Cheap cooker fitting jobs

[kasser]

Am I the only one who keeps getting asked to fit cookers for pennies?

I get the impression they think it's just sticking the rubber hose into the bayonet and you're done.
One of these days, sooner rather than later, I'll run out of patience and will end up telling them to do it themselves if they're not prepared to pay right.

 

[KingDoey]

How much is pennies?

Find a lot of people these days want a champagne job on lemonade prices...

 

[kasser]

Low enough to be insulting to a GSR, high enough for a DIY guy who'll probably connect the rubber hose and f* off.

 

[Stu-B]

I get the old “I’ve had a cheaper quote so if you can do it for the same then I’ll use you”

My reply is along the lines of “well best advice there is go with the cheaper quote then... bye”

 

[Allgoode]

I don't know your pricing but as above if they want to pay peanuts then they can get some other monkey to do it for them or do it themselves.

I've had it with servicing boiler & fires along with CP12 certification.

I try to have a fair price for a good safe job & unless there is a very compelling reason to go "cheap" then sorry, find someone else.

Cheers,

Andy

 

[kasser]

I get the old “I’ve had a cheaper quote so if you can do it for the same then I’ll use you”

My reply is along the lines of “well best advice there is go with the cheaper quote then... bye”

That's what I say as well. I don't want this sort of customer.

My price was once £5 cheaper than another but it was an estimate as I hadn't seen the job. The guy told me if I can confirm my price he'll go with me. I told him to go with the other.

Another had not even heard of Gas Safe. I started explaining to him why my price was so much higher than the cheap quote he's had (and he was still ringing around for a cheaper one) then decided it wasn't worth all this.

 

[Scott_D]

People think £20 cash in your pocket is a good payment.
They don’t realise you would struggle to earn £80 a day at that rate and then have to deduct fuel, materials and overheads

 

[AMGasServices]

The problem I see is people want a job doing cheap it necessarily may not be right or safe.

For example a chap installed a hob on a flexible hose it did the job until a year down the line there was a gas leak from the hose the customer was capped off by NGN. They had to pay for an uncapped, test and trace the leak. Also sort the hob out too. Not to mention all the grief too (time of work etc..)

 

[Burger]

Why is it customers want engineers to undercut each other? I know the norm is to obtain 3 quotes, but saying someone is £5 cheaper or whatever I see no logic in. If they want to dice around with gas or incompetence, maybe that’s the message we should be sending. Funny how engineers get a bad write up, but very rarely get “use him, knows what he’s talking about”.

 

[kasser]

I forgot to mention as well that these people want the job done asap the same day.
Got a call once on a Sat at 7pm in winter to find a gas leak 10 miles away. They had spotted the leak early in the day but only called me later!

Another was a Sunday afternoon, boiler didn't work when he came back from holiday that morning. So waited all day to call me. I told him to wait even more till Tuesday, Monday being bank holiday!

The prices for LL certs really bother me. This is where it's compulsory, so why are we driving down the price?

People are prepared to pay hundreds of pounds to solicitors and barristers, on pet insurance, pets, thousands for spanking new kitchens, but when it comes to fitting/servicing a gas appliance safely so as to keep them safe, they're prepared to cut corners. I could even feel the disgust in a guy's voice on the phone when I told him my price.

Let them dice around with gas indeed.

 

[Millsy 82]

It's not just plumbing and gas work though. You say they will pay hundreds for solicitors but people would still phone around and get the cheapest. It's just the way it is, thing to do is give them your price if they query it then dont worry just move on to the next customer.

We live in an age where large companies RIP off loyalty so people have no loyalty anymore. Unfortunately it's just the way now nothings going to change that so dont lose sleep over it. If they pay someone £20 cash and then have pay hundreds further down the line then it's their own fault, just be nice and say sorry I cant help you then when you see their house is now a pile of rubble laugh and carry on.

 

[Jerry]

£85+VAT if no parts are required.
In Buckinghamshire (close to London prices)
I guess I win about 70% of calls to connect a cooker.
People do sometimes get in a huff and say they "have to check with their partner".
Others are just happy a GS engineer has picked up the phone.....

