Charge for plumber

[Sonicboom]

Hi there

My shower is leaking, coming into the kitchen, and I have a trading standards approved plumber from the buy with confidence website coming out on Tuesday. He is charging £100 inc vat for call out inc first hour and then £60 an hour inc vat after that. I have looked online but can’t determine if this is a good price. I have no idea how long this job will take. Online I see that some people charge fixed amounts for jobs, even leaks. I wanted to go with this guy because he is trading standards approved so hopefully he is not a cowboy. Is the charging amounts about right? I have no idea.

Please help, thanks 😊

 

[gmartine]

Get more than one quote.

 

[Aquarius]

Location prices can vary as well, eg London

 

[Sonicboom]

Thanks guys, so this is southern England. So he is coming over on Tuesday. Should I text him and make it clear that I want him to come over initially for a quote rather than to come over and start work on something (he hasn’t seen the issue yet). I’m worried that he might turn up on Tuesday and try to charge me £100 outright because he has turned up, even if I tell him I want to get another quote. I have never needed to call a plumber out before (you can tell can’t you). Should I sign something before he starts doing any work? And confirm that Tuesday is for a quote only?

 

[Scott_D]

Sounds like you will be charged as you have been told the amount and make a booking.
A quote in my mind doesn’t involve getting tools out, hidden leaks can’t be seen without exposing the issues and so it would be hard to give a fixed price.

 

[SimonG]

Your lucky to get hold of somebody so soon.

You say shower is leaking into kitchen, could be any number of things and not easy to give an estimate for repair.

If you had booked me in for Tuesday and then text me to say it's just to look at it then I would be telling you to find somebody else.

This is a case of not knowing the actual problem so it's going to need some investigative time to bottom it out. So basically a diagnosis. Diagnosis is chargeable.

 

[WC1]

Imo
Don't believe what you see on the BBC, "rogue traders" are a very small minority.
You've taken reasonable steps to find a trustworthy contractor, perhaps show a little trust?
Unfortunately the BBC and others never do a show called "rogue customer" (I do not believe you are one) but people often try not to pay a contractor for work done and often (after the fact) you realise that the customer deliberately set out to cheat you.
Good luck 👍

 

[Sonicboom]

Thanks for all your replies. You are right, I am very on my guard. The reassuring thing is nobody has come back and said that £60 an hour is steep, he may even bring someone with him, I don’t know. I’ll go ahead and see what happens, I could find myself a reliable plumber. Thanks for all your help.

 

[Scott_D]

Does the shower leak constantly or only when it’s used?

 

[Sonicboom]

Does the shower leak constantly or only when it’s

The leak is coming through the side of the kitchen ceiling. I wasn’t sure if it was coming from the bathroom or the outside wall because the outside wall has turned black. So I called a plumber and described the problem over the phone and he thought it was an external problem so I called out a property services guy who came out and measured out where the leak was coming from and went into the bathroom and came to the conclusion, although he didn’t look under the tray, that the leak is coming from under the tray and it is not the silicone in the shower or anything else that is causing the leak. I had put a bowl under the leak and when I use the shower, I don’t get water in the bowl straight away. It has also been raining but again I don’t get water in the bowl straight away and the property services guy is convinced there is a leak from under the shower tray, that is internal and nothing to do with the kitchen wall. So he gave me contact details for a plumber he uses but when I called them, they didn’t get back to me. So I went on the buy with confidence website, found this guy and gave him a call and he is coming out on Tuesday.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

So it’s rented ?

 

[Aquarius]

So it’s rented ?

What’s makes you ask this?

 

[Gasmk1]

What’s makes you ask this?

Because op said he called out property services guy.

 

[Sonicboom]

What’s makes you ask this?

No it’s not rented

 

[Knappers]

To investigate and find the problem is a job not a quote, you should expect to pay the callout charge.
Personally If the callout is quick and results in a larger job then I may make a slight adjustment on final bill (sometimes I get plenty of tea and a couple of biscuits during job 😉).
I would respect the engineers advice and try not to be suspicious, as mentioned before 'rogue customers' are MUCH more common than rogue traders and your more likely to talk yourself into paying more if you come across as difficult and seen to be a higher risk.

 

[Aquarius]

Because op said he called out property services guy.

Thanks, was thinking the OP meant a person who deals with property repairs, eg builder/handy person type.

 

[Murdoch]

Sounds like it’s booked via a website and not directly with the plumber so the op will be picking up the costs to the intermediate leaches to

 

[Chuck]

Sounds like it’s booked via a website and not directly with the plumber so the op will be picking up the costs to the intermediate leaches to

In general you're right but in this case, the 'Buy with Confidence' website is a not for profit thing and charges a fairly small annual subscription not a 'per job' tax.

 

[king of pipes]

I would expect he will attend the appointment you booked, do whatever minor works is needed and diagnose the problem this will be the £100 charge ? Kop

 

[Sonicboom]

Thanks for all the replies so far, it is really helpful to me. I will let you know what happens on Tuesday as well as it will be interesting to get your thoughts

 

[Sonicboom]

So I thought I’d give an update. The company came out yesterday - two guys. They are on the buy with confidence website and also on checkatrade. The guys turned up on time, friendly but no chit chat, got straight on with trying to identify the leak. They identified the problem within 5 minutes of being here that the leak was coming through the silicone in one corner and then through the tray. This was a bit frustrating because previous to this, a property services guy came out to assess who said that it wasn’t the silicone and that the leak was coming from under the shower tray (although he didn’t take the shower tray off). I feel like if I’d have had correct diagnostics, I could have got someone to replace the silicone for less than £100 or even do it myself?! The property services guy was also from buy with confidence. I guess maybe he was having an off day? He was here with me for a while helping determine where he thought the leak was coming from and he didn’t charge for his help (as he thought it was a plumbing job , that was something he didn’t do). Anyway, back to the plumbers, they also sorted out my waste pipe and kitchen sink issue in less than a minute. The u bend was full of gunk so I’d cleaned it out but couldn’t get the washer and the waste pipe to sit without leaking. Based on their work yesterday, I’d have no hesitation recommending them. I thought the job was going to be a lot more involved but that goes to show that they were honest about what was actually involved. They looked so young though! Maybe I’m just getting old but one guy looked like he could still be at school! Still, I would definitely use them again if I had plumbing issues so win win

 

[WC1]

Sounds good, ask them if they would like you to leave them a review and let the neighbours know you've found a good local plumber. 👍

 

[Chuck]

They looked so young though! Maybe I’m just getting old but one guy looked like he could still be at school! Still, I would definitely use them again if I had plumbing issues so win win

Could have been an apprentice. If you've found a good plumber and had two problems fixed for £100 you've got a bargain.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Yep good for reference the silicon around the tray should be done every 2-3 years depending on the type and quality of the silicon

 

[Knappers]

Sounds good.
A very common installation fault on showers is when they're sealed after screen has been installed, this leaves a gap in seal behind screen profile.
Not that yours is like this but I usually quote a days work to remove screen, all silicone and usually scrape first couple of rows of grout before re-grouting, re-sealing and refitting screen (over a couple of days or longer if damp).
I've tried other less drastic measures but with varied success so now I go straight for this.