[The Medway Handyman]

Thursday afternoon, 4:45pm I get a call from a customer I've worked for
before.

Water pouring all over the downstairs cloakroom, had to turn the mains
off, can't cook the kids tea or give them a bath.

I get there at 5:30pm. The leak is from the fill valve connection. Not
a drip, water gushes out when you turn the mains back on.

Turns out it had been dripping and her husband tried to fix it - with a
hammer believe it or not.

By 6:20pm I've replaced the fill valve & the tap connector &
straightened the siphon so the fill valve arm doesn't get caught on it
anymore.

I give the lady the bill - £62:50 including parts & labour.

She goes into drama queen mode, she didn't expect it to be that much, it
was much too expensive, would I accept £50?

I would point out at this juncture that this is a 4 bed des res, with a
2 year old Ford Galaxy & a 1 year old Focus in the drive.

She eventually paid the full amount grudgingly.

Any guesses as to her ethnic origins?

Clue - the capital city is Abuja.

Told her not to bother me again.

--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

[Nick]

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
...
Thursday afternoon, 4:45pm I get a call from a customer I've worked for
before.

Water pouring all over the downstairs cloakroom, had to turn the mains
off, can't cook the kids tea or give them a bath.

I get there at 5:30pm. The leak is from the fill valve connection. Not a
drip, water gushes out when you turn the mains back on.

Turns out it had been dripping and her husband tried to fix it - with a
hammer believe it or not.

By 6:20pm I've replaced the fill valve & the tap connector & straightened
the siphon so the fill valve arm doesn't get caught on it anymore.

I give the lady the bill - £62:50 including parts & labour.

She goes into drama queen mode, she didn't expect it to be that much, it
was much too expensive, would I accept £50?

I would point out at this juncture that this is a 4 bed des res, with a 2
year old Ford Galaxy & a 1 year old Focus in the drive.

She eventually paid the full amount grudgingly.

Any guesses as to her ethnic origins?

Clue - the capital city is Abuja.

Told her not to bother me again.

--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

If paid by cheque, do you have a tennis racquet?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article ,
The Medway Handyman wrote:
I give the lady the bill - £62:50 including parts & labour.

She goes into drama queen mode, she didn't expect it to be that much, it
was much too expensive, would I accept £50?

I would point out at this juncture that this is a 4 bed des res, with a
2 year old Ford Galaxy & a 1 year old Focus in the drive.

She eventually paid the full amount grudgingly.

Any guesses as to her ethnic origins?

Clue - the capital city is Abuja.

Ever been abroad? It's natural to haggle over prices in many countries.

Told her not to bother me again.

You must have plenty work.

--
*Two wrongs are only the beginning *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[ARWadsworth]

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
The Medway Handyman wrote:
I give the lady the bill - £62:50 including parts & labour.

She goes into drama queen mode, she didn't expect it to be that
much, it was much too expensive, would I accept £50?

I would point out at this juncture that this is a 4 bed des res,
with a 2 year old Ford Galaxy & a 1 year old Focus in the drive.

She eventually paid the full amount grudgingly.

Any guesses as to her ethnic origins?

Clue - the capital city is Abuja.

Ever been abroad? It's natural to haggle over prices in many
countries.

And when in Rome....

Told her not to bother me again.

You must have plenty work.

He probably has plently of work when he is only charging £62.50 inc parts
for such a job.

--
Adam

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article ,
ARWadsworth wrote:
Ever been abroad? It's natural to haggle over prices in many
countries.

And when in Rome....

But it's frowned upon - called 'going native'. By the English.

Told her not to bother me again.

You must have plenty work.

He probably has plently of work when he is only charging £62.50 inc
parts for such a job.

It certainly sounds a reasonable price for the job. Especially outside
normal working hours.

--
*Can atheists get insurance for acts of God? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[Andy Dingley]

On Sep 24, 3:16*pm, The Medway Handyman
wrote:

She goes into drama queen mode, she didn't expect it to be that much, it
was much too expensive, would I accept 50?

Any guesses as to her ethnic origins?

That's just natural haggling. She'd have been happier if you'd quoted
80, then allowed her to haggle you down to 70. There's no malice or
tight-fistedness in it, it's just habit.

You could try working for my F-i-L. You couldn't find anyone more
ethnically English than him (Midlands / Brummie, probably descended
from Shakespeare, if not Falstaff himself), yet he can haggle the back
legs off a shark. You'd have ended up getting paid 50, buying some
dreadful piece of china from him for half of that back, and still
thinking you'd come out on top.

[The Medway Handyman]

On 24/09/2011 16:41, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In ,
The Medway wrote:
I give the lady the bill - £62:50 including parts& labour.

