Shower valve broke today, could not turn the blasted thing off, called a plumber out, new valve and new dial ONLY.............how much????.................................................

£240!!!

Faint.....thud.....

oh tell me about it our last bill was £4572 plus VAT!!

for some reason that figure has stuck in my head. Perhaps becasue it was such a RIP OFF me thinks

I was amazed as I called out a chap tp fix my dishwasher.

He came out the next day on time and stayed for half an hour completed cleaned it all out and it is working perfectly !

All for a charge of £20 ! Now that is what I call good service at a good price !! :)

If I had called Hotpoint out I dread to think what it would have cost !

I want to retrain as a Plumber as they are never short of work and never short of a bob or two !

Lucy

ditto to the re-training it takes 2 years and they only do minimal hours as study......! For an average of £80 + VAT (of course) per labour hour (or part of) here in Surrey!

Do you have to wear those silly boiler suits though and learn how to stand there going, 'Tut tut tut, mmm look likes your ball cock has gone up the swany' !! :)

Do you ever watch those watchdog type programmes where you see all the scams these tradesmen use ?
I hate having to call one out and make sure I always go on recommendations now
Lel

A work colleague of mine (female) tried to get on a Plumbing Course............ they were all full. Hardly surprising when you hear about their charges

liberty:)

i needed a new motor in my washing machine,(i do about 3 loads a day)it had totally burnt out,im there like"yeah pull the other one mate"when he showed me the motor it was dripping it had burnt that bad,he replaced it and spent about an hour(gave him a cuppa) and he only charged £35.
a lot cheaper than if my hubby had his way "get a new one"
mel:)

last year my washing machine broke down.The lad who came out to mend it was also a dog addict, and we still had the pups so he was completely ga ga over them.when he had finished the job i asked him how much i owed him and he said nothing cos he'd already done the banking for the day, i was his last call, and he was leaving the job that day.I was very sceptical but happy at getting a freebie for once:)don't worry it's about the only thing i have ever got for free in my life!!

Theres a two yr waiting list to get into college as a plumber in Grimsby now I know why!!

i had a burst pipe and got an emergency plumber....cost £250 and then he had the nerve to ask me out on a date!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ah!! but would the price have come down if you'd gone;-)
Anne

hmmmmmm plumbers....... sore point here at the moment....

Friday night, my housemate notices a lil red light on teh boiler.....it says 'see user guide'........ho hum, um we dont have a user guide.
Search, and fail to find one online....so saturday morning, call out the emergency repairs lot from the council, unbelievable, a chap from the councils maintenence contractors shows up literallly seconds after we put teh phone down.
He looks at it, sucks his teeth, ums, ahhs, sucks his teeth some more, stands on my washing machine to poke an prod it, goes outside to ring various mates, comes back in, pokes it some more, rings his boss.......because 'i dont know where the reset button is'........and it transpires, neither does his boss, his mate, his brother, his brothers friend, his brothers friends girlfriends dad, or any other bugger in the North West.
"Someone will be out on monday'"......ooooooookay. So, 8.30 am im up er not bright an definately NOT bushy tailed, waiting for the guy to show up.....which he finally does, AT HALF 6!.......this is the chap who knows what the alledged problem is......and has had my phone number on his records for 2 and a half days. Turns up, presses the reset button (there is ONE guy who knows where it is, its him!) and leaves, approx ten seconds in my house.

Now, what am i whinging about u think???????

ITS NOT BLOODY FIXED............well, it is, if you count having to climb up on the worktops every half hour to press the sodding reset button, because its died again.........and, call me picky, but im pretty certain that having to press the reset button umpteen times a day does NOT qualify my boiler as being in good working order...i personally think its a sign that something BIGGER is going to go wrong, soon!

Ill ring them in the morning.....possibly by summer 2005 i wil have heating and hot water..........

Anyone want to hear how it took 3 weeks to get a window measured and replaced?

Thought not,

Em

That's cheap, honestly

Yea at the moment trades men are in short supply i think its because the younger gen are going into other things like computers ect..
i have a flooring shop and there are very few good fitters in the uk .and for good ones you have to pay alot more. our current fitters are on £150min charge a day can go up alot more.they simply can charge what they like because theres hardly any compition . can easy get someone who can fit for 100 a day but im not willing to have customers upset , and shouting at me:D
people always shop around for the best quote and thats fine by all means but they have to rember to take into consideration the standard of fitting im sure the same goes for plumbers , we get alot of work threw other people who recommend us . so mabe its worth asking freinds/family when you need something done:)

one woman i was talking to paid 350 just to put a shower in .i belive you should be getting excellent service for your money mabe its worth ringing and telling them that your dissapointed with the service.id be careful with wording thought ive found if your nicer to someone they will be more willing to help even go out there way to mke up for it then if your shouting ..
when i was young i worked in a phone center ,people got sick of the ear ache and just said anything to get rid of them.

i hope our young boys start learning the trade soon or we will all run out :)