I'm coming to the conclusion that I ought to charge more for plumbing work.

I like to think that I'm quite good at basic plumbing jobs. I do it all
properly, check everything at least twice, use the right tools & materials.

Every now & then you get a call back - usually a drip that definitely wasn't
there when you last checked. You have to go back & sort it free of charge
obviously. Normally you get the call at 5:00pm on a Friday night :-(

I starting to realise why plumbers charge so much - it's to allow for the
unexpected call backs.

Would it be incongruous to charge one rate for most jobs but another for
plumbing?


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

Work out how many extra hours a month you typically spend on callbacks
- divide the cost between all the plumbing jobs, to work out the %
price hike needed. Remember the rule - the customer always pays for
everything.

The Medway Handyman wrote:

I starting to realise why plumbers charge so much - it's to allow for the
unexpected call backs.

Would it be incongruous to charge one rate for most jobs but another for
plumbing?

Hmm tricky one that...

If you went on a fixed price for the whole job basis, then that just
moves the risk on to you on a job that is renowned for throwing extra
complications at you when you least expect them. So you would have to
factor in significant contingency on the estimates, which will probably
make you seem expensive compared to a plumber!

One solution might be to have a list of fixed price "job elements" - say
"fit a washing machine tap £x", "new radiator valve £y" etc. If the list
is fairly fine grained than you estimate the cost to the customer in
advance, and you know that some contingency is factored into the prices.
The price can include materials as well at a suitable profit margin.

It is also a defensible position with customers since you can explain
that experience has shown that plumbing jobs have a nasty habit of
growing in scope after you have started them. As a result working this
way you are protecting the customer from an unexpectedly large bill
should the work turn out to be more complex, and also protecting
yourself should the complications arise after you have left the job.

Obviously you will still lose out on some jobs, but also you will gain
on the ones where it is straight forward.

--
Cheers,

John.

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

On Fri, 29 Jun 2007 00:21:44 +0100, The Medway Handyman wrote:

Would it be incongruous to charge one rate for most jobs but another for
plumbing?

As long as it's OK with the Guild of Medway Handymen I don't see why you
shouldn't charge what you see fit.

I charge according to the perceived depth of the punter's pocket, amongst
other factors. Other factors include generally charging more for gas work
than for plumbing, and more for plumbing than for general handyman stuff
but I tend to do the latter more for sweet little old ladies[1] so factor
#1 comes in there anyway.







[2] or sweet little young ladies :-)

--
John Stumbles

A backstreet vasectomy left me sterile

I charge according to the perceived depth of the punter's pocket, amongst
other factors.

Remind me never to employ you for any job on my house. Ever. What happened
to a fair rate for the job done?

On Fri, 29 Jun 2007 20:52:34 GMT, "rrh" mused:

I charge according to the perceived depth of the punter's pocket, amongst
other factors.

Remind me never to employ you for any job on my house. Ever. What happened
to a fair rate for the job done?

Depends which way you read it. IT could be a discount for people with
little money, or a tax for people with loads of money. Depends on what
your starting price is compared to everyone else, which is what it
comes down to. Everyone charges differently on different jobs, not
neccesarily intentionally either, but how the customer treats you also
plays a factor in the price of the job.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

"Lurch" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 29 Jun 2007 20:52:34 GMT, "rrh" mused:

I charge according to the perceived depth of the punter's pocket,
amongst
other factors.

Remind me never to employ you for any job on my house. Ever. What happened
to a fair rate for the job done?

Depends which way you read it. IT could be a discount for people with
little money, or a tax for people with loads of money. Depends on what
your starting price is compared to everyone else, which is what it
comes down to. Everyone charges differently on different jobs, not
neccesarily intentionally either, but how the customer treats you also
plays a factor in the price of the job.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

No excuse for ripping people of no matter which way you dress it.

rrh wrote:
I charge according to the perceived depth of the punter's pocket,
amongst other factors.

Remind me never to employ you for any job on my house. Ever. What
happened to a fair rate for the job done?

It's called 'business'. I adopt the same principle as John Stumbles does.

If I estimate (not quote) a job at 'approximately' 5 hours and do it in 4
the customer is happy. If it takes 6 hours they are rarely happy to pay the
extra.

It happens all the time in real life too. Consider Tesco 'value', Tesco
'standard' and Tesco 'Finest'.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

On Fri, 29 Jun 2007 22:22:07 +0100, Block wrote:

Remind me never to employ you for any job on my house. Ever.

OK: remember never to emply me for any job on your house!

What happened to a fair rate for the job done?
No excuse for ripping people of no matter which way you dress it.

The only complaints I ever get about my pricing are from a few
tight-wad private landlords minting it from ripping off tenants in squalid
accomodation.

I get plenty of repeat business from well-off customers who
I charge top rate, and I try to charge more affordable prices to folks
less well-off. Bottle half full or half empty?

--
John Stumbles

Xenophobia? - sounds a bit foreign to me.

John Stumbles wrote:
On Fri, 29 Jun 2007 22:22:07 +0100, Block wrote:

Remind me never to employ you for any job on my house. Ever.

OK: remember never to emply me for any job on your house!

What happened to a fair rate for the job done?
No excuse for ripping people of no matter which way you dress it.

The only complaints I ever get about my pricing are from a few
tight-wad private landlords minting it from ripping off tenants in
squalid accomodation.

Yup! BTDTGTTS. Just kicked another letting agency into touch because they
wanted everything done yesterday & queried every invoice - I don't need
that.


I get plenty of repeat business from well-off customers who
I charge top rate, and I try to charge more affordable prices to folks
less well-off. Bottle half full or half empty?

Yup! Agreed 100%.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

rrh wrote:

I charge according to the perceived depth of the punter's pocket, amongst
other factors.

