My first call out, HELP needed

[GomezZz]

Hello everyone,

I have just been called out to my first lone job. I've been called to change a leaking tap , can't remember now if it's the bath or basin. The customer who called me has a replacement tap already.

The thing I'm stuck on is pricing the job. I live in Surrey.

p.s. I due out to see him this evening so quick responses will be greatly appreciated, cheers

 

[BluePlumber]

should take you no longer than an hour to change basin or bath taps, so just quote what you need to cover your first hours service costs

 

[Kams1982]

I think that charging between £20 to £40 would be reasonable. It also depends on whether your working for yourself or for a company if you are working for a small company then you should charge what there charges are.

 

[moony]

20-40 ? lol

bath taps can be a nightmare....
depends on the system - combi or drain down of a vented system! or whether there is isolation valves fitted.

if isolation valves fitted then 40 squid....
if you have to drain system on bath then a bit more...
i wouldnt risk using the gate valve in the airing cupboard if its stiff (been there done that worn the bloody t-shirt! they say its your fault when the valve sticks and spindle snaps!!! so its a new gate valve and a bugger of a job with the cwsc full)

minimum for any job is 40 for me even if im there 10 mins!

 

[newbie1]

basin tap with isolation---40.00
bath tap can be a swine due location could be 1 hr could be more
gonna have to suck it and see
as new i would bite the bullet and say
40.00 for basin
50 for bath regardless of time

 

[GomezZz]

Brilliant lads , thanks for all your answers. 😀

 

[mike_s]

20 quid? how is he meant to make a living going out doing possibly a few hours work for that? What about his training and start up expenses? Taxes, advertisement fees? People don't think about this and just think of the labour, 40 quid minimum, possibly double if theyre old bath taps as they can be a nightmare. The job might not even be worth doing, conversion kits could be better. Could take all morning or afternoon, struggle cutting wastes and swivels off if they're stuck on.
You can give an estimate over the phone but the job really needs looking at before you agree on a price and possibly say it could be more if it takes longer than expected, but don't take the mick.

I don't think considering this you could really reccomend someone to quote 20-40 quid as simple as that? Are you even self employed yourself? Sorry for the rant but it annoys me how people expect us to work for nothing as they don't see all the costs involved.

 

[WHPES]

I changed a set of bath taps last year and the backnuts were totally inaccessible so I had to actually remove the bath, then reinstate, replacing damaged tiles where the wall brackets had pulled the existing ones off, and spent about 1/2 an hour just scraping off old silicone.

The whole job took about 3 hours in total.

 

[mike_s]

I changed a set of bath taps last year and the backnuts were totally inaccessible so I had to actually remove the bath, then reinstate, replacing damaged tiles where the wall brackets had pulled the existing ones off, and spent about 1/2 an hour just scraping off old silicone.

The whole job took about 3 hours in total.

haha good going! I hate bath taps!

 

[pauls]

i made the mistake of thinking the bath taps would only take 10mins tops last year oh how wrong was i🙁. old bath new taps put the new taps in tap tails to long the sat above the bath when connected to the pipe work adjust the pipe work only to find imperial sizes no imperial fittings on the van, off to the mearchants and back again what a pain in the ar*e.

another lesson learnt 🙂

 

[GomezZz]

Thanks for the extra replies.. I went and had a look today and what I found was a Hansgrohe basin taps 9400900. Basically pipework in the wall, no isolation valves. It was a fancy looking 'straight out the wall' tap unit.

After establishing that he had a megaflo we shut of the cold supply at the unit and I had a go at changing the cold tap first. He had sourced two cartridge replacements which after some fiddling about we decided where the wrong ones anyway.

So to cut a long story short , I couldn't change the bloody thing and walked away with a £50 cheque for 'call out' ... I feel slightly guilty for charging but i did spend a while there...

 

[Kams1982]

20 quid? how is he meant to make a living going out doing possibly a few hours work for that? What about his training and start up expenses? Taxes, advertisement fees? People don't think about this and just think of the labour, 40 quid minimum, possibly double if theyre old bath taps as they can be a nightmare. The job might not even be worth doing, conversion kits could be better. Could take all morning or afternoon, struggle cutting wastes and swivels off if they're stuck on.
You can give an estimate over the phone but the job really needs looking at before you agree on a price and possibly say it could be more if it takes longer than expected, but don't take the mick.