She goes into drama queen mode, she didn't expect it to be that much, it
was much too expensive, would I accept £50?

I would point out at this juncture that this is a 4 bed des res, with a
2 year old Ford Galaxy& a 1 year old Focus in the drive.

She eventually paid the full amount grudgingly.

Any guesses as to her ethnic origins?

Clue - the capital city is Abuja.

Ever been abroad? It's natural to haggle over prices in many countries.

But not in Kent.

Told her not to bother me again.

You must have plenty work.

I do - more than I know what to do with.

--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

[Tony Bryer[_3_]]

On Sat, 24 Sep 2011 20:24:53 +0100 Newshound wrote :
Not sure if anyone still does this, but my first ever solicitor in the
70's had a rather charming style in his bills. He'd itemise the search
fees, put in the hours and the rate, add them all up and write something
like this

total, £2142-76

But say, £2100

My solicitor here has done this on a couple of conveyancing transactions.
I guess you're meant to feel profoundly grateful that you've 'only' been
charged the lower amount.

--
Tony Bryer, Greentram: 'Software to build on',
Melbourne, Australia www.greentram.com

[The Medway Handyman]

On 24/09/2011 16:21, Nick wrote:
"The Medway wrote in message
...
Thursday afternoon, 4:45pm I get a call from a customer I've worked for
before.

Water pouring all over the downstairs cloakroom, had to turn the mains
off, can't cook the kids tea or give them a bath.

I get there at 5:30pm. The leak is from the fill valve connection. Not a
drip, water gushes out when you turn the mains back on.

Turns out it had been dripping and her husband tried to fix it - with a
hammer believe it or not.

By 6:20pm I've replaced the fill valve& the tap connector& straightened
the siphon so the fill valve arm doesn't get caught on it anymore.

I give the lady the bill - £62:50 including parts& labour.

She goes into drama queen mode, she didn't expect it to be that much, it
was much too expensive, would I accept £50?

I would point out at this juncture that this is a 4 bed des res, with a 2
year old Ford Galaxy& a 1 year old Focus in the drive.

She eventually paid the full amount grudgingly.

Any guesses as to her ethnic origins?

Clue - the capital city is Abuja.

Told her not to bother me again.

--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

If paid by cheque, do you have a tennis racquet?


Cash only :-)



--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

[The Medway Handyman]

On 24/09/2011 16:50, ARWadsworth wrote:
Dave Plowman wrote:
In ,
The Medway wrote:
I give the lady the bill - £62:50 including parts& labour.

She goes into drama queen mode, she didn't expect it to be that
much, it was much too expensive, would I accept £50?

I would point out at this juncture that this is a 4 bed des res,
with a 2 year old Ford Galaxy& a 1 year old Focus in the drive.

She eventually paid the full amount grudgingly.

Any guesses as to her ethnic origins?

Clue - the capital city is Abuja.

Ever been abroad? It's natural to haggle over prices in many
countries.

And when in Rome....

Told her not to bother me again.

You must have plenty work.

He probably has plently of work when he is only charging £62.50 inc parts
for such a job.

TBF the parts only cost me £3:50 so I ended up with £59 for 50 mins
work. I can live with that.

Point being a plumber would have charged £100+.

--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

[The Medway Handyman]

On 24/09/2011 21:00, Jim K wrote:
On Sep 24, 8:24 pm, wrote:
On 24/09/2011 18:16, Andy Dingley wrote:



On Sep 24, 3:16 pm, The Medway
wrote:

She goes into drama queen mode, she didn't expect it to be that much, it
was much too expensive, would I accept 50?

Any guesses as to her ethnic origins?

That's just natural haggling. She'd have been happier if you'd quoted
80, then allowed her to haggle you down to 70. There's no malice or
tight-fistedness in it, it's just habit.

You could try working for my F-i-L. You couldn't find anyone more
ethnically English than him (Midlands / Brummie, probably descended
from Shakespeare, if not Falstaff himself), yet he can haggle the back
legs off a shark. You'd have ended up getting paid 50, buying some
dreadful piece of china from him for half of that back, and still
thinking you'd come out on top.

Not sure if anyone still does this, but my first ever solicitor in the
70's had a rather charming style in his bills. He'd itemise the search
fees, put in the hours and the rate, add them all up and write something
like this

total, 2142-76

But say, 2100

did that make you feel better?

That's why I wouldn't accept less. My standard charge is £45 first hour
or part thereof + materials. If I accepted less it would mean that my
original charge was artificially inflated.

--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

[John Rumm]

On 24/09/2011 23:24, The Medway Handyman wrote:
On 24/09/2011 16:50, ARWadsworth wrote:
Dave Plowman wrote:
In ,
The Medway wrote:
I give the lady the bill - £62:50 including parts& labour.

