Quooker - Some people have too much money!

[Gavin John Hyde]

Installed a new socket on a ring today under the worktop to plug one of them Quooker hot water taps in for a customer.

She felt at £70 i was a bit expensive!! Says they used to use another electrician at there previous house and he rewired it all for £2500!!! I don't know what you can say to people like this... cowboys undercut you and do shoddy work with minimal testing and then when you charge what might be on the low end of the going rate get treated like you are the cowboy trying to extort them!

£70 covered the addition of a socket onto the ring and spending ages slowly and delicately removing a couple of kitchen wall tiles from the wall to chase the T&E and then replace tiles so it looks like it has never been touched without so much as cracking a single one! I even hoovered up behind me!

To top it off, As I am finishing her husband comes home and says his wife spent nearly £800 on this fancy tap that delivers hot water on demand! He thinks its a bit of a pointless gadget as they don't use the kettle as it is as they have a fancy coffee machine built into the kitchen unit that has dedicated water pipes.

Yet she moans at paying me a mere mortal £70 for a honest good bit of work! It always seems the richer people are or get the more they hate paying people and seem offended.
Its a strange world that these middle class folk live in.

Personally i do think these Quooker things are pointless and I would rather boil a kettle and have the £800 in the bank. Its all about appearances with people like this, its a talking point with friend s when visiting and a way to say aren't we successful! - no it says you got more money than sense...

I am off to boil my £9.99 kettle for a cup of tea....

 

[Pete999]

Installed a new socket on a ring today under the worktop to plug one of them Quooker hot water taps in for a customer.

She felt at £70 i was a bit expensive!! Says they used to use another electrician at there previous house and he rewired it all for £2500!!! I don't know what you can say to people like this... cowboys undercut you and do shoddy work with minimal testing and then when you charge what might be on the low end of the going rate get treated like you are the cowboy trying to extort them!

£70 covered the addition of a socket onto the ring and spending ages slowly and delicately removing a couple of kitchen wall tiles from the wall to chase the T&E and then replace tiles so it looks like it has never been touched without so much as cracking a single one! I even hoovered up behind me!

To top it off, As I am finishing her husband comes home and says his wife spent nearly £800 on this fancy tap that delivers hot water on demand! He thinks its a bit of a pointless gadget as they don't use the kettle as it is as they have a fancy coffee machine built into the kitchen unit that has dedicated water pipes.

Yet she moans at paying me a mere mortal £70 for a honest good bit of work! It always seems the richer people are or get the more they hate paying people and seem offended.
Its a strange world that these middle class folk live in.

Personally i do think these Quooker things are pointless and I would rather boil a kettle and have the £800 in the bank. Its all about appearances with people like this, its a talking point with friend s when visiting and a way to say aren't we successful! - no it says you got more money than sense...

I am off to boil my £9.99 kettle for a cup of tea....

Thats the reason they are rich Gavin, but if you quoted 70 note and they agreed can't see what the problem is, unless they are complete knobs.

 

[MJPD29]

Couldn't agree more people want everything done for nothing some people gave a complete laugh they think your doing it out of the goodness of your heart, not like your trying to make a living or anything....

 

[J.C.E]

seems too much work for 70swid to me

 

[The Ghost]

Says they used to use another electrician at there previous house and he rewired it all for £2500

Yeh 20 years ago.

 

[einstein]

more work usually results in a lower price per point

 

[Leesparkykent]

I've done basic rewires for that money and still made a good profit.

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

I've done basic rewires for that money and still made a good profit.

Their last house was a Grade 2 listed 4 bed townhouse in the posh part of Bath..... Given how pristine this house is and knowing the area they used to live, they must have gone really basic prior to selling and moving into the current house. as the new one is immaculate and like a show home. I only got the job through recommendation as their daughter goes to same yoga class as my girlfriend.

 

[123]

£70 sounds cheap.

They are probably the sort of folk who if you said you'd do it for free would have been looking something else done at the same cost whilst you where there.

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

£70 sounds cheap.

They are probably the sort of folk who if you said you'd do it for free would have been looking something else done at the same cost whilst you where there.

I only had to make a small chase about 30cms in length to go down below the worktop then ran in trunking to a single surface mounted socket in cupboard next to sink. just had to be careful to not crack tiles.. nice easy job apart from her stood there watching asking silly questions.

 

[buzzlightyear]

looking at the work you did i would estimated it from £125.00

 

[Deleted member 9648]

This and putting up light fittings. The amount of people who bleat over an hours labour charge to put up their B&Q abortion.
"How much?"....Oh MY GOD!...That's more than the light cost!!"

"Well put the feckin' thing up yourself then, and when you've ballsed it up and blown all the lights call me back and I'll charge you two hours"

 

[buzzlightyear]

Yet she moans at paying me a mere mortal £70 for a honest good bit of work!

next time you
quote for a job like that think about the insurance van. office paper. etc.. a**ing about
doing the job. think about a mechanic fixing a car at a garage.

 

[Wilko]

The reality (for me) is it's hard to cover costs to do such little jobs. And if a tile had broken what then?

 

[buzzlightyear]

some customers think a electrician's are like magician's . like tommy cooper .
put it in gust like that .

 

[123]

Dunno about others but I find it more profitable to do little jobs. But have to factor in travel and the unloading and reloading of the van. And that you need lots of them to fill a day.

 

[rolyberkin]

I don't mind small jobs but I don't think I could have unloaded my tools from the van and tidied up for £70, how you did the bit in the middle as well is amazing!

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

Dunno about others but I find it more profitable to do little jobs. But have to factor in travel and the unloading and reloading of the van. And that you need lots of them to fill a day.

within reason i agree with you as if you plan your work schedule you can do a couple of good paying small jobs per day. time loading the van is one downside especially if you have to put stuff in a van vault to keep tools safe from thieving idiots... also parking is possibly the biggest issue i face in Bath. Sometimes it is not possible to park as close as i would like.. so out comes the trolley to load up... thankfully in permit zones the council operate a tradesman permit that lets you park for only a couple of quid per day (if you can find a space) and the permit covers all zones. I just add this on to the cost in my t and c's... Its all good and well chasing the big jobs but when you break them down it sometimes pays to do lots of little ones as if you quote your day rate that you need to live then you are going to be up against cowboy joe down the pub who bodges everything and pays no tax, insurance or certificates who then quotes silly prices..

 

[freddo]

It often seems that the more effort that is put in, the less it is appreciated.

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

I don't mind small jobs but I don't think I could have unloaded my tools from the van and tidied up for £70, how you did the bit in the middle as well is amazing!

Materials were added to this £70 mind at screwfix prices!!. should have made that clear but didn't actually cost me anything apart from trunking as i have a nice stockpile from my previous employment that i kept when i left. over the 5 years i worked there my parents garage ended up filled to the brim with stuff that when i sorted it out i was amazed just how much twin and earth and for some reason light switches! i had in there.