markup on boiler parts by plumber

[skippy]

wasnt pimlico was it?

No it's not. I'll not name and shame yet as I'm considering getting them to fix the other problem that I've got with my boiler (replacement expansion vessel).

On that note, and learning from my experience this time, I've taken a number of peoples advice on this forum and asked them for a detailed breakdown / quote to fix the expansion vessel. I just recieved it and they're quoting:

Breakdown : Expansion Vessel £126.84
Safety Relief Kit £55.00
Labour £160.00
which is £341 +vat or £410 all in.

I've just looked up the cost of the expansion vessel and again there's a lot of markup there. about £50 seems the going rate from a number of suppliers and the SRV is about £35.

So all in, they're looking to take me for about £750 before vat for fitting a fan and an expansion vessel.

I appreciate the audience here is mostly in the trade and the feedback so far has been that people think this is pretty reasonable... but for a civilian this seems a lot and is pretty painful.

I'm about to ring around my local heating engineers to see what they offer for the same - will post back if people are interested.

 

[Howsie]

50% seems steep to me.

 

[paulross1961]

I had the same experience last Saturday. Gas aid charged £688 for a fan (vs £281 from a London shop) and £550 for an electronic board (vs £228) - all ex VAT. I have asked for an explanation but, no surprise, have yet to receive one. This is in addition to charging an hour to go and get the parts. No doubt we will hear all the above excuses but at the end of the day it is a plain and simple rip off taking advantage of a situation - despite web site claims that [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"w[/FONT]e will charge open and honest prices". Not helpful for the reputation of the industry.

 

[Rickster123]

Shop around if you don't like the quote.and who in their right mind has work done without enquiring how much it will cost?!

 

[Howsie]

Fitted a new PCB to a 80HE a couple of weeks which the customer sourced themselves as they could get it £30 cheaper on the Internet.

Got called back today, after an hour of testing everything, the PCB has gone (confirmed by Potterton). I removed the PCB and handed to the customer to get a replacement. Guess what, their Internet supplier has told them to send it back where it would be tested and if found faulty by their lab it would be replaced. Turn around time for this service... 8 weeks!!!

I handed them my invoice for the hour I spent on site.

False economy.

 

[SimonG]

Fitted a new PCB to a 80HE a couple of weeks which the customer sourced themselves as they could get it £30 cheaper on the Internet.

Got called back today, after an hour of testing everything, the PCB has gone (confirmed by Potterton). I removed the PCB and handed to the customer to get a replacement. Guess what, their Internet supplier has told them to send it back where it would be tested and if found faulty by their lab it would be replaced. Turn around time for this service... 8 weeks!!!

I handed them my invoice for the hour I spent on site.

False economy.

Love it, no heating for 8 weeks, but at least they saved £30.

 

[REDSAW]

Love it, no heating for 8 weeks, but at least they saved £30.

not just that, think of the gas savings

 

[stevetheplumber]

we can all get stuff cheaper on the internet but it involves going away ordering and then a second call to fit even if we get next day delivery its going to be another day before we can return so three days so we go and get it from a bricks and mortar merchants and get the job done there and then or we may have the part in stock we still need a profit to cover the cost of carrying parts a fairer comparison would be to phone alarge heating supply company and see what they ask for the part

 

[stevetheplumber]

I bet you dont go into Tesco and moan about the mark up on the milk, bread and cheese because guess what that is more like 100% mark up.

If you knew what you wanted then you should have asked for the price before hand. Also on the internet and certain merchants do sell non genuine parts so what you got a price on may not be a quality part. I know that a merchant around me has gave me a non genuine part.

Also where did they pick the part up from I know they brought it with them but they had to go and get it and I can imagine getting around London can be quite time consuming ( Never driven around London dont want to either)

i was watching a program on tv about fish super markets work on 400% profit on fish at that rate id only want 1 keston fan a week

 

[skippy]

I had promised to post back on the expansion vessel from Post #26. The recent posts on this thread reminded me. I'm throwing all this down here in case it's useful to someone else who finds themselves in a similar situation;

Anyway taking on the advice I received earlier on in this thread, I ended up getting quotes from multiple local engineers to repair the expansion vessel that i mentioned in post #26, with options for them ordering the parts or me ordering the parts myself. In the end I got a local engineer and ordered new, original-manufacturer replacement parts myself;

What I paid was;

> Expansion Vessel £48 vs £126 quoted by originally contacted "UnNamed London Based Keston Specialist" from post #26
> Relief Valve Kit £34. vs £55 quoted by originally contacted "UnNamed London Based Keston Specialist" from post #26
(all costs ex. vat. all 'like-for-like')

It took Chris, the local engineer I went with, about an hour to fit it, have a chat about doing some more work in the new year and clean up after himself.

