any boiler serviced for £29.99

[johnnyplumb]

this advert is in our local paper

any boiler service for £29.99 + vat
times are hard, as we all know, but he must be desperate.

it's people like this, that are driving prices down imo

 

[GQuigley67]

for a limited time only....better than going to groupon i guess

 

[nysk2008]

jeez thats cheap. but then again in my opinion we can all do cheap installs but it will look like cr**

 

[tamz]

I saw one the other day 730 + vat for a regular - combi swap. Absolute madness

 

[SimonG]

Start booking them in at 45 + vat and then sub it to him in to do for 30 + vat. 15 + vat for a bit of organisation

 

[jtsplumbing]

He can come and do mine for that price, just another get your foot in the door con, then find lots of things wrong with boiler !

 

[dave1]

How does £30 plus vat work out, time driving, diesel, labour, they going to actually strip and service a boiler for that?

 

[stevetheplumber]

How does £30 plus vat work out, time driving, diesel, labour, they going to actually strip and service a boiler for that?

no theyll turn up and stick a fga in it or do bp and gas rate

 

[johnnyplumb]

i know that advert costs £150, so he's not gonna make any money from £30 services, not directly anyway.
if he picks up a few boiler changes though, maybe by I.D ing a few boilers while servicing, then some money can be made.

 

[Syty]

they must cut corners.

I know one place where Engineer does 4 flats: 4 landlord certs with cookers and boilers plus 4 boiler services (8 years old ones) and he does it all in less than 3 hours.

 

[ambrosia]

notice he said any boiler, do a proper service on a new vaillant or worcester and youre meant to replace the gaskets, thats a £10 alone

 

[mfgs]

You only need to strip a worcester if the fan pressure it wrong though, which is very rare.

 

[Backboiler]

Ring him and tell him you are a letting agent who noticed his ad in the paper. Tell him you have 152 properties of which 148 of them have BBU's and fires. You realise these are difficult appliances to service but you are looking for a small discount for doing the lot!!

 

[Dannypipe]

He'd probably bite you arm off. He's clearly gonna cut corners, so why wouldn't he on a BBU!

 

[Halesowen1]

If he gets 30 or 40 of these booked in each week after a bit of advertising then great for him, £1200 a week and a bad job is it??
Nobody should ever be on a servoce for longer than 30 mins and thats very generous, otherwise you are charging to much and are trying to justify the fee.

 

[Halesowen1]

799 + vat is about £960, there is an easy £350 or more to be made there for a easy days work, is that not enough for you each day??

 

[GQuigley67]

in all fairness a £799 boiler install is a B rated banger probably

 

[Guest123]

He'll turn up, part carry out his service and do a BG and condemn the boiler as unsafe or say it's too difficult and costly to get parts for it. "Missus, ya need a new boiler and I can supply and install one for £xxxxx" The guy's VAT registered so he's above the 70k thresh hold so he's not daft, he knows what he's doing. Get in, condemn boiler, get paid for new boiler installation. Simples!

 

[jase158]

hmmm maybe the bigger picture needs to be seen here,

6 months of Gas boiler servicing at this price, 2-3 boiler services a day over 5 days = £450 a week.

he can also do other jobs between then. Now he has a list of people for next year that he can send a letter or call. Your boiler service is now due the total cost is £90 + vat.

1. how many people will check the price or even have kept receipt from previous year?
2. most people like to keep things the same so will just use him again as they will only remember that they used him before and he was good.

 

[Halesowen1]

Speculate to accumulate, but some need to realise, not everything thats cheaper than their price means its rubbish, rough or a con. It means they are getting the work and you aint.
I have had this argument a milion times on here, if I do a boiler change in a day I will guarantee my work against anybody on here who takes longer. It dont make me rough because I am quicker, it means I am off onto my next job while you are trying to justify your expensive prices.

 

[Halesowen1]

This was finished today took 2 days, orignal boiler in kitchen below, run new 28mm gas and fit new Worcester combi. Pipes straight, clipped, no runs on solder. Quick does not mean rough.

 

[REDSAW]

Nobody should ever be on a servoce for longer than 30 mins and thats very generous, otherwise you are charging to much and are trying to justify the fee.

i must be doing it all wrong!! takes me 15mins to find, check the meter and do let-by, sp, wp and gas rate.
i take at least an hour cause thats what i book out for..then try and tout some business.

 

[GQuigley67]

no one is saying quick is rough, most of us on here are quick at our jobs, for £799 i wouldnt be able to make much of a profit once i bought boiler and materials i would be just as well working for someone on pricework with less hassle, because it says from £799 doesn't mean that's what he charges, once you add on all the extras.

 

[Guest123]

Halesowen1, you don't have to justify what you do. You do a good job, do it quickly and no justification needed. It's everyone to their own, I don't touch gas these days, only bathrooms and I take pride in my abilities too.

