A £350 Cu Upgrade

[M107]

This is what some local tosser classed as a consumer unit upgrade & charged £350. So for her money the lady got some of the old 3036's replaced with 1361's & the gas/water bonded.............................. I did find the cu cover in the back of the cupboard.

 

[ProDave]

That's criminal.

But yet again, I blame the CUSTOMER

If I tried to pass that off as a CU upgrade, I would fully expect the customer to take one look and say "that's not the new CU I was expecting, I'm not paying you a penny until you do the job properly"

Only while customers are daft enough to pay for that sort of shoddy "work" will people get away charging for it.

In my book you CAN (just) do a proper CU upgrade with a new CU for £350, providing there are not many circuits and nothing actually wrong that needs fixing, but obviously it can get more expensive if remedial work is needed.

 

[steptoe]

£350 is about the going rate round here Dave, for a standard hi-int board.

+remedials, and bonding(if its not local)

 

[boltonsparky]

They should be hung drawn and quartered. 

Most people would be wise to it but there are people who genuinely have no idea about these things and put their trust into a tradesman, only to be ripped off.

 

[ProDave]

They should be hung drawn and quartered. 

Most people would be wise to it but there are people who genuinely have no idea about these things and put their trust into a tradesman, only to be ripped off.

Yes, 

But they obviously think they need some work doing.

So surely they should expect to see something change when the man does the job

And surely they expect the flippin cover to be screwed on?

 

[boltonsparky]

I'd hope most people would have the common sense to realise the cover wasn't on, but it is joe public we're talking about here!

It depends on what spiel he gave to her and if he showed her the fuses taken out and the new ones put in, maybe that's all she thought she needed.

It's a shame that people fall for it and that there's little deterrent for the cowboys. 

 

[Evans Electric]

So thats how you do an upgrade ................I've been removing the old boards and fitting new ones  ...

 

[ProDave]

He could have at least fitted plug in curcuit breakers. Or was that the option he offered for £400?

 

[m4tty]

Be fair it did take me a day and a half to do the bonding so only had time to upgrade the fuses ffs lol

 

[Steve3948]

For some reason my iPad gives a "Could not connect to the webpage" on this thread, but PC and Laptop open no problem.

 

[alpha spark]

I'd love to see what the paper work says

Oh hang on there won't of been any would there

 

[Andy™]

I'd love to see what the paper work says

Oh hang on there won't of been any would there

he took the 'paperwork' from her, to the value of £350...

 

[Blue Duck]

Looks like one of my jobs except I would have used some 3036/mcbs floating about in my van and charged £700!

Really If you don't know what you are paying for why are you buying it?

 

[Steve3948]

Looks like one of my jobs except I would have used some 3036/mcbs floating about in my van and charged £700!

Really If you don't know what you are paying for why are you buying it?

Some people just take advise, and hope its good, however they should have got estimates/quotes if unsure.

 

[Andy™]

 however they should have got estimates/quotes if unsure.

they probably did, but his was cheapest?

 

[philbas]

Looks like one of my jobs except I would have used some 3036/mcbs floating about in my van and charged £700!

Really If you don't know what you are paying for why are you buying it?

They buy it because the don't know what they are paying for, so they pay to get an "expert" in to sort it out for them, they expect the "expert" to know what they are talking about and do a good job at a reasonable  and fair price, not rip them off.

 

[M107]

It doesn't help when the lady concerned doesn't speak English as her first language.................A pole taken for a few quid by pole....

 

[chrisg1979]

We've just been undercut on a c/u change, straightforward board and reasonably long bonding run, were going to do it for £350.

Had a call to say a chap who had done a bit of work previously for this customer was going to do it for £200, could we do any better?

Be interesting to see what gets done and what certs get issued for that price!

 

[batty]

Very sad some people are so desperate for work they will do this work for so little gain. I would be very surprised if any paperwork is given and when things go wrong they will be calling on you. Its sad people like this are destroying the trade.

 

[pses]

I had a CU change all booked in for a couple of weeks, new bonding needed to both GAS and water(the other side of the house from the board, run under floorboards so lifting carpet and boards). I quoted the customer £450

2 days before I was meant to do the job the customer rang me to say that some-one had quoted her £120 and so thought my price seemed "VERY EXPENSIVE" and I lost the job. How are us proper sparks that actually do the job as it should be meant to get any work with such cowboys out there?