New here, looking for advice on an invoice, am I being ripped off??

[GLENNSPARK]

Glenn, your 'about rites' surely are if you are called out to do that one specific thing only? E.G. can you come around and change a broken socket? If you then multiply that pricing structure to every point in a house where multiple things need doing then you end up with stupidly high prices, as this lady has done here, being charged twice what she should have.

except it aint is it..

were talking about the odd broken accessory....not a house full...

 

[GLENNSPARK]

wahey!!!!! glenn in glorious technicolor. you lost your colouring book?

i missed out at scool...
too much of that having to stand in the corner methinks..

 

[VoltzElectrical]

except it aint is it..

were talking about the odd broken accessory....not a house full...

So what would you have charged for 4 hrs work and a handful of cheap materials then? I've given my price and explained how I got there, and came close to Tel.

Cards on the table now.

 

[telectrix]

methinks OP should get a second opinion. as glenn said, what's the Ze? if the donkey has fitted a coathanger for £30 odd, then it's probably like burt reynolds' hair piece, way over the top.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

So what would you have charged for 4 hrs work and a handful of cheap materials then? I've given my price and explained how I got there, and came close to Tel.

Cards on the table now.

thats my concern.

 

[VoltzElectrical]

No-one wants to be ripped off. Fair prices for fair work, I think that's fair enough for an open forum.

 

[telectrix]

think glen nis being cagey coz' he charges £180/hour. should have been a solicitor. :icon_bs:

 

[oldtimer]

Choccy you say a rented property and that is the bullk of my work so I can give you the other side of the coin I quoted a cost for a new CU and extractor fan and said I would take off money on the extractor if I got both then got told CU not going to happen but do the fan at the price quoted. So I got held to my quote on the discounted fan because I never explained this in writing . So fine I complied but 6 months later was asked for another quote and this time I clarified that it was only for the work quoted for and anything else outside the scope would be chargeable or quoted for funny thing is I never got the job.

So this is a lesson for both parties for me to clarify what I am quoting for and for the landlord to get all quotes in writing as for paying too much well you are on rocky ground here because if you agree to the quote then you have no complaints Yes someone could say you were ripped off mate I could have done it for £100 cheaper mmmmm things like this is what i call a spoiler and never understand why Joe public accepts that they have paid Curry's £100 more for a big TV when they could have bought it on the internet yet feel they have been ripped off by a tradesman.

I will leave you with this a landlord baulked at me for a cost to replace a extract fan and then asked me what model i was using and then got a mate to do it only for the fan to have a fault 3 months later and then ask me if i would have a quick look at it then told me to forget it when I said it would be chargeable. Another landlord i put a fan in for had a similar problem picked up the phone and said sort it please as you quoted a year parts and labour warranty

 

[VoltzElectrical]

Choccy you say a rented property and that is the bullk of my work so I can give you the other side of the coin I quoted a cost for a new CU and extractor fan and said I would take off money on the extractor if I got both then got told CU not going to happen but do the fan at the price quoted. So I got held to my quote on the discounted fan because I never explained this in writing . So fine I complied but 6 months later was asked for another quote and this time I clarified that it was only for the work quoted for and anything else outside the scope would be chargeable or quoted for funny thing is I never got the job.

So this is a lesson for both parties for me to clarify what I am quoting for and for the landlord to get all quotes in writing as for paying too much well you are on rocky ground here because if you agree to the quote then you have no complaints Yes someone could say you were ripped off mate I could have done it for £100 cheaper mmmmm things like this is what i call a spoiler and never understand why Joe public accepts that they have paid Curry's £100 more for a big TV when they could have bought it on the internet yet feel they have been ripped off by a tradesman.

I will leave you with this a landlord baulked at me for a cost to replace a extract fan and then asked me what model i was using and then got a mate to do it only for the fan to have a fault 3 months later and then ask me if i would have a quick look at it then told me to forget it when I said it would be chargeable. Another landlord i put a fan in for had a similar problem picked up the phone and said sort it please as you quoted a year parts and labour warranty

with the greatest respect, I'm having difficulty following the logic behind your link between your interesting anecdotes as an electrician working in the rental field and the concerns of the OP over her being charged outrageous rates by a forgetful electrician who operates a questionable business model?

Can you expand on this my good man?

Regards.

 

[oldtimer]

with the greatest respect, I'm having difficulty following the logic behind your link between your interesting anecdotes as an electrician working in the rental field and the concerns of the OP over her being charged outrageous rates by a forgetful electrician who operates a questionable business model?

Can you expand on this my good man?



Regards.

