For Pat...nuff' said....
Thats brillant.
Warning on Tradies
Page 2 of 3
Thats brillant.
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it's not the price that matters, it's when they change the price on you at the last minute or add on extra charges (ripping you off for no reason) that gets me!
In my quotes I outline the exact products i use (including part numbers where applicable) and their warranty as well my own warranty (Lifetime on workmanship and 15 years on cabling). I know I'm not the cheapest but at least the customer has the choice to use the best quality product or the cheapest.
I am yet to have a warranty claim against my workmanship or parts I have recommended.
I am yet to have a warranty claim against my workmanship or parts I have recommended.
Meh you think thats bad. My partner was working on a commercial job today, for a nightclub in Melbourne and was finishing off the renovation of one of their bathrooms (read toilets).
Anyhow he spoke to plumber who informed him that his "apprentice of the year" will do the job of installing the toilet.
When my partner contacted said boss to inform him that the toilet is leaking he told him that he will send out "apprentice of the year" to fix it.
Sure enough this a'noon he went to finish off what needed to be as they were opening the toilets up tonight to patrons and sure enough the "apprentice of the year" told him that it was all fixed. Partner flushed the toilet and it was leaking everywhere.
Bottom line partner is jack of people doing a half arsed job, and hopes that this recession will weed the good from the bad.
Oh and he thinks that the "apprentice of the year" being awarded "apprentice of the year" is a load of crock.
Anyhow he spoke to plumber who informed him that his "apprentice of the year" will do the job of installing the toilet.
When my partner contacted said boss to inform him that the toilet is leaking he told him that he will send out "apprentice of the year" to fix it.
Sure enough this a'noon he went to finish off what needed to be as they were opening the toilets up tonight to patrons and sure enough the "apprentice of the year" told him that it was all fixed. Partner flushed the toilet and it was leaking everywhere.
Bottom line partner is jack of people doing a half arsed job, and hopes that this recession will weed the good from the bad.
Oh and he thinks that the "apprentice of the year" being awarded "apprentice of the year" is a load of crock.
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We had a plumber come out to tell me (what I already knew) that we had a blocked drain and hence our back drain was flooding when we emptied the laundry sink. So he said, $150 for his call out and he needed to use a special machine for another $200, that was out of his control. We don't know anything about plumbing so we said ok, so he then wen to his truck, got out the machine and did the work in under 10mins - thank you very much, I think I just got ripped off, I paid him and said we won't be calling you again...
Caveat emptor, friend.
I'm afraid it's your fault for not asking what the guy's charges when you rang him. Unfortunately not everyone is honest and open. Some tradesmen look upon naive people like yourself as open seaon.
I'm a self employed tradesman and when I speak to potential customers on the phone, I explain my charges up front, so as to avoid situations like that which you experienced, but I find that most customers are quite up front in asking what I charge.
So next time ask the guy what his charges are, when you ring him and if he avoids telling you, move on to another up front and open tradesman.
You should have paid about $150 to $180 for the job you had done, if the guy used an electric eel, more if the guy used a water jet.
Quote:
We had a plumber come out to tell me (what I already knew) that we had a blocked drain and hence our back drain was flooding when we emptied the laundry sink. So he said, $150 for his call out and he needed to use a special machine for another $200, that was out of his control. We don't know anything about plumbing so we said ok, so he then wen to his truck, got out the machine and did the work in under 10mins - thank you very much, I think I just got ripped off, I paid him and said we won't be calling you again...
Caveat emptor, friend.
I'm afraid it's your fault for not asking what the guy's charges when you rang him. Unfortunately not everyone is honest and open. Some tradesmen look upon naive people like yourself as open seaon.
I'm a self employed tradesman and when I speak to potential customers on the phone, I explain my charges up front, so as to avoid situations like that which you experienced, but I find that most customers are quite up front in asking what I charge.
So next time ask the guy what his charges are, when you ring him and if he avoids telling you, move on to another up front and open tradesman.
You should have paid about $150 to $180 for the job you had done, if the guy used an electric eel, more if the guy used a water jet.
well maybe he used the water jet - why does it cost me more, it was on the back of his truck!
AND, he did tell me $150 over the phone, I though that was ok if he fixed it for that price too, but no, of course that costed more!!!
Quote:
We had a plumber come out to tell me (what I already knew) that we had a blocked drain and hence our back drain was flooding when we emptied the laundry sink. So he said, $150 for his call out and he needed to use a special machine for another $200, that was out of his control. We don't know anything about plumbing so we said ok, so he then wen to his truck, got out the machine and did the work in under 10mins - thank you very much, I think I just got ripped off, I paid him and said we won't be calling you again...
Caveat emptor, friend.
