£250 for an outside tape

[Paulf67]

Hi all.
I know absolutely nothing about plumbing, I've had an outside tap fitted it cost me £250.
After talking to neibour he got one for £95.
How do I go about getting money back
I feel a bit of fool right now.

 

[SimonG]

Did you get an estimate or quote before it was installed?

How thick a wall is it, water available directly inside or has it needed a bit of pipework?

 

[Murdoch]

Op - I very much doubt you can get any money back.

How many quotes did you get?

Tbh there are too many variables for an Internet forum to really give you real comments other than next time get quotes to compare before going ahead

 

[townfanjon]

£250 quid !!! I see Dick Turpin is alive and kicking . How far has he run the pipework, all way round the house .

 

[Paulf67]

Did you get an estimate or quote before it was installed?

How thick a wall is it, water available directly inside or has it needed a bit of pipework?

No I didn't, stupid really, it a recommend from a friend.
Don't no how thick the wall.
[automerge]1587843332[/automerge]

£250 quid !!! I see Dick Turpin is alive and kicking . How far has he run the pipework, all way round the house .

No, tap just out the side kitchen window.

 

[SimonG]

How long was he there.

Do you have an internal isolation valve and double check valve. Might be able to get him on it not being done properly.

 

[Chuck]

No I didn't, stupid really, it a recommend from a friend.

When was the work done? If you called out a plumber in the middle of the current covid-19 lock-down you might expect to be charged 'emergency rates' and extra for PPE, which is expensive and difficult to get hold of these days. They might have had to go a long way to get the brassware because their usual merchant was closed, etc.

You could talk to Trading Standards, see what they advise and whether they know the firm.

If you've paid already you're probably out of luck. Treat it as a cheap lesson. NEVER let any work proceed without a written estimate of the cost and the basis on which any additional charges will be made.

 

[king of pipes]

Pictures please external and under the sink if it's 100% fitted to regs and neat and tidy and a fist class job then it's a lesson learned , if not then you may have a claim without seeing it's hard to know if you got Butch Cassidy or a genuine tradesman who went in a bit on the heavy side this virus has everyone worried and eveytime you carry out work you are at risk . Regards kop

 

[Ric2013]

Photos of your neighbour's job and yours might be good if we are to make any meaningful comparison.
£250 sounds a lot unless you're in central London, but it really is hard to say if it actually is a lot. Every plumbing job is different and sometimes I'm shocked by the amount I need to quote for a job that, by the customer's description, sounded straightforward.

 

[Murdoch]

I've lost count of the numbers of customers who say "just do it" and I say "I'll send you an estimate first" - then they reply "I didn't think it would be that much" - they still go ahead, but sending the estimate saves ME all the hassle with questions about invoices later

 

[Last Plumber]

There are too many unknowns here. I wouldn't go off what the neighbour said to be honest, I know it sounds the same when you say it but it could be a completely different job.

 

[Jim09876]

Surly this is your mistake, why would you expect a refund? Your a adult who made a bad transaction that’s all.

 

[Ric2013]

Surly this is your mistake, why would you expect a refund? Your a adult who made a bad transaction that’s all.

Because under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982, in default of pre-agreement of how the work would be carried out and at what price, the work should be carried out to reasonable standard, at a reasonable cost.

The OP presumably didn't agree the cost before the work took place and felt the price was unreasonable. On which, lacking evidence, I'm not going to comment.

 

[Matt1]

Roughly £30-50 for materials if it’s straight forward pipe work. £200 maybe for emergency call out inc labour if it took him half a day or traveling. Usually it’s a £80 -£100 ish job if it’s straight forward and there’s a cold pipe close by.

 

[HoodedClaw]

Seems a bit steep to me unless it took all day due to unforeseen issues. I have only given 8 estimates in 12 years, but all my customers know that I just charge X pounds per hour and I can give them a verbal estimate of how long the tropical job takes, but always based that on if there is problems it’s obviously going to take longer but I keep them in the loop as required. If I ever gave an estimate I’d have to double It just in case of issues.

 

[Jim09876]

Because under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982, in default of pre-agreement of how the work would be carried out and at what price, the work should be carried out to reasonable standard, at a reasonable cost.

The OP presumably didn't agree the cost before the work took place and felt the price was unreasonable. On which, lacking evidence, I'm not going to comment.

What planet you on? This is how deals are done between men....

You “I need a quote for a outside tap mate?”

Plumber “I can supply and fit it for £250?”

You “yes please (OR) no thanks”

You “go ahead”

Plumber “does job as agreed”

You made a deal with a guy, now your talking nonsense, it don’t matter if he charged £2500 if you agreed to the price! Now your talking supply of goods and services Act...good luck with that one. Smarten up

 

[oz-plumber]

I was told 20 odd years ago, by a very successful Plumber.

You can never over quote a job, but you can surely under quote a job.
He also stated that most people he quoted against - under quoted!!

He had 110 plumbers employed at the time + office staff and so on ( maybe 130 employees )

 

[Ric2013]

What planet you on? This is how deals are done between men..

You “I need a quote for a outside tap mate?”

Plumber “I can supply and fit it for £250?”

You “yes please (OR) no thanks”

You “go ahead”

Plumber “does job as agreed”

You made a deal with a guy, now your talking nonsense, it don’t matter if he charged £2500 if you agreed to the price! Now your talking supply of goods and services Act...good luck with that one. Smarten up

WHO is talking Supply of Goods and Services Act? Actually, I was, not the OP.

Since you've brought me into this by quoting me and the Supply of Goods etc Act and then mentioned talking nonsense, I feel I need to reply.

To clarify, what I wrote was that if price was not agreed before work, (especially for small or repair jobs, the customer often doesn't ask the price) and your role play about How Deals are Done Between Men doesn't take place, then the Supply of Goods etc Act kicks in. Which basically means that if there was no pre-agreement and the plumber were to try to charge £250,000, then the customer would not be obliged to pay the unreasonable amount.

To clarify, I'm neither saying the price in this case is reasonable or unreasonable: I haven't seen the job and cannot comment.

 

[Jim09876]

Sorry mate was meant for OP...dude agreed a job then moans after it’s done. Talking about peanuts too! I would say about 50% of my works a just a verbal deal/handshake....mostly bigger jobs like heatings get wrote