Reasonable charge?

Luckygirl3

I am loving my tap ......

Was it putting a tap there from scratch, or replacing a broken tap?

Replacing a broken one.

growstuff

It sounds like a bargain to me.

This afternoon I was quoted £120 to repair my walking boots. I decided to buy a new pair of boots.

Surely not!!

My son who is a plumber charges £110.00 to install an outside tap, we're in Essex on the edge of London. As he says the tap probably costs a tenner but he has the cost of running is van and every other aspect of his business etc. and it all adds up.

FlexibleFriend

My son who is a plumber charges £110.00 to install an outside tap, we're in Essex on the edge of London. As he says the tap probably costs a tenner but he has the cost of running is van and every other aspect of his business etc. and it all adds up.

Sounds as though I got off lightly! Bt the pipework was already there.

I would think that's the normal price.
Everything costs a fortune. I am still living in the past in my mind so am always surprised to get the bills.

The most shocking to me were My friend's recent quotes for house removals. £8,000 was the cheapest.

Our first house cost £5,000. You see I am living in another age....

I had my leaking kitchen tap replaced last week costing £204 .That included finding the fault with the old one ( irreparable), going to get a new one, adjusting the pipes to fit the new one which entailed him lying on his back under the kitchen sink in a cupboard for some time. I think the hourly rate is £50 so with a cost of £80 for the tap it’s about right. Just pleased I have a reliable plumber, electrician and roofer that I can trust.

I'd say that's reasonable, it's usually £70 for the call out alone where I live I'd be fairly happy with that.

Esmay

Yup.
I paid £75 to have a tap replaced .
I'm supposed to have been charged mate's rates .
Instead I have a leaky new tap .

I think we must have used the same plumber!

A lot of do called tradesmen add VAT and they are not registered. I got caught once, never again.

SusieB50

I had my leaking kitchen tap replaced last week costing £204 .That included finding the fault with the old one ( irreparable), going to get a new one, adjusting the pipes to fit the new one which entailed him lying on his back under the kitchen sink in a cupboard for some time. I think the hourly rate is £50 so with a cost of £80 for the tap it’s about right. Just pleased I have a reliable plumber, electrician and roofer that I can trust.

I am lucky, my husband does all that, which I never take for granted 😊

Luckygirl3

Replacing a broken one.

Sounds right. I imagine putting in new pipes from scratch would be a heck of a lot more money 😩

SusieB50

I had my leaking kitchen tap replaced last week costing £204 .That included finding the fault with the old one ( irreparable), going to get a new one, adjusting the pipes to fit the new one which entailed him lying on his back under the kitchen sink in a cupboard for some time. I think the hourly rate is £50 so with a cost of £80 for the tap it’s about right. Just pleased I have a reliable plumber, electrician and roofer that I can trust.

Was he having a nap? 😂 SuzieB50

Had our kitchen mixer tap replaced it cost £65 for the tap and £75 call out charge for the plumber. Happy as no more drippy tap.

Reasonable to me

Luckygirl3

I did not ask for an estimate as this is the partner of the person who cleans for me and she offered to ask him to do it for me. I thought it was a bit steep to be honest. He has charged £18 for materials, £45 for labour and then there is VAT. BUt hey I have a tap now and he got me a lever one which is easier to use.

Everything costs a fortune!!

I guess it depends what part of the country you are in.....ie I'm wondering about the VAT.

In the part of the country I'm in now - ie West Wales - I've learnt there is often a dual pricing structure and, if you're not given any paperwork = it's the "unofficial - and cheaper" pricing structure (ie no VAT applicable). So if he provided a part for it and it was done in the "official" way = that probably counts as about accurate.

If he didn't provide a part and there was no paperwork = that is probably on the high side.

I've just paid £125 for about 3 hours heavy gardening including taking away rubbish for disposal and cleaning out a blocked downpipe. Fairly recently I got charged £50 for a guy coming out an hour later because my outside drain was overflowing everywhere.

Had to have a kitchen tap (double lever one) replaced recently and the main part of the cost was the tap (ie there were cheap look-alikes - but I picked a decent quality one and so the tap alone was over £100 and I know that - because I'd looked online and ordered it.

Hello Luckgirl13

Price for your taps sounds about right .

Never used them myself but l am posting a copy of an AI Google search anout Age UK.

Age UK does not have a single national list of "approved tradesmen," but many local Age UK branches offer their own Trusted Trader or Business Directory schemes where they vet and list local, reputable tradespeople. Nationally, Age UK recommends using the government-endorsed TrustMark scheme to find reliable tradespeople who meet certain standards. You can also find local traders through the Buy With Confidence scheme run by Trading Standards.

Hope this helps you for any future repairs.

I had a n outside tap installed this summer . Think it cost about £80

Lathyrus3

V3ra

What we tend to forget is the travel time it takes for the self-employed worker to get to us, and back again, plus any training updates they have to fund, professional body registration costs, insurance costs...
There's more to it than the 15 minutes they spend in our property!

Totally agree with this.

The tools, the van, the paperwork, the accountant………

Agree with this. Plus funding time off as no paternity or paid holiday leave, public liabity insurace, undating and insuring tools etc.....

That is cheap, most companies charge £80/90 call out charge which includes the first hour of labour but not material, Pay up and say thank you and be grateful it was not more.

Did you check that he is indeed VAT registered (there is a formula for checking vat numbers( and that the money went through a Company account?

No I didn't - he is the partner of the person who cleans for me and he also does my hedges each year. He has only registered for VAT recently.

The charge is usually per hour (one usually minimum) plus parts. So it may seem steep, but I wouldn’t have thought it excessive - at least not around here.

Just rang round a few plumbers for a price to replace a tap & pop up waste I need replacing in my bathroom - I have brought the tap & waste, cheapest was £75.00 so think it seems reasonable. Probably could be higher in other areas, I'm in the East Midlands.

V3ra

What we tend to forget is the travel time it takes for the self-employed worker to get to us, and back again, plus any training updates they have to fund, professional body registration costs, insurance costs...
There's more to it than the 15 minutes they spend in our property!

Perfect reply

My husband is fully qualified plumber and electrician. He's not self employed at the moment but when he was some people just didn't understand the pricing system. He explained his call out fee when prospective customers first made contact. Always turned up at appointed time (many dont), stuck to quote given.
A neighbour wasn't happy with price given for outside tap, even though he wasn't charging extra for working in a Saturday and hasn't spoken to either of us since lol
Just to add, the amount of calls he received for both electrical and plumbing work was unbelievable. Seems there is quite a shortage of reliable, qualified workers who are prepared to do "small jobs" so I think not only is it a fair price, you were lucky to find someone