Removing rubbish

[oldtimer]

Hi people. Please be gentle with me. My lady friend came home from holiday, turned the heating on and a rad split.
Explained to her on the phone how to isolate it and told her to contact the plumber who had worked for her before.
She told him that she wanted him to replace the split rad, plus four more which were the same age.
He gave her a price for the rads, plus trv's plus labour which she agreed to. When she got home from work, he had replaced the rads, taken the old rads and copper away, and left her to dispose of all the packaging etc.
Now I realise there is no scrap value in the packaging, but to pay out the best part of £900 and then have to load your car with cardboard etc and dispose of it, is a bit much.
Just wondered if this is normal practice.

 

[Rickster123]

No I'd say it's not the done thing but others will disagree. Shows a lack of respect to the customer in my opinion.

 

[Ermintrude]

No you dispose of all scrap and waste. Unless custard desperate to recycle card

 

[Aquablu]

We would take all the rubbish away with us too.

 

[Millsy 82]

If they have taken the scrap call them and tell them they have left something behind then give them all the rubbish.

 

[newcastle phill]

Id say either by agreement prior. Take it all or leave it all.

 

[townfanjon]

Mr old timer lol., yes they should have cleared the wrapping etc, they are taking the pi55 in my opinion. However, if this makes you feel a bit better , radiator prices for scrap, are quite simply crap. He actually did you a favor getting rid.

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

as plumbers we are not allowed in most tips,personally rads are hardly worth anything scrap value and there would be very little copper removed in replacing rads personally i feel you are being petty and if i where said plumber you would be getting the rads back and you would be disposing of them its no hardship to you putting the packaging in your recycling from most plumbers point of view getting rid of waste is a nightmare

 

[IDCHAPPY]

Always clean up at your airse, common courtesy

 

[newcastle phill]

And of course we all have waste carriers licences ( I actually had. Only just expired lol )

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

And of course we all have waste carriers licences ( I actually had. Only just expired lol )

which the op does not even know exists

 

[WaterTight]

i always plan to mention that i don't remove rubbish. i find if mentioned prior to any job being agreed to it's not an issue. problem is it is the one thing i always forget to bloody mention before quotes being accepted.

if it's a bunch of rads i just chuck em out front and give one of the local travelling vultures a text with an address. i admit it would look a tiny bit better to remove everything but not worth the hassle.

 

[dom brennan]

we just leave the old rads on the front in within 10 mins the scrap man would of took them and just put the cardboard in the recycling bin,

 

[parkesy_plumb]

i always arrange the rubbish issue before starting .. been stung in the past. I will take small waste that will fit in green bin at home .. but ask for hippo bag/skip on the bill of job for bathroom suites.

 

[oldtimer]

Thanks for your replies, just wondered what you guys did, and, yes I do know about waste licences and permits.

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

Thanks for your replies, just wondered what you guys did, and, yes I do know about waste licences and permits.

rubbish from the packaging was from 5 rads? could you not have put the cardboard in your recycling and the plastic in a bin bag?

 

[MOSSEP]

I dont take away the rubbish. Do you call the supermarket and ask them to remove the packaging your food comes in?

 

[Mike Jackson]

If the customer supplies the materials they dispose of the packaging. if I supply I dispose of it unless otherwise agreed.

Leaving rubbish behind gives a poor impression to my mind. "He made a nice job of the rads but you should have seen the mess he left behind"

 

[Ray Stafford]

I dont take away the rubbish. Do you call the supermarket and ask them to remove the packaging your food comes in?

No, but that is a false analogy. Its more like going to a restaurant for a meal, and then going into the car park and finding that they have put their rubbish in your boot.

If someone was working at my house and didnt remove their rubbish at the end of the job, I wouldn't complain. I wouldn't complain because I am English, and we don't complain.

But I would never use them again, and I would not recommend them to family or friends.

Whether that is right or wrong, its a fact. And I suspect the OP and his ladyfriend feel the same way.

 

[SimonG]

For 900 I would have disposed of the waste. As said, if I supply materials then I get rid of the rubbish. If cust supplies then rubish stops. Any bathrooms I do now I include a mini skip.

 

[AWheating]

i dont remove rubish, but its written in my quote normally. If customer want to pay for it to be removed then i will get it moved for them. Most customers realise that its better for them to drop it at the tip costing them a few quid in petrol then paying me alot more to get it removed or being able to move it myself.

Radiators will go in 10 mins via tat man. Some tat men will also tek rubbish if you ask them.