 

[Deleted member 32524]

If you want to make a living and pay insurance, sit your gas exams AGAIN? Need to be charging yourelf out at a decent rate. Otherwise better of getting a job and earn the same or more

 

[townfanjon]

Cooker jobs etc , give them a price !!
Its up to them.

 

[firemant]

Cooker jobs etc , give them a price !!
Its up to them.

Exactly.

Why does everyone take it so personally. I suspect these comments appear regularly on every different trade forum.

It is our job as business owners or self employed to maximise income and minimise expenditure.

But it as also the job of homeowners and family providers to maximise their income and minimise their expenditure.

Would you pay £600 a day for a decorator, or carpenter. ?

I assume you all pay Wolesley prices for everything, and do not demean yourself by negotiating terms? God forbid that you go to Screwfix.

Why would homeowners not be expected to ask about a price before committing. ?, and they are used to some providers offering "discounts". Give a price, stick to your guns. If you feel neccesary, explain your reasons for your charge being so much more than the other guy. Who knows, when something is explained properly, they may well see the point and engage you.

The point is that they are often actually telling you that they want you. You just now have to agree a price. Sometimes you lose, sometimes you win. But

 

[Jerry]

I have a standard reply when I am asked if the quote can be made any cheaper:
"Yes! Would you like me to drop the quality of the materials or the standard of the workmanship?"
That has got me a few faces with mouths like a cuts butt hole...

 

[kasser]

I stick to my prices which are not excessive and as a result I don't get these cheap cooker jobs. It doesn't bother me too much as I wouldn't want these sort of customers in the first place. But it shows that they do end up getting the job done for the price they're after.

Yes, perhaps they need educating a bit. It's easy to see from their point of view that all you need to do is to connect that rubber hose and job done. Unless you're a GSR, how are you supposed to know what goes on? Then again, maybe they're not interested to know and just want to get the job done...

 

[Riley]

But this once again comes down to the complete lack of presence by Gas Safe, one week a year they advertise themselves and the rest of the time I still get asked if I’m Corgi. Says it all

 

[Scott_D]

Do you think there should be a guide price and list of tests/checks that should be completed for standard jobs such as boiler service, fitting a cooker, safety checks.
Set out by gas safe and available for the public

 

[Riley]

Don’t know how you can have a guide price as prices vary up and down the country but to have something to show a customer and say will your other fitter be doing this. This is why there is a cost and my trained skill required

 

[firemant]

Why is it customers want engineers to undercut each other? I know the norm is to obtain 3 quotes, but saying someone is £5 cheaper or whatever I see no logic in. If they want to dice around with gas or incompetence, maybe that’s the message we should be sending. Funny how engineers get a bad write up, but very rarely get “use him, knows what he’s talking about”.

Why is the £5 cheaper guy necessarily dangerous. ?

 

[firemant]

Don’t know how you can have a guide price as prices vary up and down the country but to have something to show a customer and say will your other fitter be doing this. This is why there is a cost and my trained skill required

To be honest, it is down to how you run YOUR business. I am employed now, but I had every job set up on my PC. My quote specified what was included, and sometimes what was not. Heating jobs carried a list of options with prices: the client struck out yes or no. It also carried the price of that option if it was deemed required during the course of the works.

The forms were adapted over time, reacting to real life scenarios- such as the first time an apparently okay cylinder split while I was working on it.

 

[firemant]

But this once again comes down to the complete lack of presence by Gas Safe, one week a year they advertise themselves and the rest of the time I still get asked if I’m Corgi. Says it all

Again, it is down to us. Taxi drivers wear their badge. We should automatically show it to punters - they will get the message eventually.

 

[Riley]

But they don’t care mate. I have it round my neck on a lanyard and the badge twice on my work shirts and it’s still corgi this corgi that. I have been asked for my ID once in all the time I’ve been doing this and that was for ID not to see if I was qualified. Yes we should be promoting GS but when they do nothing to promote themselves you lose interest if I’m honest. We approached Gas Safe to have an interest in what we are doing on this site. Contacted their social media and on line expert and we received nothing. Now if that’s not showing interest other than when money is involved I don’t know what is

 

[Burger]

Why is the £5 cheaper guy necessarily dangerous. ?

