doing a nixer is comparing apples and oranges, one is tax compliant and insured the other isn't.

Graces7 · 09-06-2018 06:50AM

YOU WIN THE PRIZE!

I just fixed a badly blocked sink myself...small choice out here, Last time a "real" workman was needed ( to connect the new gas cooker )he was demanding E350 ) Cooker only cost E250. Sorted it here.

=bucketybuck;107214072]Bunch of people too dumb to fix their own things complaining about how much they have to pay somebody else to come and do it for them.

Don't like callout charges? Then fix it yourself and stop crying for help.[/QUOTE]

How much is reasonable for a call-out charge these days?

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