 

[hammers4spanner]

i know someone who does £15 for landlord cert ,
The argument goes to what does a modern condensing boiler need on a service if your fga readings are bang on?

You can also pick an alpha combi up with vat for about £550 so easy money to install a straight swap combi at a lower rate !

 

[tamz]

i must be doing it all wrong!! takes me 15mins to find, check the meter and do let-by, sp, wp and gas rate.
i take at least an hour cause thats what i book out for..then try and tout some business.

You don't "need" to do a tightness test on a service.

i know someone who does £15 for landlord cert

He'll go far :lol:

Pipes straight, clipped, no runs on solder.

I hate Talon clips, they are good clips but oh, they are ugly :wink_smile:

 

[PowerFlusher2]

But did you pick up that bit of rubbish between the pipes to the left of the black toolbox before you left?

 

[Halesowen1]

But did you pick up that bit of rubbish between the pipes to the left of the black toolbox before you left?

Yes and I even put the casing on the boiler.

 

[julesverne]

i dont have a problem with competition and pricing if your doing a proper job. but this is how i see it.
1. if your prices are low custs will always want that low price.
2. low prices might mean more work but it also means you have to work 2 , 3 , 4 times harder than a guy who's doing 1 service at 2 ,3,4 times the price
3. charging low prices means you will prob mean working life will be a lot longer. i aint working past 60 yrs old less if possible.
4.you'll drive yourself into the ground.
5. why spend all those years training to charge peanuts.
6. i might be a plumber and gas engineer but i'm also a business man not a charity and the name of the game is to make money. i have kids wife mortgage etc. profit isnt a dirty word.
i charge £60.00 an hour labour even more out of hours and look to make a min £600 clear on a straight swap boiler change with powerflushing charged extra. i might not get loads of boilers swaps but i get enough to be comfortable and do plenty repairs and servicing.

i aint the busiest in the world in these hard times but im doing alright but when this slump does eventually end my prices will be same bar inflationary pressures. so my custs wont be expecting cheap prices. i get a lot of repeat business and recommendations.

I think if your confident in your own abilities then charge what you want

 

[dave1]

A great post very good points made.

 

[Barry98]

View attachment 6993

This was finished today took 2 days, orignal boiler in kitchen below, run new 28mm gas and fit new Worcester combi. Pipes straight, clipped, no runs on solder. Quick does not mean rough.

Isnt tha mounted on combustible material ? Lol

 

[Halesowen1]

Supalux sheet, but its not needed. Most manufacturers now specify its OK.

 

[Halesowen1]

i dont have a problem with competition and pricing if your doing a proper job. but this is how i see it.
1. if your prices are low custs will always want that low price.
2. low prices might mean more work but it also means you have to work 2 , 3 , 4 times harder than a guy who's doing 1 service at 2 ,3,4 times the price
3. charging low prices means you will prob mean working life will be a lot longer. i aint working past 60 yrs old less if possible.
4.you'll drive yourself into the ground.
5. why spend all those years training to charge peanuts.
6. i might be a plumber and gas engineer but i'm also a business man not a charity and the name of the game is to make money. i have kids wife mortgage etc. profit isnt a dirty word.
i charge £60.00 an hour labour even more out of hours and look to make a min £600 clear on a straight swap boiler change with powerflushing charged extra. i might not get loads of boilers swaps but i get enough to be comfortable and do plenty repairs and servicing.

i aint the busiest in the world in these hard times but im doing alright but when this slump does eventually end my prices will be same bar inflationary pressures. so my custs wont be expecting cheap prices. i get a lot of repeat business and recommendations.

I think if your confident in your own abilities then charge what you want

This maybe why you aint busy, if you charge less or advertise at a lower price you will get more work. Then you can charge £40 per hour but be working 40 hours a week instead of 10 or 20. Just a thought.

 

[julesverne]

This maybe why you aint busy, if you charge less or advertise at a lower price you will get more work. Then you can charge £40 per hour but be working 40 hours a week instead of 10 or 20. Just a thought.

.

with the greatest of respect i dont think you have understood the point i am trying to make.

whats the point of being busy if your making peanuts or just surviving. i would say i'm doing on average 30 hours a week plumbing excluding all the other crap we have to do.

and just to clear things up it was in no way intended at anyone directly just my thoughts . i do a fair bit out of hours work so i can on a bad week work 10-20 in week and still clear a decent whack.

example last saturday hebden bridge flooded. cust calls wanted all gas checking as meter had been under 8 ft of water in the cellar. checked everything out all ok after checking water heater, cooker,meter etc( didnt really expect any problems) then property either side asked to me do same whilst i was there. i told em all price all custs happy as insurance were paying 5 hours later 600 quid richer.

 

[cdodds2004]

i charge what i want to charge, and i think my customers are happy. im not the cheapest and probaly not the best, but im curtious, prompt and genuine, i have only been on my own coming up 2 years and my work is building up slowly but surely! word of mouth is quite simply the best form of advertising as these people want you first and worry about your price second!