She goes into drama queen mode, she didn't expect it to be that
much, it was much too expensive, would I accept £50?

I would point out at this juncture that this is a 4 bed des res,
with a 2 year old Ford Galaxy& a 1 year old Focus in the drive.

She eventually paid the full amount grudgingly.

Any guesses as to her ethnic origins?

Clue - the capital city is Abuja.

Ever been abroad? It's natural to haggle over prices in many
countries.

And when in Rome....

Told her not to bother me again.

You must have plenty work.

He probably has plently of work when he is only charging £62.50 inc parts
for such a job.

TBF the parts only cost me £3:50 so I ended up with £59 for 50 mins
work. I can live with that.

Don't forget travel to and from etc ;-)

Point being a plumber would have charged £100+.

Easily...


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

[Dean Heighington[_2_]]

I'm surprised they had the knowledge to find the stop cock and turn it off!
I also would have quoted a call out over the phone especially at that time
of day and then reaffirmed that 'before' doing anything. I find most people
would be perfectly prepared to pay £100 for that kind of repair and would
be happy to hand it over, glad that you came on such short notice.
It would not be extortion, just basic Market economics and might just
persuade them to leave the hammer alone next time



--
What else are opposable thumbs for? Get to me at
masterfix{at}btinternet{dot}com

[Mr Pounder[_2_]]

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
...
Thursday afternoon, 4:45pm I get a call from a customer I've worked for
before.

Water pouring all over the downstairs cloakroom, had to turn the mains
off, can't cook the kids tea or give them a bath.

I get there at 5:30pm. The leak is from the fill valve connection. Not a
drip, water gushes out when you turn the mains back on.

Turns out it had been dripping and her husband tried to fix it - with a
hammer believe it or not.

By 6:20pm I've replaced the fill valve & the tap connector & straightened
the siphon so the fill valve arm doesn't get caught on it anymore.

I give the lady the bill - £62:50 including parts & labour.

She goes into drama queen mode, she didn't expect it to be that much, it
was much too expensive, would I accept £50?

I would point out at this juncture that this is a 4 bed des res, with a 2
year old Ford Galaxy & a 1 year old Focus in the drive.

She eventually paid the full amount grudgingly.

Any guesses as to her ethnic origins?

Clue - the capital city is Abuja.

Told her not to bother me again.

--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

Last year a two year old flexi pipe under the kitchen sink blew. Water
****ing everywhere.
I got the bottom part off but my hand just would not fit behind the sink. A
neighbour with smaller hands than me got it off. I would gladly have a paid
a plumber whatever he wanted to do it.
Pakis etc are not worth dealing with.

[ARWadsworth]

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
ARWadsworth wrote:
Ever been abroad? It's natural to haggle over prices in many
countries.

And when in Rome....

But it's frowned upon - called 'going native'. By the English.

On the olden days we just shot foreigners and pinched their country.

--
Adam

[ARWadsworth]

Andy Dingley wrote:
On Sep 24, 3:16 pm, The Medway Handyman
wrote:

She goes into drama queen mode, she didn't expect it to be that
much, it was much too expensive, would I accept 50?

Any guesses as to her ethnic origins?

That's just natural haggling. She'd have been happier if you'd quoted
80, then allowed her to haggle you down to 70. There's no malice or
tight-fistedness in it, it's just habit.

I have done a lot of work on traveller sites around South Yorkshire.

I usually double my quote and then let them haggle. It keeps everyone happy.

--
Adam

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

On Sun, 25 Sep 2011 03:54:48 -0700 (PDT), Owain
wrote:

On Sep 25, 9:39*am, "Brian Gaff" wrote:
Yorkshirmean

Did you mean to type 'Yorkshireman' or not?

Or 'Aberdonian/Highland' hotelier'?

[TheOldFellow]

On Sun, 25 Sep 2011 13:04:02 +0100
"ARWadsworth" wrote:

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
ARWadsworth wrote:
Ever been abroad? It's natural to haggle over prices in many
countries.

And when in Rome....

But it's frowned upon - called 'going native'. By the English.

On the olden days we just shot foreigners and pinched their country.


The GOOD old days.

Now we elect (or not, it's a moot point) governments who plan (and I
use the term loosely) to concrete over ours.

R.

