OT; Customers....

[ARW]

You sound like car mechanic:-)

[Huge]

Can you text me the next time I'm in the downstairs loo or the kitchen?

[Scott M]

I do a lot of work in churches and they're stuffed full of people who will spend their (unpaid) time wrangling over the price of anything and everything and wanting everything for nothing. One village hall even wanted to know the profit from the job as they were a charity and had to ensure good value.

[Tim Streater]

Speaking as a member of a Village Hall Cttee, that's none of their damn business.

[whisky-dave]

Why do they need to consider the two items above. The consumer programs I've seen always assume the jpob takes 30mins or an hour as minimuim charge times for a job.

[Scott M]

That's what we said. And when he kept arguing we totted up a load of costs to show the profit was about £50. From comments dropped by a chap who dropped in while we were working, getting any money (of which there wasn't a shortage) spent was an uphill battle.

[Tim Streater]

Well, they should ensure "good value" by getting more than one quote, and by assessing quality of work done. Round here the difficulty is more one of finding competent people who aren't already overloaded with work.

Besides which, what does "profit" mean in this context? In some sense, it's anything more than the cost of materials. Do they expect you to work for nothing?

[fred]

Bugger estimates. Quote your call out charge plus materials. If they're not prepared to pay a call out charge for an estimate then f**kem. Life is too short.

I think I understand my plumbers charging system now. We live in the sticks so he just charges a minimum of half day labour which is fair enough to me as he's unlikely to fit two jobs into one morning.

[JimK]

/Bugger estimates. Quote your call out charge plus materials. If they're not prepared to pay a call out charge for an estimate then f**kem. Life is too short./q

I'd want a quote if I was paying for it..... Bugger estimates indeed....

Jim K