combi to combi £800 fitted

[gaspastemania]

customers like to think there money has been well spent. stay longer, charge more and everyones happy.

sit in the van and have a siesta then pop back in later for a brew etc etc till 4 o clock then

 

[johnnyplumb]

I worked on the EAGA contract a couple of years back, I reckon for a straight combi swap, 4 hours is average, thats all on my own, no flushing, just drain down, cut off pipework, remove and fit new boiler then repipe, fill and test. If you are taking longer on price work you aint gonna earn any money, many a time I used to fit my next days boiler too and have the next day off.
I must say though that if i have a good price in for the job, I make it last the day.

thats the key words hear good price for the job & make it last

 

[johnnyplumb]

thats the key words hear good price for the job & make it last

when the price no good the jobs no good

 

[johnnyplumb]

£800 minus 20% tax etc. Leaves him £640, it is impossible to be doing for that. So it must be a con, either they are not Worcester or Vokera or price is wrong.

maybe the boilers fell of a lorry

 

[Halesowen1]

Thats nowadays as I work for myself and do now contract or subby work.
But you cannot be on a combi swap more than half a day when working for companies. I know guys who are doing combi swaps for firms now for as little as £120, and they reckon other firms are paying less.

 

[Halesowen1]

when the price no good the jobs no good

Not in my case, I rely on more work and good reviews from them, but you have to work to the price you have quoted, if you are not making much then you get a rush on, it doesnt mean its any worse than the next guy who is standing there scratching there bum and picking there nose half the day.

 

[gaspastemania]

when the price no good the jobs no good

It can be with some fitters ,but i have worked for companies where i have done boiler change and spent most of the day faffing about and yet its still same quality install as a 4 hour install.
Plumbing fitting is easy .

 

[Halesowen1]

I think we need a local to give him a call and see what the crack is.

 

[johnnyplumb]

Thats nowadays as I work for myself and do now contract or subby work.
But you cannot be on a combi swap more than half a day when working for companies. I know guys who are doing combi swaps for firms now for as little as £120, and they reckon other firms are paying less.

yeah, i know what you mean , a sign of the times i guess.

 

[quality]

lets not get out of the facts here. Some installers will change or swap as most folk call it a combi in 3 - 4 hours but where is the service they provide .
I value my customers I value my reputation I have an apprentice who is nearing 7 years (he is not an apprentice anymore)
I provide a service like most decent folk do who provide a valuable service
Combi swaps for 200 notes do not strike it for me

 

[Halesowen1]

I dont imagine many sole trader guys are gonna do them for £200, but offer that to a subby or full time guy and they would rip your arm off.

 

[gaspastemania]

I do straight swaps as a sub for min £250+ and not fussed if there for 4 hours or 8 but can still do them in 4 hours exact same quality as an 8 hour shift, if the firm was more organised would be up for two a day but they are a shambles at organisation.

Privately i would plod my way through it as would charge more to be honest .

 

[tamz]

You're right Kirk. There are a lot of guys who can do full installs in a day and leave a perfect job. I'm getting past that carry on now but as you say it is all about forward thinking.

There is also a lot of halfwits and house wreckers out there too.
It is a hard way to make a living.

£800 minus 20% tax etc. Leaves him £640, it is impossible to be doing for that. So it must be a con, either they are not Worcester or Vokera or price is wrong.

Vokera 25he band B from mr ch £510 including flue and clock. £25 for fittings still leaves £265 (£220 after tax). (Sabre (vokera) 25he band B £449 so around £270 after tax)

If he is vat registered it works out around £180 after tax with the vokera. Still an easy shift for a busy fool doing the bare minimum. Everything else is an extra and there will be extras on most.

 

[jase158]

On this case I notice that nearly all builders and kitchen fitters are gas safe registered these days, so imagine from that point of view, they shove it in, in a few hours, few of their mates helping and £200 is easy money to them.

 

[jase158]

And how often do you have like for like? maybe they turn around and say ooooh, we will have to move that due to regulations, It should be on the other wall.

 

[mitchellplumber]

Wether or not he is doing it in 3 hours, this price is crazy! He can't be cleaning the system. He wont afford a bottle of anti-freeze inhibitor. He must be laying on the extras once he's in. Advert text should probably read "prices starting from £800. With that profit, he's going to have a wee shock when the Gas course's come back around. Ouch!!

 

[SafeGasInstall]

it can be done if they shifting stolen boilers

 

[stevetheplumber]

takes me an hour to do the benchmark list

 

[SafeGasInstall]

takes me an hour to do the benchmark list

its only 1 page Steve ,wonder how many tees you can have while doing it

 

[PlumbBobBob]

just noticed in the ad that it says they are corgi registered engineers and there is a gas safe logo covering all angles i suppose.