I'm afraid it's your fault for not asking what the guy's charges when you rang him. Unfortunately not everyone is honest and open. Some tradesmen look upon naive people like yourself as open seaon.
I'm a self employed tradesman and when I speak to potential customers on the phone, I explain my charges up front, so as to avoid situations like that which you experienced, but I find that most customers are quite up front in asking what I charge.
So next time ask the guy what his charges are, when you ring him and if he avoids telling you, move on to another up front and open tradesman.
You should have paid about $150 to $180 for the job you had done, if the guy used an electric eel, more if the guy used a water jet.
well maybe he used the water jet - why does it cost me more, it was on the back of his truck!
AND, he did tell me $150 over the phone, I though that was ok if he fixed it for that price too, but no, of course that costed more!!!
Sorry Annie but I have to disagree with your statement
[/quote]well maybe he used the water jet - why does it cost me more, it was on the back of his truck![/quote]
Some tools and equipment do cost a lot of money. It's like when my partner needs to use the ramset gun. It's not a cheap tool and the charges aren't cheap either. You have to remember that some tradies spend big $$ on equipment. Also my partner has scaffolding to do small jobs, he charges for that. The alternative is for the customer to go out and hire it. He charges less than the hire company. It's more efficient for him to have these tools and equipment and to not factor these costs into the price means even less cash flow and eventually a dead business. The alternative is for the customer to not have a choice and hire the big ticket items. Lucky for him he hasn't had any disputes but I suppose that goes with the fact he works for builders who know have it all works.
Quote:
well maybe he used the water jet - why does it cost me more, it was on the back of his truck!
AND, he did tell me $150 over the phone, I though that was ok if he fixed it for that price too, but no, of course that costed more!!!
AND, he did tell me $150 over the phone, I though that was ok if he fixed it for that price too, but no, of course that costed more!!!
The reason it costs more, is the fact, it cost him over $10,000 to buy. He has to recoup the money, so he charges accordingly.
An electric eel costs $4000, but with both of these tools, theres on going maintenance costs which have to be paid for.
Although, if he quoted you $150 over the phone, you should have paid $150. You should have refused to pay more.
When customers ring me, I explain that I charge $40 service call and $80 per hour and that if I use an electric eel, I charge another $50 per hour, plus GST. So if Im there an hour or less, it costs them $170 plus GST. I do this up front so theres no misunderstandings.
I'm not a big fan of water jets, so I dont use them.
I'm guessing that hes quoted you $150 over the phone and the hes charged you $200 to use the jet. He should have explained that over the phone. If he didnt, he should have stopped and explained to you that there would be an extra charge to use the jet.
You could take him to the Fair Tradeing Tribunal. In NSW it costs $36.
On the bright side of things, I know of plumbers who would have charged you $500 for the same job and one who charged someone $1400 for something similar.
Let's look back at the original rant where the poster wanted the cheapest price possible.
$25/hr per man. I defy anybody here to try and run a legitimate business by charging $25/hr plus all the overheads plus all the extras/sickies/holidays/superannuation/rent/trucks/ maintenance etc.....all the alarm bells should have been ringing that something was wrong or shortcuts were going to taken.
In the second instance they actually called somebody out with expensive test equipment and then got upset because they actually had to pay for him to do it!
Do they think these people drive around all day testing peoples reception as a charity!
Have a logical think about it if you were a tradie trying to deal with some of these people. In my former days as a fencing contractor a lot of my day was spent (and wasted) just handing out free quotes (and yes, I did reply to every phonecall).
When you would follow up with a courtesy call many people would reply with "oh I just wanted the written quote, because I needed 3 to show the neighbor". Any wonder tradies just try to stick to a couple of trusted builders.
In my early years I tried my best to save my customers money with exact quotes or times until I realised that with particularly small call out jobs you just could not make an income. The worst were the small 2 or 3 hr jobs of actual charge rates. Try to do 2 or 3 of those jobs a day all day week in week out and it's just not possible. Fit in quoting, paperwork, loading up the ute and unloading 2 or 3 times , going to the suppliers etc and in the end you just quote for a full days work anyway.
Sorry for my rant but it just bought back bad memorys of trying to work for yourself in the ever fickle and unreliable world of the building trade.
ahhhhhhhh I feel better now
$25/hr per man. I defy anybody here to try and run a legitimate business by charging $25/hr plus all the overheads plus all the extras/sickies/holidays/superannuation/rent/trucks/ maintenance etc.....all the alarm bells should have been ringing that something was wrong or shortcuts were going to taken.
In the second instance they actually called somebody out with expensive test equipment and then got upset because they actually had to pay for him to do it!
Do they think these people drive around all day testing peoples reception as a charity!
Have a logical think about it if you were a tradie trying to deal with some of these people. In my former days as a fencing contractor a lot of my day was spent (and wasted) just handing out free quotes (and yes, I did reply to every phonecall).
