Plumbers pipe costs!

[Jacksin]

One local plumber here south of Adelaide charges $75 call-out which includes the first 15 mins then $65/ hr after that, which makes re-washering taps out of reach of pensioners.
Jack

[outback]

And my neighbour wants me to show him how to use the lathe I sold him - no bloody way. He can find out for himself - no I won't help him lift that object into the back of his car either - next thing I know he'll sue me for helping him. :eek: :eek:

Of course if he hurts himself using the lathe he has justifiable grounds to sue you, as you sold him an unsafe product, didn't provide training or safety literature etc.

I'm not being flipant, this is true, watch your ass barnsey, your neighbour has a gun to your head.

[Gaza]

If we do hourly rate work (not often) my carpenters are charged out at $60.00 p/h. I make about $10.00 per hour on the trademen less my fixed expensess such as girls in office, accounts dept, rent for factory, etc.
This is bugger all in the big picture, i make most of money doing fixed price work, Where we have 1/2 chance of making money but have 3/4 of lossing it to.

Its like getting my brake pads changed on my ute. (New commordore) they charged me $400.00. I am most died but once it was done it was done. so i now charge my brake pads my self.

Small fiddley things suck, and you need some one that will do it right the first time if it costed say $150.00 less but had to be redone in 2 yrs then that would cost x3 of what you paid.

[capedcrusader]

I wonder if it was the same guy who replaced the earthenware pipes at my place (that I uncovered and filled over again afterwards -1.5 m deep at the deep end) with PVC and sent me an invoice for 900 bucks. No need for a quote in advance I thought - probably just 4 or so hours work - how much could that possibly cost?? 10 years later it had to be done again (and it wasnt because of my backfilling either)

[Dean]

My younger brother is a manager at a club (gaming section) and he reckons all the tradies come in and whack anywhere from $100-$1000 a hit on the horses... On several occassions they have told him after they lost that they will just make that money up tomorrow... :eek: Now you know where your money goes (at least in that part of Australia)

[barnsey]

IMHO and experience, tradies on building sites and in the public on call areas generally have the skills required to do the physical job. Get to the job when they get there, take a look and work out what they need, go and get it and sustenance to be consumed on site before a shot is cast in anger.

The odds of getting it done well???

As GAZA so eloquently posted:
Where we have 1/2 chance of making money but have 3/4 of lossing it to.

I'm not sure I understand his accounting system - perhaps that's why the BAS is such a problem and why all those costs are so great that we need to pay so much for what should have been relatively easy and inexpensive. :eek:

I realise I may be incurring the wrath of a number of people who will defend the status of the trades in general and I will join them in general. There are good doctors and some not so good. There are good businessmen and some not so good. There are a lot of practitioners who may be good but are shocking business people. Then there are the rogues!!!! :eek:

Jamie