I don't think considering this you could really reccomend someone to quote 20-40 quid as simple as that? Are you even self employed yourself? Sorry for the rant but it annoys me how people expect us to work for nothing as they don't see all the costs involved.

Hi Mike

I am not self employed I have just recently started studying a plumbing course, you are entitled to your opinions and I am entitled to mine, I think that if a client already has the tap that needs replacing what's the point of charging them a ridiculous price between £20 to £40 for me is reasonable I have come across plumbers who charge £60+ just to take a look at a problem and when they come to fix whatever problem there is they take more money, its understandable that when one has their own business they need to charge accordingly and take all business expenses into consideration, but then again one can charge a higher price where its neccessary like changing a boiler for example but when working on smaller jobs like changing a tap the cost don't need to be high.

 

[oldplumber]

if you dont charge to much for little jobs your customers cwill call you back for the big ones, then you build up a customer bse and make money, simple really and everyone is happy

 

[NickH]

between £20 to £40 for me is reasonable

.

If you think travelling to someones house, getting your tools out, finding and turning off supplies, changing a tap, clearing up and checking everything ( and thats if everything goes well ) is worth 20-40 quid then your out of your tree mate and would soon be out of business.

You dont need to be ripping people off but doing jobs like that for drinks money is just ridiculous. Personally I dont want to work for someone who thinks 50 or 60 quid is too much to pay for changing a bath tap, they certainly wouldn't be prepared to pay proper money for a new bathroom so your going to lose the work to a cheapskate chancer anyway.

 

[Kams1982]

Most people would pay because having a working tap is better than having a leaking tap,.

If you think travelling to someones house, getting your tools out, finding and turning off supplies, changing a tap, clearing up and checking everything ( and thats if everything goes well ) is worth 20-40 quid then your out of your tree mate and would soon be out of business.

You dont need to be ripping people off but doing jobs like that for drinks money is just ridiculous. Personally I dont want to work for someone who thinks 50 or 60 quid is too much to pay for changing a bath tap, they certainly wouldn't be prepared to pay proper money for a new bathroom so your going to lose the work to a cheapskate chancer anyway.

I did not say 50 or 60 quid is too much I just think that if the person already had the tap to begin with then £20 to £40 to fix the tap is reasonable. If one had to buy the tap 1st then fix it that would be different.

 

[NickH]

No, i'm talking labour only and your idea of reasonable is still ridiculous.

 

[moony]

Most people would pay because having a working tap is better than having a leaking tap,.



I did not say 50 or 60 quid is too much I just think that if the person already had the tap to begin with then £20 to £40 to fix the tap is reasonable. If one had to buy the tap 1st then fix it that would be different.

kams no offence mate - have you ever changed bath taps on a an old bath? all well and good putting new taps on a new bath matey - but believe me ask anyone in the trade and they will tell you 20 - 40 quid is not enough....

if and this is a big if they come out of box i have no trouble getting the old ones off and they fit straight on then i'll charge 40 for cash.... but its normally more in the region of 60-80 - like i said before if on a vented system i nearly always have trouble shutting the hot off and have to drain 🙁 - meaning im there 2 hours including the travel to and from job...

in todays climate it might be your only job for 2 days! think of the big picture.

 

[NickH]

Quite.

 

[hiretools]

I would just like to cut in here and say that i too am on a plumbing course but to price a job on the phone is too much to ask for. Secondly i think that u should have a set call out fee. And last but by no means least £40 is reasonable only if u can complete job fully within 1 hour after that its between what the plumber is happy with for doing the job (within reason) but customer still happy. happy plumber + happy customer = future work.😀😀😀. Keep Smiling. Hiretools.😎

 

[quality]

A job is a job be it bath taps, outside taps or whatever - any job takes any amount of time charge by the hour plus materials plus travel if necessary

I charge my rate 45 per hour min. plus 50p per mile if its over 20 mile plus parts

 

[Puddle]

Thanks for the extra replies.. I went and had a look today and what I found was a Hansgrohe basin taps 9400900. Basically pipework in the wall, no isolation valves. It was a fancy looking 'straight out the wall' tap unit.