When you would follow up with a courtesy call many people would reply with "oh I just wanted the written quote, because I needed 3 to show the neighbor". Any wonder tradies just try to stick to a couple of trusted builders.
In my early years I tried my best to save my customers money with exact quotes or times until I realised that with particularly small call out jobs you just could not make an income. The worst were the small 2 or 3 hr jobs of actual charge rates. Try to do 2 or 3 of those jobs a day all day week in week out and it's just not possible. Fit in quoting, paperwork, loading up the ute and unloading 2 or 3 times , going to the suppliers etc and in the end you just quote for a full days work anyway.
Sorry for my rant but it just bought back bad memorys of trying to work for yourself in the ever fickle and unreliable world of the building trade.
ahhhhhhhh I feel better now
Quote:
well maybe he used the water jet - why does it cost me more, it was on the back of his truck!
AND, he did tell me $150 over the phone, I though that was ok if he fixed it for that price too, but no, of course that costed more!!!
AND, he did tell me $150 over the phone, I though that was ok if he fixed it for that price too, but no, of course that costed more!!!
I'm guessing that hes quoted you $150 over the phone and the hes charged you $200 to use the jet. He should have explained that over the phone. If he didnt, he should have stopped and explained to you that there would be an extra charge to use the jet.
BTW, you are spot on, he did exactly that. And I said go ahead, I didn't realise it was on the back of his truck tho, I thought he had to go somewhere and hire it. I should add that this is prompt and professional and quick. Doesn't mess around. But on occasion, he has fixed the blocked drain, and then I've had to call him back to fix it again - a couple of weeks later, and he's said "oh it's a new blockage" - As I'm not a plumber HOW would I know!!! so I just go, ok, fix it - and BAM - another $350 - he must see me coming!
I tell you one that really shi**ed me, our garage door was stuck on New Years Eve about 1pm (my DH did it of course!!!) so we rang around for someone to come out and fix it, the closest was GJ Garage Doors in Airport West - NEVER USE THEM !! THey came out, said yes it's broken (opened it manually so I could get the car out and shut it again) and charged me - wait for it - $350 for 10mins work!!! Absolute disgrace - my second name is doormat!
Yes I paid the $350, we then got another guy out from Clicker Remotes and they removed the broken one, supplied and fitted a new garage door for $650 complete! (and took the old one away for me - no hidden costs!) That lot in Airport West should be put out of business!
How about a contractor my old company employed for a day.
he had a charge per tool.
If he used his cordless drill, grinder, jigsaw or hammer drill then he'd charge $5.00+gst per 15 minutes to cover wear and tear.
he had a charge per tool.
If he used his cordless drill, grinder, jigsaw or hammer drill then he'd charge $5.00+gst per 15 minutes to cover wear and tear.
us tradies also need to ne warned about some types of clients.....
the ones that watch over us like hawks, the ones with annoying kids who will ask us all types of questions while we are working.. and ones who refuse to pay bills on time....
the ones that watch over us like hawks, the ones with annoying kids who will ask us all types of questions while we are working.. and ones who refuse to pay bills on time....
In the second instance they actually called somebody out with expensive test equipment and then got upset because they actually had to pay for him to do it!
Do they think these people drive around all day testing peoples reception as a charity!
Agreed. No reason to gripe about that one. Perfectly reasonable to charge for the service they received.
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BTW, you are spot on, he did exactly that. And I said go ahead, I didn't realise it was on the back of his truck tho, I thought he had to go somewhere and hire it. I should add that this is prompt and professional and quick. Doesn't mess around. But on occasion, he has fixed the blocked drain, and then I've had to call him back to fix it again - a couple of weeks later, and he's said "oh it's a new blockage" - As I'm not a plumber HOW would I know!!! so I just go, ok, fix it - and BAM - another $350 - he must see me coming!
The problem with water jets is that they sometimes dont cut through tree roots. The are pushed by and push high pressure water down the pipes, pushing through the blockage, clearing the line but not removing the cause of the blockage, so after a period of use the line blocks again.
Next time use a plumber who has an electric eel. Instruct him to use a 100mm cutter and the mechanical action of the machine will cut out the roots, which are most likely the cause of your problems. they;ll regrow again, but if your lucky, in two or three years time depending on the tree and the climate. .
I can understand both sides of the arguement, I dont go on price alone and am happy to pay for a good job, but I've had some bad experiences too so I understand the frustration from a customer's point of view. There are good tradesmen and there are some real shonks as well but we the customer have no idea who we're dealing with until we agree to the job and that's the hard part about hiring tradepeople to do anything.