As the second paragraph says both parties should do it right and put it in writing

The comment "he verbally" does not stand up in court plus I was putting the other side of the coin where as well as bad tradesman there is bad customers as well . yep the business model is questionable but if thats the case it should never have went any further so lesson learned.

Don't get me wrong I was not having a pop at the OP and you can bet your boots the next time they get work they will get it documented and yes I get irritated by the "Well I could have done it cheaper" comments because to me thats a nonsense because if you get 3 quotes and you pick the cheapest there will always be someone who will say they could have done it cheaper

 

[VoltzElectrical]

OT, thanks for your input. I'm interested as to why you felt obligated to honour your quote for the discounted fan installation when you had already stipulated that your discounted price was dependent on your getting the distribution board change as part of the package, especially as there was nothing holding you to this as you have already stated you did not supply a written quotation?

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As the second paragraph says both parties should do it right and put it in writing

The comment "he verbally" does not stand up in court plus I was putting the other side of the coin where as well as bad tradesman there is bad customers as well . yep the business model is questionable but if thats the case it should never have went any further so lesson learned.

Don't get me wrong I was not having a pop at the OP and you can bet your boots the next time they get work they will get it documented and yes I get irritated by the "Well I could have done it cheaper" comments because to me thats a nonsense because if you get 3 quotes and you pick the cheapest there will always be someone who will say they could have done it cheaper

I hope that I haven't irritated you with an "I could have done it cheaper" comment. In this specific case, YES I damn well could have done it cheaper, and rightly so, because the price she has been given for the job is outrageous. I, and others on here would also definitely have done it cheaper, and WITHOUT cutting each others' throats either, or driving down prices.

As I have clearly quoted, 4 hours work @ £30 an hour is a fair and representative rate for a one man band providing all insurance, scheme membership etc.

can anyone really defend £20 to change a plug top for instance?

Thanks for the discussion

regards.

 

[oldtimer]

OT, thanks for your input. I'm interested as to why you felt obligated to honour your quote for the discounted fan installation when you had already stipulated that your discounted price was dependent on your getting the distribution board change as part of the package, especially as there was nothing holding you to this as you have already stated you did not supply a written quotation?

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I hope that I haven't irritated you with an "I could have done it cheaper" comment. In this specific case, YES I damn well could have done it cheaper, and rightly so, because the price she has been given for the job is outrageous. I, and others on here would also definitely have done it cheaper, and WITHOUT cutting each others' throats either, or driving down prices.

As I have clearly quoted, 4 hours work @ £30 an hour is a fair and representative rate for a one man band providing all insurance, scheme membership etc.

can anyone really defend £20 to change a plug top for instance?

Thanks for the discussion

regards.

Yep apologies for that the reason why I honored the quote was I verbally said I would knock something off the fan but omitted to put this on the written quote so 2 months later was I dont want the CU but I accept your quote for the fan So now I give 2 separate quotes with the proviso that if the 2 go ahead then the discount applies if not then the individual costs stands. I do the same with the letting agent I do work for plus if I am called out to say fix a cooker switch and the tenants reports the light switch is broken I call them and they agree the extra nominal cost for the switch as it saves a call out later so just trying to be fair with people but understand that there are a minority who want to try it on or get more than they paid for.

 

[Guitarist]

If the op asked her electrician to "do whatever needs doing, regardless of cost" then she has nothing to complain about. Personally, I talk to my clients before doing anything additional to any work already discussed. It's really hard for us to comment constructively, as we haven't seen what the electrician had to do with respect to each of the jobs, but op, you obviously don't feel that you got value for money.
My advice is to pay for the work carried out, but choose a different electrician next time, and not some firm who "sends his boys round" to do it.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

If the op asked her electrician to "do whatever needs doing, regardless of cost" then she has nothing to complain about. Personally, I talk to my clients before doing anything additional to any work already discussed. It's really hard for us to comment constructively, as we haven't seen what the electrician had to do with respect to each of the jobs, but op, you obviously don't feel that you got value for money.
My advice is to pay for the work carried out, but choose a different electrician next time, and not some firm who "sends his boys round" to do it.

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[Geordie Spark]

C'mon Geordie lad, ye'll need to be quicker than that:tongue3:

I was ........ honestly, I did post first but I got the "OOPS!!"message - again!! - so had to reload & re-post & while all that was going on you got in before me !!

 

[Luke1989]

If in doubt get a 2nd quote, he's a skilled tradesman that is doing a job and is charging accordingly

 

[telectrix]

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View attachment 20541

what's the relevance of a leeds council meeting got to do with this thread?