interesting offer but

[oldtimer]

Got a call today from a FM company on behalf of a high street store they said we only pay a maximum of £30 an hour can you look at a job for us as we utilise the local labour ok I said so went to %^$££"^ and told the staff and they took me to the loading bay they had a big infra red heater from a hire company and told us we had an electrician out and he just left us with the hole in the wall and yep there was a 1 gang box cut out the plasterboard wall with a convector heater fixed to the wall above it.

So had a look stuck my hand in the wall here is a single T&E 2.5 terminated to a connector with tape around it I said thats not right anyway called the FM company back and said look you have a hired heater plugged into a 4 way lead but the electrician you had out has chopped the flex off the convector heater so best thing is for me to make it safe by fitting a plasterboard box and 13A single socket and you can plug the heater into it while I get you a cost for a new convector plus I noticed some tubes out so I can do this at the same time hence saving you a bit money. This is where it gets interesting so pay attention because you may get the call.

O no they said we cannot let you fix it for the price you said (£65) as you must sign in at the store then go to CEF and purchase the materials through a account we have with them then go back to the store and do it and we will pay you £30 an hour with me so far good.

So I said you want me to travel here in my own time then essentially the clock is ticking from the minute I step in the store but you want me to go to the nearest CEF get the gear that I already have in my hand and if this takes me just under 2 hours you will pay me £60 YES they said you have got it so I said this is a 30 minute job I cannot afford this What you dont want the job !!!! hold on we will call you back. 5 minutes later the manager calls back explain to me why you are saying no thanks its £30 an hour. Ok I said my running costs are 30p a mile so it 10 mile here so that 20 mile in total plus 30 minutes traveling each way now thats £6 petrol and I am supplying the materials so as you can se its 1.5 hours tops for me but you want me to do the same but head to CEF 16 miles round trip £4.80p at my cost and wear and tear so now I am £10.80 out of pocket and I will only get £60 so add my 2 hours for you and my 1 hour travel and thats me getting £16 per hour and more running for my car but an an electrician with a pair of pliers in his pocket on a building site is getting £14 per hour and is not doing half as much plus I live in Edinburgh so if you sent me to the city centre its £4 an hour to park the motor and you are saying I cannot bill you for that YES came the reply OK I said thanks but no thanks although can we agree to get this socket fixed to make it safe NO why because you have to book in electronically and so we can see how long you are in the store plus you cannot put tubes in because the staff in the store did not raise a job sheet.

So I said well thanks anyway I have learned a lot today and now I understand why the previous electrician did not come back to finish it So be warned as they look after a lot of high street chains and they will not move from the £30 per hour whilst in the store so forget expenses.

and if you are interested their phone number starts with 01132 although the "manager" I spoke to said he was surprised and I said listen a bit advice here you are not going to get an electrician with that business model but you will get a chancer who will be anything you want him to be for £30 ph

ok give me your thoughts

 

[ezzzekiel]

Sounds pretty standard stuff these days.

 

[Rockingit]

personally, I can't see the issue tbh. You're being paid for driving around, albeit needing to make some deductions for expenses to do so, paid for working, and even got the chance to go back and do it all again. Now, if it was tearing you away from something far more profitable then fair enough, but I reckon you just ended up loosing out on a nice little number.

 

[Octopus]

I suppose this sort of customer would be ok if you're sitting around with your feet up waiting for the phone to ring!

 

[oldtimer]

Yep I hear what you say but remember I am the second electrician to say no thanks dont get me wrong if it works for you fine but anybody who has been to Edinburgh will tell you the parking is a nightmare and there is a warden on every corner or scooter. Although I will say that these chains are handing over responsability to a middle man who of course wants to screw prices down so thats only going to go one way I also highlighted warranty as well when I said will you pay me if the heater that you bought stops working I never got a straight answer. The way I se it these companies are run by bean counters and yes thats the way it sems to be going but it does not mean that I have to accept getting screwed down when next year they say times are hard its £25 now

 

[plugsandsparks]

Its not too bad i suppose, shame cef could not deliver it to the store, that may have helped. Also these types of jobs always take longer...........

