Is my plumber ripping me off ? (furnace, Lowes, conditioner, tank)
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I'll just do it myself next time. Thank you all for the replies.
If you had the capability and equipment, you should have done it this time. Sounds like you were looking for something to complain about before the guy even showed up. Or you should have had your friend who works for the same company come over and do it for a beer and pizza one evening.
I did tell him that the clog was down in the first floor, I have done plumbing work myself. He knew it would take the power snake and he should have told me about any extra charges first. I most likely will pay the whole bill and use another plumber next time. I will also tell them why I will use another plumber next time. (By the way it took him a little less than 20 minutes to do the job, my wife did time him) and he charged me time driving from his shop. One and one half hours is what I'm being charged for. Plus 40 extra bucks for the snake. I can't see how that's fair. He also didn't tell me that the clock would start when he left the shop, I expected to pay for the time he worked with a one hour minimum.
Most folks like plumbers do use the portal to portal method to determine time on the job. Want to ask about it up front, also want to use one as close to you as possible. Many also charge a fixed fee, the work is on top of that. Plumbers may be one of the worse trades, they somehow always pretend to be the prima donna's. Portal to portal, the clock starts to run, when they leave their house, stops when they get back home. Some others like appliance repair and the like also do it big time. Can run up a huge bill for a few minutes work.
That is also true of most trades folks. If there is excessive travel time involved, you are going to pay for it. The other areas folks never understand is they think some trades folks are going to run all over Heaven free. Like to buy this or that. It is all built into the job.
For chuckles to put it in perspective, I never met any plumber I would ever use again, hated jobs were they had to be used as subs. Never found one that ever did satisfactory work or could perform to the contract they signed. In a way, the same for many electricians. I only found one I really trusted. It was him or nobody.
You are better getting those folks who advertise as general handymen types. They can do all that type work for the most part, generally will be far more reasonable, many only charge for the working time. Either that of the Roto-Router type guys but again they use a lot of the same rules as plumbers.
Helps to ask on the phone up front, what they billing rules are.
Well I had a nice chat with the owner of the company and he was very nice and said his workers are partly paid by commission. He also said the guy should have told us all the charges before even coming over. This isn't the first time he didn't follow their policies. The owner agreed with me that in this case the extra charges were unwarranted. We came to agree on a fair amount and we will be paying the bill. I was trying to give a local business some work, I could have rented a snake and did the job myself, and would have if I had known how much the end bill would be. Anyway the boss was glad to be informed about this situation, I am happy and the worker got a scolding for not following the company policy. By the way he charged me for traveling time that he had already charged my neighbor, (he didn't travel from the shop for our job as he just got done with another job just three doors down). The bill was almost three hundred bucks and he was in the neighborhood already. Now that I am going to be charged a fair price I have no problem. When I feel cheated I do something about it. From some of the replies I've read here now I understand why so many crooked workmen seem to get away with thievery. Another thing is he didn't even finish the job, he didn't have the new plastic trap seals with him so I had to do that also. Another thing is that when it came time to recoil the snake it kept getting hung up and I had to help him. Rip off workmen no matter what trade are just plain vultures and scum. I rarely hire people to do things like this as I have tons of tools and can do almost anything in the way of home repairs etc. I just thought It would be cheaper to hire the guy than to drive to a rental yard for the snake.
Yeah.......You did learn a few things along the way
Quote:
Originally Posted by rickers
Well I had a nice chat with the owner of the company and he was very nice and said his workers are partly paid by commission. He also said the guy should have told us all the charges before even coming over. This isn't the first time he didn't follow their policies. The owner agreed with me that in this case the extra charges were unwarranted. We came to agree on a fair amount and we will be paying the bill. I was trying to give a local business some work, I could have rented a snake and did the job myself, and would have if I had known how much the end bill would be. Anyway the boss was glad to be informed about this situation, I am happy and the worker got a scolding for not following the company policy. By the way he charged me for traveling time that he had already charged my neighbor, (he didn't travel from the shop for our job as he just got done with another job just three doors down). The bill was almost three hundred bucks and he was in the neighborhood already. Now that I am going to be charged a fair price I have no problem. When I feel cheated I do something about it. From some of the replies I've read here now I understand why so many crooked workmen seem to get away with thievery. Another thing is he didn't even finish the job, he didn't have the new plastic trap seals with him so I had to do that also. Another thing is that when it came time to recoil the snake it kept getting hung up and I had to help him. Rip off workmen no matter what trade are just plain vultures and scum. I rarely hire people to do things like this as I have tons of tools and can do almost anything in the way of home repairs etc. I just thought It would be cheaper to hire the guy than to drive to a rental yard for the snake.