I didn’t say he was. It was more if the customer wanted to do it themselves or have a friend do it. Like has been said, and I have it said to me, it’s just plugging the hose in isn’t it? When I say “no it’s a bit more than that” i get told it’s a load of bollards and health and safety gone mad.

 

[kasser]

Do you think there should be a guide price and list of tests/checks that should be completed for standard jobs such as boiler service, fitting a cooker, safety checks.
Set out by gas safe and available for the public

That's a good idea but when people still think it's Corgi as Riley said, you now want to confuse them with a list of checks?

To be fair, it's customers who have their head in the sand: the Gas Safe Register logo is on all these vans. When was the last time Joe Public saw the Corgi logo?

 

[kasser]

I didn’t say he was. It was more if the customer wanted to do it themselves or have a friend do it. Like has been said, and I have it said to me, it’s just plugging the hose in isn’t it? When I say “no it’s a bit more than that” i get told it’s a load of bollards and health and safety gone mad.

That's the bit I don't understand. If they think it's just plugging the hose, why do they want to pay someone to do it?

 

[Burger]

That's a good idea but when people still think it's Corgi as Riley said, you now want to confuse them with a list of checks?

To be fair, it's customers who have their head in the sand: the Gas Safe Register logo is on all these vans. When was the last time Joe Public saw the Corgi logo?

Probably not all that long ago, the thing is Corgi still exist as a technical services and home plan -I get mail off them trying to sell me their cover.
Best value boiler cover & insurance

 

[Burger]

That's the bit I don't understand. If they think it's just plugging the hose, why do they want to pay someone to do it?

Dunno.

 

[Steve weightman]

I just tell go on connect if up but will you really know if you've left a gas leak and is it worth it for safeties sake

 

[billski]

I have the same calls all the time. Now I just tell them its £65 for the first hour plus the cost of a new hose. If it goes over an hour it's £50 per hour after that plus any extra materials. I'd say 7 out of 10 go for it.
On another not I fitted a brand new Zanussi cooker a couple of weeks ago and the safety shut off valve didn't work when the lid was shut down. I id'd it and disconnected as you would. Zanussi and the supplier have refused to replace it and have suggested it was installed incorrectly! The elderly client hasn't had a cooker for 2 weeks and there is no number to contact Zanussi direct. I see the review rating for them is 0.8 out of 10 on a 168 reviews,9 so avoid them!

 

[billski]

I have the same calls all the time. Now I just tell them its £65 for the first hour plus the cost of a new hose. If it goes over an hour it's £50 per hour after that plus any extra materials. I'd say 7 out of 10 go for it.
On another not I fitted a brand new Zanussi cooker a couple of weeks ago and the safety shut off valve didn't work when the lid was shut down. I id'd it and disconnected as you would. Zanussi and the supplier have refused to replace it and have suggested it was installed incorrectly! The elderly client hasn't had a cooker for 2 weeks and there is no number to contact Zanussi direct. I see the review rating for them is 0.8 out of 10 on a 168 reviews, so avoid them!

 

[Captain.rick]

People think £20 cash in your pocket is a good payment.
They don’t realise you would struggle to earn £80 a day at that rate and then have to deduct fuel, materials and overheads

I did a boiler service (ideal vogue combi) for a family friend. As her husband just died of the big C I felt sorry for her so did it half price at £30. When she asked (again) at the end and I told her, her response was "blimey £30 for an hours work, I'm in the wrong job!"
The nicer you are the less you are thought of now days

 

[Captain.rick]

People think £20 cash in your pocket is a good payment.
They don’t realise you would struggle to earn £80 a day at that rate and then have to deduct fuel, materials and overheads

I did a boiler service (ideal vogue combi) for a family friend. As her husband just died of the big C I felt sorry for her so did it half price at £30. When she asked (again) at the end and I told her, her response was "blimey £30 for an hours work, I'm in the wrong job!"
The nicer you are the less you are thought of now days

 

[Scott_D]

I did a boiler service (ideal vogue combi) for a family friend. As her husband just died of the big C I felt sorry for her so did it half price at £30. When she asked (again) at the end and I told her, her response was "blimey £30 for an hours work, I'm in the wrong job!"
The nicer you are the less you are thought of now days

You cant win sometimes, best not working for friends/not immediate family