 

[mache]

Some of the replies have quite surprised me on this thread. I'm totally with Ray and the other like minded people with regard that any trade waste, which includes the packaging I would expect to be taken away by the trade that carried out the work. I think customer perception and further recommendation would be a key factor in this. Appreciate that some may state on the quote that they don't take away, but it seems like ducking a responsibility. Regarding giving a scrap man a ring to take it away, I unfortunatley live in an area that is prone to fly tipping, that is typical of the sort of waste we are talking about. No you wont find metals or valuables in any of that and it's clearly the same groups that are doing it by the repeat type of waste that appears. Would you still take the same approach if this was happening close to your home ?? Not trying to be inflamatory but sometimes there are consequences further down the line that you might not be considering. Another thought, how would you feel if a sparks left your property and left clipping of cable and sheathing, junction box knockouts, empty carboard boxes etc at your home, or maybe the window fitters left the old window frames and doors for you to dispose off. Would you then give them a recommendation to others, You might if the quality of the work was good, but then you might add that the only problem is you have to clear up after them. Probably not what you would want your customers saying about you.... Off to hide behind the couch now. :cheesy:

 

[Ermintrude]

I dont take away the rubbish. Do you call the supermarket and ask them to remove the packaging your food comes in?

No but last time someone from Walmart brought my dinner and cooked it it was a my mate!

 

[Mutha]

My jobs generally don't create a lot of rubbish but what there is, I take.

On bigger jobs skip price is accounted for.

 

[JCplumb]

I usually leave it up to the customer, Swapped a WC out today at a fixed price (I need to stop doing that) and after I finished I asked the customer where she wanted the old WC and mentioned that it would be cheaper for her to dispose of it as I get charged at the local tip. She seemed happy with me putting it in the back yard, not over the moon, but happier than paying extra for me to take it away.
The 'fixed price' I quoted was labour only so I'm guessing the loo in the yard came as no surprise.

 

[Best]

I tend to take small amounts of cardboard with me for my own recycling bin & plastic for my normal bin - sometimes even if the waste is not supplied by me. I just hate it lying around & I like as much as possible to be recycled. I also now try to recycle hard plastics - like waste pipe cuttings or old pieces, electric shower plastic bodies etc.
If getting rid of the waste only costs me a bit of time gathering it & putting it in a recycling bin, then I take it without any thought.
Back to the OP, - I think the fact that the plumber took away the old rads is good of him, as they weren't worth much. I would have taken the cardboard as first impressions will be how tidy everything is left.

 

[helpsy]

Plastic and card home for recycling bins.....even dump stuff in normal bin non recyclable. On bathrooms etc I tell them I can arrange for a registered waste chap to take rubbish away with them paying chap directly.

 

[helpsy]

I take syphons etc to tip and put them in rigid plastics bin

 

[Best]

I take syphons etc to tip and put them in rigid plastics bin

Respect to you! :smile:
I now have started to do same. The amount of plastic waste from syphons, waste pipe, fill valves, showers etc, is crazy! Let's hope the stuff is actually properly recycled & not buried in the ground.
I try to repair anything that is in serviceable condition & that also saves waste.

 

[AWheating]

I'd rather give my customer the choice of avoiding the extra cost. I'm going to charge for a few hours labour, petrol, tax and insurances if I take it myself, or charge my cost if I get it removed by somebody else.

 

[woodsy]

I agree with many of the threads. It is a professional tradesman that clears up after himself. I have received more letters from customers thanking me for how tidy the job is left than the work itself and I often tell people my biggest earner is my vacuum.
Having said that, small amounts of rubbish gets split between there bins, and on larger jobs I offer the alternative of a mini skip as my local tip will not let vans in. When the customer is offered the cost of the skip or take it to the tip themselves I generally find they want to take it themselves. To me the contractor is guilty of lack of communication with his customer.

 

[kay-jay]

Respect to you! :smile:
I now have started to do same. The amount of plastic waste from syphons, waste pipe, fill valves, showers etc, is crazy! Let's hope the stuff is actually properly recycled & not buried in the ground.
I try to repair anything that is in serviceable condition & that also saves waste.

its all a load of cobblers.
we have all these recycling classifications of plastics and so on - yet the local vauthority on its website still carries the message that they can only recycle plastic 'bottles' so rest just gets landfilled or sent on holiday to india

 

[AWheating]

Those that remove rubbish, what does it cost you at the private tip? Is it based on weight? And how much does the extra licence/insurances cost you?

 

[woodsy]

Those that remove rubbish, what does it cost you at the private tip? Is it based on weight? And how much does the extra licence/insurances cost you?

I have the waste carrier license at a cost of £150 ish for three years, and the private tips I tried went by weight but when you worked out your time, fuel etc it was more expensive than a skip.

 

[AWheating]

Does your van insurance cover you for transporting waste that was not purchased by you? Ie. rubbish that's from materials brought by the customer on a labour only job? I'm not sure mine would?