Are some of our brethren authoring our own downfall?

[Keefy]

When are they ever going to learn that cheap tenders and cheap quotes bring trouble - for everyone!?

 

[peteheat]

I've lost work because of being "too dear" but feck that, 'tis cheaper to leave the van sitting there instead of working for nothing.
The cash/barter market is rife over here at the moment.

Very true, one part of the problem in both Ireland and the UK are big operators (mainly accountants and chancers) taking on contracts because they know they can manipulate the amounts they pay to the tradesmen who actually do the work.

Mutha I take it you don't like the rates offered by the Bord Gais (Irish version of B.G.) contractors?

 

[peteheat]

When are they ever going to learn that cheap tenders and cheap quotes bring trouble - for everyone!?

They are operating in an area where they don't have any of the skills required to actually do the work but they can make obvious loss making tender prices appear good by referring to the "Group Turnover"

We know what is needed to do the job properly, we also know that turnover is vanity, profit is sanity.

How many stories like Connaught must be reported by the newspapers before the people who finance them (workers pension schemes included) work out that in the service industry Small is Beautiful, Small = a business that can be well managed, Small is a business model that can actually deliver the service as promised?

 

[Mutha]

Very true, one part of the problem in both Ireland and the UK are big operators (mainly accountants and chancers) taking on contracts because they know they can manipulate the amounts they pay to the tradesmen who actually do the work.

Mutha I take it you don't like the rates offered by the Bord Gais (Irish version of B.G.) contractors?

I do not but even after explaining the reason why I'm double the price is that my service takes twice/thrice as long, it still don't gel.
Especially when the customer is strapped for money.

 

[peteheat]

I do not but even after explaining the reason why I'm double the price is that my service takes twice/thrice as long, it still don't gel.
Especially when the customer is strapped for money.

I'm not so sure everyone is strapped for cash, why should any consumer believe that Bord Gais would be a party to what amounts to slave labour?

They are not paying the men enough to spend the time needed to do the job properly.

Give it a month and most of them will be laid off with the remainder lucky to get three days a week, the consumers don't realise the person they
think is from Bord Gais is actually the sub contractor of a sub contractor and is getting the lowest share of the cost of their job but all the responsibilities
and business overheads .

The people responsible for ensuring an explosive substance entering their home is safe is also the lowest paid out of tthe amount they pay for the service
contracts.

Any guts and the energy regulator would have Bord Gais in the courts for operating a monopoly.

 

[Mutha]

Agreed, if you get ten service/breakdowns to do in a day, are paid a small amount to do it there is only one way it's going to happen.

I frequently jump on my soap box about the terminology we use over here regarding the work we do (options, procedure, quality gear,
registered gas/oil, time served, insured plumbers) to customers and get back the "but we'll be too dear!"

Ok, for a time some of us might be until the general public gets so used to hearing it that they get wary (I hope) of the person who does not.

The media is doing it for years, why can't we.

Today I condemned a system while the client swore, glowered at me and then conceded that I may a grumpy old b****x but would not
tell him otherwise to make a few pound.

Then again sometimes I think maybe a plumbers utopia is what I'm after.

 

[peteheat]

I know the feeling, suddenly we become the enemy nothing about saving themselves from being subjected to excess of C0 or the house being blown up.

Of course that may never happen if you don't test for leaks, just give the boiler a quick wipe and call it serviced, appears very few understand that buildings do move over time albeit very slightly, renovations even decorating can cause pipes to be put under strain or a child banging a toy against a pipe can cause that slight leak.

As for the ten services a day RGII should be monitoring those who submit that many certs, possible in an apartment block or a street where you walk from house to house if everything works to plan but if traveling (driving) is involved they need to get real and question where was the time traffic even a short lunch break found when servicing all these boilers?

 

[firemant]

£40 for first hour for existing customers, diagnose and give a cost for repair without disclosing what the repair is, new customers are £20 more for first hour, get paid the fee at first visit, that way if they trawl the internet for prices and decide not to have the repair, you got paid for the hour you were there.

Why are you charging new clients 50% less than existing, or am I missing something?

 

[SimonG]

Why are you charging new clients 50% less than existing, or am I missing something?

Your missing that an existing customer gets a 33% discount for loyalty.

 

[peteheat]

Why are you charging new clients 50% less than existing, or am I missing something?

Also I would expect the existing client / customer has already displayed their trust in him and are less likely to be shopping for the cheapest they can get regardless of the quality of the service.

Sadly there are many consumers who appear to buy on the basis of "Never mind the quality, feel the width".

Besides we all like to be appreciated by those who provide us with goods or services, don't forget the new customer can also benefit when they buy the service again.

It is very easy to offer "New Customers" a discount but the thinking person is left asking themselves "Have I just subsidised his new customers"?

 

[Derek Hardman]

Why are you charging new clients 50% less than existing, or am I missing something?

It isn't 50% cheaper, its 33% as said, I treat my regular customers to better rates, e.g., they receive £20 discount on servicing if the appliance/s are serviced annually, if they miss the annual service the £20 goes back on, new customers pay more because they are often out of the servicing areas we have planned for any particular day, the chances are it has not been serviced for a while and therefore involves more cleaning, it won't work for everybody, but given that we can usually select around 12 customers in one village/small town on any given day, we can offer a discount because the jobs are all in the same area and have been serviced annually so travel is minimal and the appliances are not bad because they have been done annually, therefore saving time and money, but you need a large customer database to do this.

 

[firemant]

£40 for first hour for existing customers, diagnose and give a cost for repair without disclosing what the repair is, new customers are £20 more for first hour, get paid the fee at first visit, that way if they trawl the internet for prices and decide not to have the repair, you got paid for the hour you were there. Sorry, I missed the word "more"!

 

[Derek Hardman]

Lol, that sounds like some customers, missing a word! Like AFTER 8am, PLUS vat, etc

 

[Keefy]

£40 for first hour for existing customers, diagnose and give a cost for repair without disclosing what the repair is, new customers are £20 more for first hour, get paid the fee at first visit, that way if they trawl the internet for prices and decide not to have the repair, you got paid for the hour you were there. Sorry, I missed the word "more"!

How do you deal with the queston; "Which bit needs repairing?"