 

[johnnyplumb]

if the property meets the exemption criteria for needing a HE boiler it is possible to fit an SE boiler in a swap over in 3-4 hrs so if you can buy a boiler for £400 odd, then yes it can, or if an HE is already in then how long would it take to sway a boiler for an exact same model? we used to do warranty work for various manufacturers and got 3.5hrs labour to change a boiler, ok you use the old flue hole and existing jig so again yes it can, obviously anything else needed gets more cash, how you do you sales pitch is up to you, this is how they do theirs, from the landline they must be in Bellshill area a few miles from me but i dont know them, nice free advert you are giving them by leaving the phone number in!!!!!!!!!!!!

just realised this, must delete part of phone numbers can't be giving free advert to the competition.

 

[Halesowen1]

No condense on old combi, so theres another £150 please madam.

 

[kirkgas]

£800 minus 20% tax etc. Leaves him £640, it is impossible to be doing for that. So it must be a con, either they are not Worcester or Vokera or price is wrong.

you take the 400 for the boiler off the 800 and get taxed at 20% of 400(less any other deductables he can claim) which leaves him what ever, if its enough for him, with some extras then fair play to him

 

[johnnyplumb]

dont think you can get an A rated boiler for £400, £650 nearer the mark

 

[Halesowen1]

Length of each pipe £20, few fittings £5, filling loop £7, Inhibitor £15, Condense £10. Cheapest Vokera £600 with flue. Leaves £143 minus 20% = £115. Thats no programmer and no logging the boiler on Gas Safe.
Cannot see it being done cheaper.

 

[AWheating]

dont forget cleaner 10-15 squid and min 2hours in the system before flushing NOT!

 

[tamz]

No inhibitor or cleanser. Pipes in the same order (west of scotland is vokera land so probably same everything, lift off on) at most half a dozen elbows and unions (£3) a couple of cuttings of pipe out the scrap bag (0.5kg ..£2). 3m of 3/4" overflow, 4 elbows an inch and half tee and a reducer to 3/4" ...£6 so £11 -15 tops for materials
Band B Vokera (still sold and legal up here) £510 leaves £265 minus 20% = £212.
Not a lot but beats sitting in the house watching Jeremy Kyle!

I don't agree with the pricing but if you are a one man band forced into working for yourself because there are no jobs about, then the money is better than what you are used to. Customer service will be bad to non existent.
People get what they pay for and the service and quality of work to suit but there are a helluva lot of people counting the coppers these days.

The good times are over for heating and they will never come back regardless of BG and the like still charging £3k for the same thing.
Most people know they are getting ripped off from them but they still choose to go there because they will always answer the phone and be there straight away if anything goes wrong.
The independent guy has to be very good and well recommended to get in with a shout with a decent price or be signed up as a credit broker :wink:

 

[johnnyplumb]

Maybe the boilers are HOT, not hot to the touch just HOT that they need to be shifted, if you know what i mean.

 

[kirkgas]

Maybe the boilers are HOT, not hot to the touch just HOT that they need to be shifted, if you know what i mean.

guys i am by no means the cowboys PR guy, but some of you aint listening, SE vokeras are available with a flue and clock over the counter for under £500 up here, and you can buy as many as you want, its all well and good, and having the customer base to only do full upgrades with vailliant/viessmann etc etc but some cant or wont pay £2500+ when their boiler breaks 4 weeks before santa comes

 

[Halesowen1]

If thats how they wanna go about it then good on them, not my idea of running a company but if it works for them, fair play.

 

[kirkgas]

as an aside to £800 for a combi swap, heres a question to those who dont mind answering it,

how much to fit a new combi?
there is a combi in, ground floor, good access, house is near you so no real travel issue (to balance out different area probs that you have parking etc), next to a sink for condensate pipe connection, no gas upgrade required, just a basic price and one of theose jobs where you see it say "ya dancer this will be easy peasy", "i need it done as cheap as you can mate i'm skint" minimal usual pipework alterations between worktop and boiler,

 

[kirkgas]

as an aside to £800 for a combi swap, heres a question to those who dont mind answering it,

how much to fit a new combi?
there is a combi in, ground floor, good access, house is near you so no real travel issue (to balance out different area probs that you have parking etc), next to a sink for condensate pipe connection, no gas upgrade required, just a basic price and one of theose jobs where you see it say "ya dancer this will be easy peasy", "i need it done as cheap as you can mate i'm skint (dont care what goes in)" minimal usual pipework alterations between worktop and boiler,

 

[tamz]

Cash?

 

[kirkgas]

Cash?

trust you, ok cash

 

[tamz]

Do i know you?