Re: Leaking 2" waterline

[HotH2O4U2]

From: "Creig Sterrett" [e-mail]

>Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

what kind of thoughts are you thanking us for?

[Gary Slusser]

"Creig Sterrett" wrote

presented a

I take it you have established an hourly rate and decided it is too high. Try this; establish what you think he should charge for his knowledge of what was needed to be done, his being able to do that, his knowledge of how to do it and having the tools and/or know how to get what he may not have had and then establish what risking his life, possibly damage to the rented equipment and the life of the helper is worth and the cost to him for the liability of doing the job and deduct those values and recalculate the hourly rate and you'll feel a lot better. Or, ask yourself what you would have charged had you been him and capable of doing the job while accepting the liability with a condo complex involved and starting the job at 11 am. Don't forget his/your overhead and profit. Self-employed folks don't work just for wages, what would be the point? There are no benefits unless we charge enough to allow us to buy them for ourselves. And if the line leaks again.... who ya gunna call if not him to make it right?

[HotH2O4U2]

i should print that

[Mike Grooms]

"Gary Slusser"

You wax poetic, my friend, but do you mean he could charge anything he wanted? Suppose it would have been $4000 or $4500?

The real question is what would others have charged for the same amount. Since there wasn't an agreed price before the work started, don't they deserve an itemized bill?

[kenny b]

How could anyone consider the pricing high or low until you know all the facts? Such as location of the excavation, was it in a road, parking lot, green area? Spoils removed-trucking? Select fill/tamper? Blacktop repair? What equiptment was used-leak detection? Christ it could have even been Roto-Rooter! kenny b

[Mike Grooms]

"Gary Slusser"

You wax poetic, my friend, but do you mean he could charge anything he wanted? Suppose it would have been $4000 or $4500?

A more realistic question is what would others have charged for the same amount. Since there wasn't an agreed price before the work started, don't they deserve an itemized bill?

[Mike Grooms]

"Gary Slusser"

I just wonder if you'd let your auto mechanic or drywaller get away with this. To me, it's just normal that if I don't quote, I give an itemized bill. Then if there are conditions that run the costs up, at least the customer isn't left feeling like they've been cheated.

[Gary Slusser]

"Mike Grooms" wrote

I might have said prophetic, but I'll have you know I've never WAXED! Well there was that one time in '67, but we won't get into that.

Yes, IMO anyone can charge anything they want. They may not be paid that figure but.... in my world that's the way it should be. I usually don't look at what others charge except when I'm not able to be 'face to face' so to speak, like with internet sales. I don't do anything with itemized billing. I give a solid price quote and live or die with it, but then I'm not a plumber and don't get into dynamic type jobs that have hidden problems or things I'm not aware of going in.

My point was that the customer needs to look at his bill from a much broader perspective than dividing it by the hours it took to complete the job and assigning an hourly rate to it. The only way he could possibly understand an hourly rate would be with an itemized bill listing everything used to calculate the bill. And then he'd probably be complaining about the cost of this'n that anyway.

In a job like this there probably is no way to give a hard estimate; it was said they had to find the leak, the spot wasn't obvious. So how could you give anywhere near an accurate quote? And who knew/knows what was underground in the area of the water line?

Gary Quality Water Associates

[Gary Slusser]

"Mike Grooms" wrote

itemized

If I took the van or truck into the garage with something wrong in the engine we'd chit chat about what it might be and cost but I know engines so my top cost would be a replacement engine but really, what's my other choice/s than to say ok, go to it, when will it be done? and hear him say.... it depends on what I find? If I don't want to sell the vehicle in its current condition, then I hope and hold my breath until he fixes it and gives me the bill. If these people didn't chit chat and study up on finding and fixing their water leak, well maybe that's the need to discuss it now in a plumbers' group and such is life.

In my business that doesn't happen but as a customer it has happened to me once or twice over the years and I'd think everyone at some point in life experiences it. I used to own and operate tractor trailer trucks and when you need it, you pay for it and go on. IMO anyone that complains about the bill not being itemized is trying to get the total reduced. And really, isn't the itemized bill going to total the non-itemized bill if the figure is what the guy wants for that job?

[pmartin]

Gary, On my Vineyard land I have natural Spring Water. Any ideas on how I can sell it ? I was thinking of going to Nestlies, they sell all of that water like ' Poland Springs. ' [e-mail]

[Lori & Dean Wigmore]

FYI - I purchased and installed a 4" "stainless steel collar device" this summer. Cost on that baby was just over $400 Cn. Something to think about....

Dean

[Mark Monson]

Whoa. First time I read this I didn't see the Cn. after $400. I was in shock till I did the conversion from Canadian to US dollars. 28 bucks for a 4" stainless repair collar sounds about right.

[kenny b]

Sounds like drug testing is a good idea here! $28 for a 4" stainless dresser, must be some good shit. exchange rate is about 1.31 now, so that would make it about $300

kenny b

[Gary Slusser]

"pmartin" wrote

From what little I've heard about this there are a lot of permits etc. in doing that. Plus you have to either sell the rights or the land I guess. Or get approvals and build the processing building and get the equipment and then find someone to buy the water under their label. I really don't know. The water bottler's association should be able to point you in the right direction. I forget what that association is called but a quick web search should turn it up for you.

Gary Quality Water Associates

[Lori & Dean Wigmore]

It was a Robar repair coupling, not just a simple MJ clamp. It's about 20" long, designed for repairing pressurized lines.

Dean