 

[mogga]

must have been on the outskirts if you could get to CEF in 30 mins FFS Edinburgh is an absolute nightmare for parking time and spaces
OldYin You can get a contractors parking permit it does COST But it may well be worthwhile as one of the companys we work alongside have them There are still bawache GreenMeanies tho

 

[oldtimer]

must have been on the outskirts if you could get to CEF in 30 mins FFS Edinburgh is an absolute nightmare for parking time and spaces
OldYin You can get a contractors parking permit it does COST But it may well be worthwhile as one of the companys we work alongside have them There are still bawache GreenMeanies tho

Yep I worked with Honeywell in Edinburgh about 26 years ago and our motors were from a leasing company that they owned and the only 2 places in the country that they would pay the engineers parking tickets(first 12)) was London and Edinburgh and when I worked for Sauter the manager came up from Manchester to take back my car as I was moving on because of money (what else) and he said the reason why we pay you less than guys in Manchester is that the furter North you go the cheaper it is to live but after some words from me he went out to a estate agents and found that he would have to pay 50% more for his Wimpey 3 bed detached and double the community charge in Edinburgh needless to say he asked me to stay on and he would se what he could do I said you pay the guys in Manchester £4K more than me give them a bigger car and benifits and then send them up to me to train and you say see what I can do so maybe its just me in Edinburgh and this type of thing is worthwhile elsewhere

 

[UNG]

This is nothing new had calls from some of these companies 10 - 15 years ago totally rip off rates. One had a national contract for fitting rental hand dryers and paid a flat rate for fitting a spur unit as well as fix and connect the hand dryer if I remember correctly it paid the princely sum of £45 for supplying the materials, doing the job and travelling. References were made as to what planet they were on with these ridiculously low rates, needless to say they were told where to go

 

[oldtimer]

This crowd called again this morning and the conversation went alaong the lines Ah yes you have done work for us before so we would like you to put up a lighting track in %^%$$£"$% fashion store. Emm hold on I said we have been here before I cannot afford it no thats not true he said well look you offered me £30 an hour a while a go it sounded good until I realised it was only payable for the time in the store so the 1 hours travelling or parking costs would not get paid and also if you remember I was the second electrician you got as the first one abandoned the job no we did not offer you £30 an hour you said thats what you charge ok then I will charge £30 but this will include travel to and from the job Sorry we only pay you for the time you are in the store Yep we have had this conversation

 

[trev]

They'll get some muppet to do it for them though

 

[Top Cat]

Can't stand working for these type of people, but as others have said, if i had no work i would do it.

 

[oldtimer]

I have no doubt that on a powerpoint presentation it is a good idea but the thing is It is a good idea its just that they get too greedy to such an extent they end up screwing decent guys and then wonder why they have problems I worked it out if they sent me to the out of town store then I am down £5 petrol wear and tear on the motor plus just under 1 hours travel if its in the city centre its £3 an hour to park so £30 is no good I even suggested that I do the initial job at a fixed price cost of £65 but no you need to go to City Electrical Factors for a backbox and socket on our account then charge us for £30 an hour at a store that you have to book in via a computer system so i asked what if I am in the store for 45 minutes and I never got an answer

 

[jumpin jax]

Couldnt you have used your socket and dryliner and picked up a replacement on the way home from CEF, that is what i do with alot of my customers.

 

[oldtimer]

Couldnt you have used your socket and dryliner and picked up a replacement on the way home from CEF, that is what i do with alot of my customers.

Good idea but they have an account with CEF and their invoices are timed and dated (so they told me) and that was for checking and comparing it against the electronic log in the store dont get me wrong it may work for some folk but not for me and if you think well I will bite the bullet well that only encourages them to sell the same format to other high street chains. Also you can tell its not working as the manager highlighted to me that several tubes were out within the store and as I mentioned to her ironically I could have sorted them out whilst i was there and I said I was not best pleased that they got me to look at the job under false pretences because if they had told me on the phone what the deal was I would not had wasted the time and petrol. I also asked how come the last guy left it in this state but she was told not to discuss this with me.

One last thing though i worked it out that I would be getting £6-£7 an hour after running costs and as someone once said here well if it gets to that level i would be better of stacking shelves in Tesco and save myself all the responsability.Me I just think that like any sales driven business they are trying to get someone as cheap as chips if so that fine just dont bother me as I told the my prices are competitive enough

 

[jase]

This crowd called again this morning and the conversation went alaong the lines Ah yes you have done work for us before so we would like you to put up a lighting track in %^%$$£"$% fashion store. Emm hold on I said we have been here before I cannot afford it no thats not true he said well look you offered me £30 an hour a while a go it sounded good until I realised it was only payable for the time in the store so the 1 hours travelling or parking costs would not get paid and also if you remember I was the second electrician you got as the first one abandoned the job no we did not offer you £30 an hour you said thats what you charge ok then I will charge £30 but this will include travel to and from the job Sorry we only pay you for the time you are in the store Yep we have had this conversation

just take longer in the store to do the job then? to cover the time and parking to go get materials? so a 1 hr job becomes a 1.5 hour job, your getting paid and not even rushing then???

 

[swparksey]

just take longer in the store to do the job then? to cover the time and parking to go get materials? so a 1 hr job becomes a 1.5 hour job, your getting paid and not even rushing then???

Im with this one, just bump up the onsite time to cover it. And get them to have the parts delivered direct to site by CEF if they have an account.