I've been talking to a rural plumbing firm about a small job that I could do, but didn't fancy doing, and had agreed their published rate of £90 for the first hour followed by £50/hour thereafter. I guessed the job would take between 1 and 2 hours. Today I found out they were going to charge more than £150 for parts that I could easily buy for £50 at retail prices. When they wouldn't justify the mark-up I cancelled and will do the work myself when the warmer weather arrives. I was prepared to pay the (OTT) labour rate but they blew it by putting such a huge mark-up on the parts. Because of greed they lost the job.I feel sorry for people who don't have the option to do things themselves, or who don't know anything about the time jobs take and the cost of materials.

I don't know whether you have ever run your own business, but many people who have not significantly underestimate the overheads for firms like these. You may be right, this firm could be taking the piss. If you actually used them, you might find that they "round down" their hours, or are scrupulous about stopping the clock during tea breaks.While I am pretty skeptical about TripAdvisor and the like, it is interesting to see what reviews firms get on social media. To my mind, there is nothing to beat a personal recommendation.

OT'ish: Greedy plumbers? Featured

May 18, 2021 Last reply: 5 years ago 42 Replies

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tim... 5 years ago

Pharmaceutical supplies to you local chemist works the same way

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tim... 5 years ago

I'm not sure I'd want to trust to eBay for a replacement boiler

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Dave Plowman (News 5 years ago

Why? May actually have better protection that way than collecting it yourself. Many very well respected firms sell on Ebay.

I saved over £300 on my Viessmann buying it from Ebay over the best local price I could find.

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