Too expensive?

[gazzamikes]

i done a job last week for a local person:

1- carry out full test and inspection of property
2- supply & install consumer unit (providing testing all ok)
3- install new tails & bonding
4- find and repair fault with existing bathroom light, then supply and replace bathroom light
5- supply and install immersion heater timer
6- retest and certificate works

7- get call out fri morning to say no heating on at property "you haven't connected it" i was told. went there to find out that the customer had been fiddling and knocked out the RCD
8- get call out saturday to be told problem in kitchen, i hadnt trunked a peice of bonding about 2 inch tall when where it was you couldnt even get your arm to get to it, (customer concerned her dog could eat it or it could be cut with knife!!!)
9- go back outside to show her how to use the consumer unit... again... i accidently leant on the communal hall light switch which made the lights flicker as they came on to which i was then blamed for not wiring something up correctly! then also blamed for "setting" the wrong time on her economy 7 :s

gave her the bill of £500 including call outs etc (15mile trip)
she then says too much i aint paying until you give me some comparisons of cost with other electricians!

what would you guys roughly charge for this work?

just so i can show her and get paid.

thanks for the help!!!

 

[Guest123]

£500 would only cover the CU, bonding upgrades & certification IMO.

Initial testing possibly an additional £150-£200.

The other bits & bobs possibly another £50-£100.

Call outs.....tough to say, everyone has their own idea's.

Safe to say £500 is way too low, even for rural Wales where I am.

 

[Octopus]

So how much did you quote her for the inspection, CU change, bonding and test?

£500 is way too low

 

[gazzamikes]

i gave her an estimate of £450 for initial testing and board change and upgrade. i quoted for this last year. the property is MI cable so was annoying to change board trying to keep CPC etc. all cables were extended. i thought it was bit low, i was there two days too

 

[Megavolt]

Sounds cheap to me she properly won't be happy till you pay her for Letting you do the job.
:6:

 

[RISElectrical]

More than that for me I think. £500 would have got the CU changed, tails and bonding. Especially if all in MICC as this takes longer to joint, extend etc.

Then another £200 ish for the other bits and bobs.... then possibly call outs on top however I am a bit of a sucker and usually end up doing these for free half the time.

Hard to say exactly without seeing job tho mate

If original quote was £450 just for the CU etc... Then I would bill her for this works at the agreed £450 as quoted. Then raise another invoice for the other items. This would then clearly show the extra works involved over and above the original quote.

I tend to always try and give a quote as opposed to an estimate. Then extras go on top of the quote. Estimates seem to imply in a customers eyes that they could go down.

 

[telectrix]

agree. you have done work at a very reasonable price. tell her, in writing, to pay up within 14 days or you'll pass the debt to a collection company.

 

[imago]

As above really, with the caveat that you should issue a quatation for specific work. Explain (in writing on the quotation) that if anything additional is required it will be subject to an additional quotation agreed before work takes place.

In you current position do not get comparisons, if she wanted/needed additional quotes they should be obtained by her before asking you to do the work. She didn't and it's not your problem. Give her the bill and set the clock running for collection.

 

[hercule]

She can't ask for comparisons of cost at this stage when the work is done - too late. By the sound of it she will be trying to find things you 'haven't done right' to knock more off an already very reasonable price.

 

[gazzamikes]

Thank you for the advice. i must admit i feel £500 is a bit close to being too cheap when i add up all the mucking about extending the cables etc. i dont think ill ever get called back for anything from her again

 

[RISElectrical]

Thank you for the advice. i must admit i feel £500 is a bit close to being too cheap when i add up all the mucking about extending the cables etc. i dont think ill ever get called back for anything from her again

Would you want a call for more work after this haha

 

[gazzamikes]

that is very true! sometimes it just isnt worth it

 

[Kelrich]

Call back to the house and in a polite manner rip all your nice work out and take it away its still yours at the end of the day that will wipe the grin off her face

 

[morph]

firstly this makes my blood boil !
2ndly did you quote / estimate.yes so wahet is her problem
i would not be happy and would be warning her her i will be getting paid one way or another

 

[Marvo]

If you estimated 450.00 for the original work I would have invoiced at that price and given a separate invoice for anything that was extra to the original requested work, that way the customer could only contest the extras invoice.

Either way I have no sympathy for people who want to contest the price after the work is complete rather than before work starts so at this stage in the game I would hand it over to my lawyers as soon as poss. Usually the first letter from them does the trick if it's not big businesses.

 

[Goody]

Your initial quote of £450 is nominal but you always should give a break down of what work that involves and also mention that any additional / unexpected work will incur additional charge. She should have compared the quote before she gave you the go ahead and it’s not in your interest to do so. Just warn her that she has broken the contract agreement and that you will approach a Dept Collecting Agent.

Best of luck!

 

[Dave 85]

I'd prolly of quoted about £500 for the initial work you did...I'd of done it in a day and made near £400 profit...any more I start feeling guilty lol
I wouldnt have gone back though. I'd have guessed on the phone it was RCD trip and told her to reset it. I always show people how to use a C/U b4 I leave and if they dont understand it then thats their problem.
If she started getting arsey about the price of a job that she had already agreed to a quote for I'd prolly just threaten court action straight out. If theres one thing I have no patience for, its stupid, stuck up, neurotic *******.