NEW BALL VALVE Cost me £80 Supplied and Fitted??

[slickbone]

Hi all,

I have a house on let and the tenants have said the toilet keeps filling and letting water run through. Through my estate agents that deal with my property, they sent out Crafton Maintenance who charged me £60 for the call out charge and supplied and fitted the Ball valve unit for £20.

Does anyone know if the the supply and fitment of the Ball Valve costs £20 because I think its steep! Looking online the part should cost around £10.

Also how long does it take to replace. I would have thought about 20 minutes.

Any comments welcome.

Cheers!

 

[townfanjon]

Do you know the exact ball valve they fitted or are you guessing ?
They all vary in price. I rushed into a plumbcenter one day last week ( not one where they know me ) and got ripped off at 18.90 + vat , I wasnt happy.

 

[Paulplumb]

Sounds A good price to me. Take cost of running a business out, parts, minus tax and wages and then it has to be guaranteed for 12 months. No doubt the letting agent have their fingers in the pie somewhere too. Not having a pop but out of curiosity slickbone how much do you think you should have paid?

 

[SimonG]

£80 supplied and fitted! That's cheap

Doesnt matter wether it took 5 minutes or an hour. There would have been a minimum labour charge.

£20 for the part is cheap. By the time you take off the 30% mark up and 20% vat its about there for a decent valve.

Just re read your post. The agent will have stuck some on.

 

[mfgs]

Sounds about right to me.

 

[slickbone]

Sounds about right to me.

Thanks for the prompt reply. Good to know it sounds about right. Thanks again! Cheers!

 

[kozak1968]

Get him round mine to fit a new one please!!!!

 

[gassafe]

Hi all,

I have a house on let and the tenants have said the toilet keeps filling and letting water run through. Through my estate agents that deal with my property, they sent out Crafton Maintenance who charged me £60 for the call out charge and supplied and fitted the Ball valve unit for £20.

Does anyone know if the the supply and fitment of the Ball Valve costs £20 because I think its steep! Looking online the part should cost around £10.

Also how long does it take to replace. I would have thought about 20 minutes.

Any comments welcome.

Cheers!

If you wanted you could have bought a new ball valve & float yourself & deliver it to the property for the plumber to install... But you didn't... I'm guessing you wouldn't know what valve to buy, so for a plumber who has the necessary part on the van & keep the van fully equipped I would call 20 pounds a bargain, he also has to order another one to replace that part!

I'm guessing if the plumber went away & had to charge for 2 visits or for the collection of the part you would not be happy either & you would expect him to keep a part on the van...

I don't see how anyone can complain at 80 pounds after they visit your home, fit parts & guarantee the work for 12 months

yes, it probably did take him 20 minutes... It would probably take you an hour.

 

[mfgs]

If you wanted you could have bought a new ball valve & float yourself & deliver it to the property for the plumber to install... But you didn't... I'm guessing you wouldn't know what valve to buy, so for a plumber who has the necessary part on the van & keep the van fully equipped I would call 20 pounds a bargain, he also has to order another one to replace that part!

I'm guessing if the plumber went away & had to charge for 2 visits or for the collection of the part you would not be happy either & you would expect him to keep a part on the van...

I don't see how anyone can complain at 80 pounds after they visit your home, fit parts & guarantee the work for 12 months

yes, it probably did take him 20 minutes... It would probably take you an hour.

I am pretty sure he was just asking a genuine question, no need to get so defensive.

 

[Alpha man]

£80, is that all?, you got off lightly?

 

[quality]

I think £80 was very reasonable

 

[stevetheplumber]

pimlico charge £120 per hour and charge up to 45 mins if the have to go and get parts at 90 a trip i would go and collect parts for every job

 

[Best]

I am a bit lost with this one! The complaint seems to be NOT the £60 call out, but that the supply and fitment of the ballvalve was £20 and that the online price for valve is about £10. Also that it is assumed to be a 20 minute job to fit.
Firstly I would say, ballvalves for toilets can be anything between about £6 to £20 cost price, depending on type. So a supply and fit charge of £20 is very fair.
Secondly, to say a 20 minute job is unfair as it can be much longer if any problems, plus a experienced engineer can work miracles due to experience and do the job much faster than an amateur. I wish I could do most cistern ballvalve replacements in 20 min.
I would be more worried about the call out fees, although in this case it is also very fair

 

[Riley]

One of those classic ideals. Either you do it or pay someone else to. I think the guys price is very fair. How much were you looking for the job I guess is probably more the question

 

[slickbone]

All,

Thanks for all the comments. I am a new landlord and I only came here to check if I wasn't being ripped off. The call out charge is not what I was complaining about, it was just the fitment and cost of the part. How can you expect me to know the cost when I'm new to all this...

Cheers