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dontknowitall
Sounds the right idea. Hope you get the job and it goes smoothly if you do.
Thanks for your replies
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tackleburger
Oh dear dear this could end in tears my friend. What will you do if you quote sat £150 and you get there to find its a low level cistern (one with a flush pipe) and the waste goes down through the floor about 2' away from the wall. In your position I'd go and look at these jobs and post a pic on here if you need help.
I'm going to have an extra set of hands with me to make life a bit easier, I'm not expecting it to be a walk in the park i'll get the job done well and any major problems i have will be worthwhile in the future if i come across something similar. I have to start somewhere and i'm looking forward to dealing with a customer and letting it be a confidence booster for other jobs.
thanks for your reply all advice is great at this stage
in future tell customer a rough estimate until you see the job, then you can gauge what is involved and what materials are needed and then you can turn it into a quote because one thing you will learn in plumbing is expect the unexpected
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royston
Think the best advice is to go and have a look at it. If you've not much experience then all jobs are daunting,( we have all been their.) then you can see it for yourself, know what parts you'll need, and have a rough idea how long it will take. Just tell custard you will ring back shortly with a price. Nothing worse than underpricing a job, and overpricing a job and not getting it. What you are told over the phone is usually completely different when you get their. Good luck.
yeah good advice, and even when you get the chance to look at a job before hand unexpected problems still crop up on the actual job you hadnt noticed before
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LegionellaSlave
I went to replace a 'Back to the wall' 'S' trap pan. According to the site supervisor, you cant get them any more??? We ended up getting a 'Dock M pack' to bring the pan forward.
Go and see the job.
Goood luck
Go and see the job.
Goood luck
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PlumbBobBob
thats good ash glad you're progressing in your chosen civvy career
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chamberlains
I find now days people are asking for prices and quotes (i know this is the idea) but then after wasting your time going over and looking (toilet fitting straight swap £120 *Uxbridge* closed coupled) you get "oh yeah that sound like a good price i'll let you know when I want it doing".
Two weeks later phone call "Hi i'm the customer about the toilet swap can you come and have a look at the toilet" I got there and she said "we had someone else out for £80 but it is leaking every time we flush the toilet, we tried calling the people back but no reply or anything from messages".
I had to take it all out.
The Multiquick did not even have the seal inside then to top it off there was no donut washer on the syphon just a lump of silicone. I showed her what ws wrong and then showed her it all working with no leaks. Should have seen her face when I said £120 please.
Was I a bit harsh? Cus I don't think so.
Two weeks later phone call "Hi i'm the customer about the toilet swap can you come and have a look at the toilet" I got there and she said "we had someone else out for £80 but it is leaking every time we flush the toilet, we tried calling the people back but no reply or anything from messages".
I had to take it all out.
The Multiquick did not even have the seal inside then to top it off there was no donut washer on the syphon just a lump of silicone. I showed her what ws wrong and then showed her it all working with no leaks. Should have seen her face when I said £120 please.
Was I a bit harsh? Cus I don't think so.
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PlumbBobBob
no i don't think so as you had to fit the toilet from scratch really plus parts were needed.
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secret squirrel
No, I don't think you were harsh.......
guess she'll know next time not to go with the cheap cowboy
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secret squirrel
I never give a quote over the phone, I will always pop round and have look. I try and be a bit sketchy when answering customers question too often they'll give it a go themselves. Also gives you a chance to see if there is an iso valve fitted, stopcock is working, whether its tank fed.
I always carry a digital camera as well just to take a couple of pics........ you give a price they give it "yeah, I'll call you, blah blah" if they do you've forgotten the job.......
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simonkev
I agree, sounds perfectly reasonable. It would be tempting to charge more!
more good advice! all excellent points and i'm taking it all on board. Perhaps they wont call back but i have got good advice from a lot of knowledgeable guys on here and i can use it next time i get a job....every cloud and all that 🙂
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dontknowitall
Must admit, it's great to see a "newbie" receiving loads of help and tips. It does pay to say thank you and be appreciative though which is probably why this thread is quite lengthy.
Our standards, though, are slipping - have we got bored of taking the micky?
:tongue3: :devilish: 🙂
Our standards, though, are slipping - have we got bored of taking the micky?
:tongue3: :devilish: 🙂
taking the micky is against the rules. please retract that question and lash yourself with the nearest branch whilst muttering about contrition.
One day i hope to be making a living from plumbing so will be putting as much effort in as possible. I am lucky that i am still in full time work (even if it is the army lol) but as soon as time allows i will be committing myself to the trade. I'm well aware that it will more than likely be years until i get myself established and be getting anything out of it but perseverance usually pays off!.
I will continue to ask questions when i need to as i would rather appear stupid and inexperienced on the forum compared to getting a job wrong and making life difficult for myself in the long run. 🙂
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dontknowitall
That's been my attitude since I started. I remember on my course I asked loads of questions, some stupid (with hindsight) but the number of times others on the course said "I'm glad you asked that", "I was too fightened of asking that" or similar was quite an eye opener.
Just remember to charge what you think you're worth, Don't work for a customer that wants a job doing for nothing you won't make any money or get repeat work they'll always go for the cheapest quote, try and do quality work for a reasonable price.
Remember you're only doing this to make money don't do it cheap on the promise of more work to follow it'll never happen and you'll be out of pocket. Good luck.
Remember you're only doing this to make money don't do it cheap on the promise of more work to follow it'll never happen and you'll be out of pocket. Good luck.
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bigedd
You didn't mention how far you live away from the job. If this is your first toilet, remember there will be a good chance of a water leak - waste, systern connection, water supply all these joints and connections waiting to let you down. On top of that if the toilet is upstairs there can be an awful lot of water damage before you can get back. You mention the laminate floor covering even bigger claim. Make sure you have good insurance cover. In addition to all the above don't forget the possibility of a faulty pack or cracking the pan or systern when you screw them down too tightly. If I haven't put you off remember the above is why you need to charge the going rate and don't anything on the cheap. Good luck and I hope you have a happy career, there will be some brilliant times ahead.
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