Questioned Over £60 Invoice

[Theorysparky]

Rented property

investigate socket not working....

turn up  its a cooker switch with socket !!! no nuetral...

1 1/2 hours later after testing, trip to wholesalers to match socket, fit

£50 Labour £10 socket

next time it will be invoiced as £60 parts and labour

i try to be transparent by i dont need the hassle

oh well 4 weeks until i get that money !!!!

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

Dont worry, i get the same. Our standard invoices have  labour & material boxes for the CIS scheme, but i learnt my lesson like you that private customers just get  1 figure to pay now. When we give estimates i include Vat & dont tell them. Saves any hassle on payment & they get a Vat receipt.

BTW, £10 is cheap for a CCU. Even with what i said above i always load up the material figure  & lessen the labour ( if i am asked)  as people think they are getting a better deal.

 

[Theorysparky]

it only cost me £6  round up to a tenner

double socket a fiver

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

Word of experiance. As an example look here   http://search.diy.com/search#w=cooker%20socket&asug=

It doesnt matter what you paid or what make it is. Most people have heard of B&Q so state their prices +. 

Even Screwfix cheapest is £7.06

http://www.screwfix.com/search.do?fh_search=cooker sockets and switches&fh_start_index=20&fh_sort_by=&fhSearchParams=&fh_view_size=20&customPrice=&priceFrom=&priceTo=&priceFilterOn=

 

[Theorysparky]

Thanks Slips for a reality reminder

forget about it sometimes

 

[apprentice87]

Hi all,

There is something wrong with the halfwits.... Tell them to go and get their drains unblocked by "dynorod" or similar.

Materials £0 [they will use your water]

Labour £130

Just whingers some people are..

john...

 

[boltonsparky]

Not worth the hassle people like that, it's a fair price (cheap in fact), just point them in the direction of homeserve or the likes of who would charge at least double what you did, that or point them in the direction of the local unqualified electrician who would have charged half, not fixed the actual fault, bodged it up to get it working again and no doubt made the installation dangerous at the same time, at least the customer would have saved a few quid though!

Wish people would realise the costs involved with running a business, most think it's just you turning up and that money goes straight into your pocket, not that you've a van to pay for, vehicle and business insurances, fuel to put into your van, tax to pay on both your income and vehicle, tools to buy and maintenance/calibration of those tools, ever changing qualifications and the courses required to keep upto date with them etc etc.

Explaining all this to mardy retarded customers usually shuts them up i find.

Rant over  :Salute

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

I have a large garden and after 11 years still not made much progress. I spoken to a few gardeners and £35 an hour cash is yhe normal !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Evans Electric]

Interesting Slippery ...but you're darn sarf 'aint cher ?   Up here in the far north we still get paid in old roman dinars.  :innocent

Gardener @ £35 hour Eh!     Not many Sparks charge that , not here anyway .

 

[Theorysparky]

i am thinking of doing general maintenance for this rental company

the workmanship is pants and they charge £20 an hour ffs

regarding Homeserve and the the like.......

a guy who i know wanted me me fix 3 downlighters (transformers gone) and swap 2 light fittings over

i fell out with him before i quoted

he calls a number from Yell.com,,,,,,first biggest ad apparently  £220  for 1.5 hrs work !!!!

serves him right

 

[ProDave]

You are not in the "far north" Deke. I am.

I once had to replace an immersion heater thermostat. But didn't have one the right size with me.

I faced a dilemma.  3 mile drive to Jewsons so see what they had, or 60 mile round trip to a proper wholesaler.

I chose Jewsons. they didn't have just a thermostat, so I bought a whole new immersion just to take the stat out of it. And charged the customer for the full cost of the heater.  No complaints.

Most small minor repairs like that, I just tell them the price and they pay me. No invoices. I only break down the price if they question it, and only normally produce an invoice for such a small job if it's a "pay later" job like work for a letting agent for example.

 

[Evans Electric]

I do much the same Dave .    And buying whole heater would be the way to go TBH.

Dave , to those who are based below Watford Gap  (Or is it The Cumberland Gap?)   Birmingham is the Far North .  Where you are is tantamount to a another planet  TBH  

 

[sellers]

I wouldn't worry about it. Good quality tradesmen cost. I explain that it costs me 40quid a day before i step out of the door. 90quid if I have the apprentice with me.

 

[Sharpend]

I can't believe that you all haven't got at the bottom of your quotes/estimates " before you judge the price above please consider the following:

1) the cost to run a vehicle

2) the additional costs for office administration, remember someone had to spend time writing your quote/estimate

3) the cost of office stationary, we do not have paper free quotes/estimates

4) the time and associated costs for ordering/collecting materials and the like

5) the insurances that I have to have to attend your needs

6) the continual costs for replacing worn/broken/stolen tools

7) the time that I actually spend as a whole on your needs

This is a non exhaustive list of some of my costs to be able to help you"

 

[ProDave]

Dave , to those who are based below Watford Gap  (Or is it The Cumberland Gap?)   Birmingham is the Far North .  Where you are is tantamount to a another planet  TBH  

Up here, we refer to Glasgow and Edinburgh as being "Down South"

I do admit, Orkney and Shetland are "Up North", as is John O Groats (only just)

I've hear it said (By someone in the Inverness tourist office!) that "there's nothing worth seeing north of Inverness. Naturally I don't agree.

Back to the subject, it's funny how the only ones most likely to contest a bill, are those driving a shiny new car. Definitely a case of "can pay, but don't want to"

I can't be bothered with commercial clients who take a long time to pay. I had one that took 3 months. On chasing it, the invoice sat at the local office until the end of month 1. Then it got sent to head office. At the end of month 2 they sent it to finance, who finally paid it at the end of month 3.  Next time they asked me to do some work, I declined.

 

[Evans Electric]

Up here, we refer to Glasgow and Edinburgh as being "Down South"

I do admit, Orkney and Shetland are "Up North", as is John O Groats (only just)

I've hear it said (By someone in the Inverness tourist office!) that "there's nothing worth seeing north of Inverness. Naturally I don't agree.

Back to the subject, it's funny how the only ones most likely to contest a bill, are those driving a shiny new car. Definitely a case of "can pay, but don't want to"

I can't be bothered with commercial clients who take a long time to pay. I had one that took 3 months. On chasing it, the invoice sat at the local office until the end of month 1. Then it got sent to head office. At the end of month 2 they sent it to finance, who finally paid it at the end of month 3.  Next time they asked me to do some work, I declined.

I think all our problem payers have been of this ilk.

 

[steptoe]

they probably dont/wont/cant pay due to the extortinate HP due on the car next week!