[John Rumm]

On 25/09/2011 07:59, Dean Heighington wrote:
I'm surprised they had the knowledge to find the stop cock and turn it off!
I also would have quoted a call out over the phone especially at that time
of day and then reaffirmed that 'before' doing anything. I find most people
would be perfectly prepared to pay £100 for that kind of repair and would
be happy to hand it over, glad that you came on such short notice.
It would not be extortion, just basic Market economics and might just
persuade them to leave the hammer alone next time

I suppose since TMH had done work for them in the past, and presumably
stuck to exactly the same published price list as then, was not
expecting difficulties.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

[Derek Geldard]

On Sun, 25 Sep 2011 12:00:39 +0100, "Mr Pounder"
wrote:


Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

Last year a two year old flexi pipe under the kitchen sink blew. Water
****ing everywhere.
I got the bottom part off but my hand just would not fit behind the sink. A
neighbour with smaller hands than me got it off. I would gladly have a paid
a plumber whatever he wanted to do it.
Pakis etc are not worth dealing with.


They seem to be quite good with basic car fettling.It comes from
running a stash of old cars in the family, back home in the village.

IME can't as a rule read or write English even after some years, BTW.

Derek G.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article ,
Derek Geldard wrote:
Pakis etc are not worth dealing with.


They seem to be quite good with basic car fettling.It comes from
running a stash of old cars in the family, back home in the village.

My Pakistani neighbours don't own a car. The son carries out his business
as a registered osteopath from the house.

IME can't as a rule read or write English even after some years, BTW.

Both he and his elderly parents speak excellent English. And given they
have papers delivered I'd say it's safe to assume they can read too.

--
*Organized Crime Is Alive And Well; It's Called Auto Insurance.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[Derek Geldard]

On Sun, 25 Sep 2011 23:45:41 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

They seem to be quite good with basic car fettling.It comes from
running a stash of old cars in the family, back home in the village.

My Pakistani neighbours don't own a car.

The son carries out his business
as a registered osteopath from the house.

OTOH we've had 3 GPs with wives that clouldn't read/write English and
my sister used to run a volunteer English language course for
Pakistani women.

The wife of our local convenience store owner speaks no English and
has to walk 2-3 paces behind him.

Your neighbours would appear to be very rich.

I bought a car valet voucher from Groupon, when I went to claim my
valet I found that the Co. was 100% Pakistani, and only one (the
boss) out of 5 could speak English despite them being in their
mid-20s. This would appear to beg a lot of questions.


IME can't as a rule read or write English even after some years, BTW. The husband

Both he and his elderly parents speak excellent English. And given they
have papers delivered I'd say it's safe to assume they can read too.

At least as far as women are concerned usually if they can't speak the
language they don't learn, the husband simply wouldn't have it.

Derek G

[Mark[_30_]]

On Sat, 24 Sep 2011 23:24:06 +0100, The Medway Handyman
wrote:

On 24/09/2011 16:50, ARWadsworth wrote:
Dave Plowman wrote:
In ,
The Medway wrote:
I give the lady the bill - £62:50 including parts& labour.

She goes into drama queen mode, she didn't expect it to be that
much, it was much too expensive, would I accept £50?

I would point out at this juncture that this is a 4 bed des res,
with a 2 year old Ford Galaxy& a 1 year old Focus in the drive.

She eventually paid the full amount grudgingly.

Any guesses as to her ethnic origins?

Clue - the capital city is Abuja.

Ever been abroad? It's natural to haggle over prices in many
countries.

And when in Rome....

Told her not to bother me again.

You must have plenty work.

He probably has plently of work when he is only charging £62.50 inc parts
for such a job.

TBF the parts only cost me £3:50 so I ended up with £59 for 50 mins
work. I can live with that.

Point being a plumber would have charged £100+.

I doubt any plumber would have got out of bed for a job that cheap.
--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Due to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking some articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article ,
Derek Geldard wrote:
Both he and his elderly parents speak excellent English. And given they
have papers delivered I'd say it's safe to assume they can read too.

At least as far as women are concerned usually if they can't speak the
language they don't learn, the husband simply wouldn't have it.

Not so in this case. The elderly parents always go out together, and will
stop and chat to neighbours. Both of them.

--
*Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[Dean Heighington[_2_]]

John Rumm wrote:
On 25/09/2011 07:59, Dean Heighington wrote:
I'm surprised they had the knowledge to find the stop cock and turn it off!
I also would have quoted a call out over the phone especially at that time
of day and then reaffirmed that 'before' doing anything. I find most people
would be perfectly prepared to pay £100 for that kind of repair and would
be happy to hand it over, glad that you came on such short notice.
It would not be extortion, just basic Market economics and might just
persuade them to leave the hammer alone next time

I suppose since TMH had done work for them in the past, and presumably
stuck to exactly the same published price list as then, was not expecting difficulties.


That's what you'd think but then it's usually the one's you thought you had
a good rapport with that **** you up down the line. I don't know why this
happens but it does. Perhaps complacency on both sides plays a part. Who
knows, but I've learnt to expect the worst but hope for the best

--
What else are opposable thumbs for? Get to me at
masterfix{at}btinternet{dot}com