In the end I saved £80 on parts, some on labour and found a good local plumber (who doesn't charge callout). I'll be getting him to do all my heating work in the future.

As other posters have pointed out, I wear the risk that the parts might be duff, but - touch wood - everything's run smoothly since the work was done.

 

[SimonG]

I had promised to post back on the expansion vessel from Post #26. The recent posts on this thread reminded me. I'm throwing all this down here in case it's useful to someone else who finds themselves in a similar situation;

Anyway taking on the advice I received earlier on in this thread, I ended up getting quotes from multiple local engineers to repair the expansion vessel that i mentioned in post #26, with options for them ordering the parts or me ordering the parts myself. In the end I got a local engineer and ordered new, original-manufacturer replacement parts myself;

What I paid was;

> Expansion Vessel £48 vs £126 quoted by originally contacted "UnNamed London Based Keston Specialist" from post #26
> Relief Valve Kit £34. vs £55 quoted by originally contacted "UnNamed London Based Keston Specialist" from post #26
(all costs ex. vat. all 'like-for-like')

It took Chris, the local engineer I went with, about an hour to fit it, have a chat about doing some more work in the new year and clean up after himself.

In the end I saved £80 on parts, some on labour and found a good local plumber (who doesn't charge callout). I'll be getting him to do all my heating work in the future.

As other posters have pointed out, I wear the risk that the parts might be duff, but - touch wood - everything's run smoothly since the work was done.

Good for you. Nice to hear you have found a good local engineer that you can trust.

 

[skippy]

Shop around if you don't like the quote.and who in their right mind has work done without enquiring how much it will cost?!

Ok - so let's go with this suggestion for a second in the case of Paul (#28). Assume for a second that you're not a heating engineer yourself and your boiler's just died. You yourself don't know what's wrong with it (you're not a heating engineer, remember).

Do you ring around 3 engineers at that point and ask;
1. Do you charge a callout and how much
2. What's your hourly fee
3. Where do you buy your parts and what's your markup? (You don't actually know what's wrong yet so you can't ask for a quote to fix a specific 'thing')
4. When could you come around and take a look

Now put yourself back in your (Heating Engineers) shoes - someone rings you up with those questions. Do you think it's fair enough and tell 'em honestly? Or do you decide they sound like a bit too much hard work and tell them you're busy for the next 2 weeks and that they should call someone else?

Genuine question - and interested to hear the answers.

 

[peteheat]

I carry a lot of parts in both the van and the stores, I have to allow the crazy overdraft rate the bank charges or in better times the deposit interest I'm losing because my money is in stock for the convenience of the customer who calls.

So yes there are times I will have a 50 > 100% mark up on the parts, there have been times the new part failed and I returned, replaced the part and charged Zero even though I'm at the loss because manufacturers only warranty parts in stock for thirty days.

At the end of the year do I have a substantial profit from the parts? No, I am lucky to nett 25%

You call for a professional service expect to pay for it, in the OP's case he got extra value because he could call another engineer with the full parts list (also worth money) lets see how the new engineer fairs out when he has to diagnose and source the parts himself.

Not trying to be offensive just pointing out there is more to running a professional service than Googling parts prices.

 

[PlumbBobBob]

totally agree with you pete. customers seem to conveniently forget about our overheads when presented with the bill after having their whatever fixed satisfactorily (is that spelled correctly?).

 

[secret squirrel]

Well Skippy, having read most of the posts on here, your not going to be happy until you get the answer you want! unfortunate.

How much is a gas safe qualification?
How much to re-qualify?
How much are the flue gas analysiers that are req'd?
How much to get the equipment inspected annually?
How much time to engineers spend diagnosing problems?
How much time running back and fourth to suppliers to get the parts and waiting to order it?
How much time to travel back once its in stock?
How much in public liability insurance?
Road tax?
Van insurance?
The list is endless....... I'm sure everyone on here can go on and on,

Your not happy we get it, don't use the company again, go with a local engineer, which is want you've done.

Write to the company concerned and explain it to them,

If a part you've ordered is faulty or wrong, then you'd be charged twice, keep ordering the parts yourself and see what eventually happens, see how much you save.

Next time I get my car/van serviced I'm going to buy the oil and brake pads from halfords save myself a few quid,