After establishing that he had a megaflo we shut of the cold supply at the unit and I had a go at changing the cold tap first. He had sourced two cartridge replacements which after some fiddling about we decided where the wrong ones anyway.

So to cut a long story short , I couldn't change the bloody thing and walked away with a £50 cheque for 'call out' ... I feel slightly guilty for charging but i did spend a while there...

in my personal opinion only
Gomezz ,I would not feel slightly guilty for getting paid for your time,
you did not walk away with £50 for 'call out',you got paid for arranging an appointment,turning up as said,establishing isolation points required,attempting to fit cartridges as supplied and assisted ascertaining that they were the wrong ones,you got paid for working and you did all this when the rest of us were at home having a cup of tea ,so quite rightly you require paying for it,if cartridges had fitted you would have fitted and taken the same time
You are located in Surrey and the charge you made is quite acceptable,as you will find when the customer calls you back to fit right cartridges,unless for the £50 you have also allowed him to watch how to do ,also
People should realise that their is different rates all around the country and a blanket price can not be given,also sometimes you quote hourly or fixed price

IMHO

 

[moony]

we charge 40 first hour..... then 30 an hour after that...

if its a boiler fault then it goes up to 70 then 30 per hour after.

if its a soil problem its 80 then 30 per hour after that.

most call outs are sorted in a hour or 2.

bigger jobs are charged by the day 300 for one plumber 500 for 2. so bathroom straight swap takes a day for 2 of us 500 squid including materials.

as soon as you get into the boiler changes etc and heating the price goes up again.

paying to get me there, knowledge, and if the job is a dirty one or not... i know shallow but if theyre not happy get someone else....

id rather work for someone who appreciates the 4 years training, the fact i dont mind being covered in crap that someone who thinks they can do it themselves and im ripping them off!

 

[Ockyvines]

we charge 40 first hour..... then 30 an hour after that...

if its a boiler fault then it goes up to 70 then 30 per hour after.

if its a soil problem its 80 then 30 per hour after that.

most call outs are sorted in a hour or 2.

bigger jobs are charged by the day 300 for one plumber 500 for 2. so bathroom straight swap takes a day for 2 of us 500 squid including materials.

as soon as you get into the boiler changes etc and heating the price goes up again.

paying to get me there, knowledge, and if the job is a dirty one or not... i know shallow but if theyre not happy get someone else....

id rather work for someone who appreciates the 4 years training, the fact i dont mind being covered in crap that someone who thinks they can do it themselves and im ripping them off!

Training, re-training, accountant, public liability insurance, hand tools, power tools, van, sickness, pension ,holidays,pricing etc. etc. etc.
It really annoys me when I hear of idiots charging peanuts and bringing the rates down to a point where you might as well push trolleys around Tesco's car park!
£70 1st hour
£50 2nd hour
£40 each subsequent hour
£300 for an 8 hour day if booked in advance
Sorry, I think I've had this rant before but since every third person you speak to now has decided they will be a plumber because it's the way to riches beyond their wildest dreams, prices have been going down and down.
Changing a set of bath taps could take between half an hour and a day,
"That will be £20 please madam and it's been a priviledge grovelling around on your floor all day"

 

[Lead-Free]

Hi Mike

£20 to £40 for me is reasonable .

I would like to see your business make any money.

We have to think of the future not just the present, if you bring the prices of plumbing down now, you are going to pay for it big time in the future.

the only reason some are pushing the price down to a un acceptable level is because they are not making any money and their businesses are failing because they have not planed ahead when they first started and charged silly money left right and centre, leaving them in a right old financial mess.

If you want to be a plumber, find a job as a plumber and work for a company.

If you want to be a plumber with your own business then charge as much as is reasonable and to build your business financially strong- end off. okay rant over, over and out!

 

[dontknowitall]

I think prices depend on where you live. I now charge £165 for a day. Just put it up from £150 a day. Usual call out is £40 for first hour, £10 for next hour then £20 per hour after that. And occasionally I don't charge at all or perhaps £10 for "petrol".

Unfortunately with these rates I'm rather busy, but I'd much prefer it this way rather than charge £200 and wait for one customer a fortnight for a small repair job and spend the rest of the time sat at home watching some daytime television auction programme.

Saves on advertising as apart from my website all jobs are recommended.