I'll just give you one example but there have been others which I wont go into. We hired a paver to do the paving around our pool, we agreed to the quote which was 2 days for two people, the paver and his offsider. The job took them one day but that wasn't the problem, we agreed to the quote and that is what they were paid.
They brought the pavers aroudn the back and stacked the leaves of pavers on their side on our concrete patio, and every time they cut the tie off a leaf the whole thing fell to the ground and pavers were getting smashed left right and centre. My husband and I were a bit stunned when we realised what was going on and their apparent lack of even seeing anything wrong with it. so we went out and cut the leaves open carefully and stacked the pavers for them to save any more from getting smashed. We'd bought extra pavers to cover the job but because they smashed so many before we realised what was going on, they ran short and we had to go and buy more. Their parting words were, "yeah just get some more pavers and you can just finish it off" The job itself was mediocre, when you're in the pool the whole area has dips and undulations, The quote was higher than we expected but we just wanted the job done but I did feel ripped off regarding the quality but having to buy the extra pavers and finish it off ourselves because of their rediculous behaviour was the kicker.
On the other side I had the best guy come to install our pool fencing, the amount of effort and attention to detail was obvious, if all trademen were of that ilk it would be so easy to hire people and not have to worry and wonder is this just going to be another bad experience? But you just dont know what you're in for until you go ahead with a job. It's always such a gamble and it doesnt seem to matter if you deal with a big company or a small operator, or even if price isnt the deciding factor, there are good tradies and some real shockers so you just dont know who is who.
so while I understand the tradies who have their issues with tire kickers and time wasters and it's a shame that so many people have become that way, the customers have their own issues on the other side and it's a real shame that there are many bad tradesmen who leave customers with these bad experiences because it creates so much mistrust from a customer side of things.
I'll just give you one example but there have been others which I wont go into. We hired a paver to do the paving around our pool, we agreed to the quote which was 2 days for two people, the paver and his offsider. The job took them one day but that wasn't the problem, we agreed to the quote and that is what they were paid.
They brought the pavers aroudn the back and stacked the leaves of pavers on their side on our concrete patio, and every time they cut the tie off a leaf the whole thing fell to the ground and pavers were getting smashed left right and centre. My husband and I were a bit stunned when we realised what was going on and their apparent lack of even seeing anything wrong with it. so we went out and cut the leaves open carefully and stacked the pavers for them to save any more from getting smashed. We'd bought extra pavers to cover the job but because they smashed so many before we realised what was going on, they ran short and we had to go and buy more. Their parting words were, "yeah just get some more pavers and you can just finish it off" The job itself was mediocre, when you're in the pool the whole area has dips and undulations, The quote was higher than we expected but we just wanted the job done but I did feel ripped off regarding the quality but having to buy the extra pavers and finish it off ourselves because of their rediculous behaviour was the kicker.
On the other side I had the best guy come to install our pool fencing, the amount of effort and attention to detail was obvious, if all trademen were of that ilk it would be so easy to hire people and not have to worry and wonder is this just going to be another bad experience? But you just dont know what you're in for until you go ahead with a job. It's always such a gamble and it doesnt seem to matter if you deal with a big company or a small operator, or even if price isnt the deciding factor, there are good tradies and some real shockers so you just dont know who is who.
so while I understand the tradies who have their issues with tire kickers and time wasters and it's a shame that so many people have become that way, the customers have their own issues on the other side and it's a real shame that there are many bad tradesmen who leave customers with these bad experiences because it creates so much mistrust from a customer side of things.
us tradies also need to ne warned about some types of clients.....
the ones that watch over us like hawks, the ones with annoying kids who will ask us all types of questions while we are working.. and ones who refuse to pay bills on time....
the ones that watch over us like hawks, the ones with annoying kids who will ask us all types of questions while we are working.. and ones who refuse to pay bills on time....
Or the ones who tell you how to do your job.
I had a kid who told me I was installing a central filter wrong! hmmmm 15 years in the trade versus a kid and google!
One thing to remember. tradies are also customers at some stage too, so we see both sides. customers don't ever see our side.
Im sure that you guys arent the ones this thread is about
When you would follow up with a courtesy call many people would reply with "oh I just wanted the written quote, because I needed.......
something in writing to give to the bank 6 - 12 months out from being in any position to do something about it but I have to contact 500 tradies (fencing, concreting, decks, landscaping, turf, etc) to put a proposal together which sort of adds up to about what I want to spend.
us
so we see both sides. customers don't ever see our side.
so we see both sides. customers don't ever see our side.
no I disagree with that, my husband is self employed and he's not a tradie but he has to put up with the same things, bookwork, doing up extensive quotes that people just take somewhere else to see if they can get it cheaper, trips to pick up parts etc. so it's the same for many small businesses/self employed it's not just tradesmen who have to put up with these things from customers so some customers do see it from both sides
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