Yep, that portal to portal time is a very common scheme. They bill as if they travel to every job from their house or shop. So, so very common with folks like plumbers. Do not feel lonely about getting substandard jobs. Never found one who ever finished the work or had much attention to detail. You really did not get the full treatment. Some of them love to fight with the other trades and in fact destroy the work of others on purpose.
If you can do the work yourself in today's World, you are far, far better dong so. The average bear has just about zero methods to keep them in line. Finding a fair boss is pure luck. The builders and GC's have many of the same problem but have one sure fired way that always gets their attention. Those are paying only as per the contract, deductions for damages, black balling the worse of them, putting out the word to everyone else. A lot of them just do not care. It is not a rare thing to run into a few of them.
Hiring plumbers, electricians and plasterers can be a giggle. Masons, tile setters, roofers and probably most carpenters are pretty good workers. They actually will earn the money. You sure want to know who is who in your area. Look out for those who may have more than one bad habit.
There are good tradesmen who really do excellent work and have a squeeky set of ethics but from my experience they were in the minority. Maybe that is the type of website that is greatly in need. One that allows folks to select out the clinkers. When I was working I was plugged into a grapevine that had a lot of information about who was available and definitely the folks to be avoided at all costs. Some of the subs you would not call if they were the last ones available on Earth.
I knew a few of the builders. Most of them had so many problems, that they tried to take as much of the work in house as possible. It is an extremely common problem, especially if you have to deal with it on a continuing basis. Learn how to do most repair type tasks around a house and invest in tools and equipment. Can be far less grief in the long run.
Well I had a nice chat with the owner of the company and he was very nice and said his workers are partly paid by commission. He also said the guy should have told us all the charges before even coming over. This isn't the first time he didn't follow their policies. The owner agreed with me that in this case the extra charges were unwarranted. We came to agree on a fair amount and we will be paying the bill. I was trying to give a local business some work, I could have rented a snake and did the job myself, and would have if I had known how much the end bill would be. Anyway the boss was glad to be informed about this situation, I am happy and the worker got a scolding for not following the company policy. By the way he charged me for traveling time that he had already charged my neighbor, (he didn't travel from the shop for our job as he just got done with another job just three doors down). The bill was almost three hundred bucks and he was in the neighborhood already. Now that I am going to be charged a fair price I have no problem. When I feel cheated I do something about it. From some of the replies I've read here now I understand why so many crooked workmen seem to get away with thievery. Another thing is he didn't even finish the job, he didn't have the new plastic trap seals with him so I had to do that also. Another thing is that when it came time to recoil the snake it kept getting hung up and I had to help him. Rip off workmen no matter what trade are just plain vultures and scum. I rarely hire people to do things like this as I have tons of tools and can do almost anything in the way of home repairs etc. I just thought It would be cheaper to hire the guy than to drive to a rental yard for the snake.
Drain clog jobs are something that I usually flat rate as they are generally not very time consuming. As to an extra charge for use of a power snake....I would not consider that to be ethical. If the job turns extra nasty and line breaking is involved and I end up underneath the house chasing clogs in grease and the unmentionables that go down toilets...well yes I'm thinking there will be some extra money involved. But just a simple up top rod job your looking at a one hour minimum.
Oh..and as far as tackling clog issues yourself...DON"T use drain cleaning chemicals. Draino and such is worthless and the powerful ones we pros use are dangerous and only suitable for certain situations. NEVER use the latter in a toilet...they heat up big time and when you fush the cold water hitting the porcelin will cause the bowl to literally explode in your face. A good cheap PM for sink and tub drains....two cans of Coca Cola classic and a coffee cup full of lemon juice concentrate once every two weeks will keep them flowing. It's cheap and safe.
Oh..and as far as tackling clog issues yourself...DON"T use drain cleaning chemicals. Draino and such is worthless and the powerful ones we pros use are dangerous and only suitable for certain situations. NEVER use the latter in a toilet...they heat up big time and when you fush the cold water hitting the porcelin will cause the bowl to literally explode in your face. A good cheap PM for sink and tub drains....two cans of Coca Cola classic and a coffee cup full of lemon juice concentrate once every two weeks will keep them flowing. It's cheap and safe.
OMG!!!! I drink (and waste) a lot of Pepsi. I drink about half. So, most of the time I have a dumped cans in the sinks. Hubby has always said he thinks that is why we don't have drain problems!!!!
You sure are right about not using the chem drain cleaners. The building is 80 years old and the drain cleaner puffed the rust piles up and made the clog worse ! I have tons of tools for general work as well as a metal working machine shop, mig welder. etc. and generally do all my own work. I do now have a really bad elbow and I'm using hired help more and more these days. Now I need to find a good concrete outfit for an L shaped retaining wall on my other property. This time I need to get a permit and request bids from licenced contractors as the wall will be supporting a public alley.
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