Remind me never to employ you for any job on my house. Ever. What happened
to a fair rate for the job done?

Whatever happened to paying someone what they are worth?

I charge what the market will bear, if you don't like it you can ****
off.

On 2007-06-29 21:52:34 +0100, "rrh" said:

I charge according to the perceived depth of the punter's pocket, amongst
other factors.

Remind me never to employ you for any job on my house. Ever. What happened
to a fair rate for the job done?


Huh?


The fair rate is the one that pays the supplier of the goods and
services the price that he wishes to charge, consistent with the volume
of business that he expects to get and the price that the customer is
willing to pay. It's called business.

The supplier may wish to offer a lower price in order to win specific
business or because he would like the repeat business from the
customer. To that end, the supplier should consider that it is
generally less expensive to get repeat business than to prospect for
new.

He may also wish to win a greater volume of business. Sometimes
reducing the price achieves that. More commonly it doesn't because
there are usually other reasons not to buy.

If the customer wants to buy on price then he must also expect to
receive goods and services produced to meet that price.

"Fair rate" does not equate to low price for customer.

Andy Hall wrote:
On 2007-06-29 21:52:34 +0100, "rrh" said:

I charge according to the perceived depth of the punter's pocket,
amongst
other factors.

Remind me never to employ you for any job on my house. Ever. What
happened
to a fair rate for the job done?


Huh?


The fair rate is the one that pays the supplier of the goods and
services the price that he wishes to charge, consistent with the volume
of business that he expects to get and the price that the customer is
willing to pay. It's called business.

It's the 'price the customer is willing to pay' that gets me. It's a kind of
"you are richer than me, so I am going to screw you approach" which is on a par
to a high street conman IMO. It is like saying that people with a higher-paid
job than you know the value of nothing.

I have always believed that the rates should be appropriate to what the market
can bare. Within that framework, different levels of service can be offered.
Someone who can pay more and needs a job done quicker, can pay more to get that.
But paying more for the same job and service is just cynical.

In my line of work, I have my rates for putting jobs into my schedule. When my
schedule is full, the rates can go up, and I let people know it is because I am
busy. They then pay extra for me to work weekends and evenings to get an urgent
job done. That is worth it to them - if they need it that bad, and can afford to
pay more for the service, then it is probably worth it to them. But they do go
into the agreement with eyes open and trust is built.

What next: little old lady can 'afford' to pay £10,000 for a six foot length of
guttering, because she does not have all her marbles and so is 'willing to pay
it'? Supposing she does have her wits about her? Then do you threaten her a
little - a few hints about her health dropped in? That's business, isn't it?
Where do you draw the line?

-- JJ

On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 08:13:39 +0000, Jason wrote:

.... It's a
kind of "you are richer than me, so I am going to screw you approach"
which is on a par to a high street conman IMO.

How about "you are poorer than me but need the work done so I'll do it for
less than I really need to be charging to live on"? Is that on a par with a
high street conman?

--
John Stumbles

Extremely moderate

On 2007-06-30 09:13:39 +0100, Jason said:

Andy Hall wrote:
On 2007-06-29 21:52:34 +0100, "rrh" said:

I charge according to the perceived depth of the punter's pocket,
amongst
other factors.

Remind me never to employ you for any job on my house. Ever. What
happened
to a fair rate for the job done?


Huh?


The fair rate is the one that pays the supplier of the goods and
services the price that he wishes to charge, consistent with the volume
of business that he expects to get and the price that the customer is
willing to pay. It's called business.

It's the 'price the customer is willing to pay' that gets me. It's a kind of
"you are richer than me, so I am going to screw you approach" which is on a par
to a high street conman IMO. It is like saying that people with a higher-paid
job than you know the value of nothing.

No it isn't. Nobody is being screwed if the customer is happy to pay
the price. If he doesn't wish to, he can buy elsewhere. This is
the normal operation of the free market.




I have always believed that the rates should be appropriate to what the market
can bare. Within that framework, different levels of service can be offered.
Someone who can pay more and needs a job done quicker, can pay more to
get that.
But paying more for the same job and service is just cynical.

No it isn't. Service is also as perceived by the customer.
Delivery/execution time is only one example - there are many others.
The same item/service can have a significantly different value to one
person vs. another. For example, it may be the confidence that the
job will be done properly or that there won't be collateral damage or
in some areas could be advice on the design and execution.




In my line of work, I have my rates for putting jobs into my schedule. When my
schedule is full, the rates can go up, and I let people know it is because I am
busy. They then pay extra for me to work weekends and evenings to get an urgent
job done. That is worth it to them - if they need it that bad, and can
afford to
pay more for the service, then it is probably worth it to them. But they do go
into the agreement with eyes open and trust is built.

Trust is another large factor and is certainly worth paying for.



What next: little old lady can 'afford' to pay £10,000 for a six foot length of
guttering, because she does not have all her marbles and so is 'willing to pay
it'? Supposing she does have her wits about her? Then do you threaten her a
little - a few hints about her health dropped in? That's business, isn't it?
Where do you draw the line?

Do you sell to the little old lady at a loss because you feel sorry for
her or the nubile blonde because you like her attributes?

One can have a fixed set of charges for certain well defined jobs.
However, most are not - there will be unexpected side issues so pricing
variability certainly comes into play.

It's always possible to dream up rip off and give away arguments.
However, there is a broad spectrum in between where the market
determines the price.

What next: little old lady can 'afford' to pay £10,000 for a six foot length of
guttering, because she does not have all her marbles and so is 'willing to pay
it'?

No sentiment in "business", which is where it falls down as a religion.
The £10K would go towards Andy's protective gear, and the private
ambulance he would have parked up just in case.

On 2007-06-30 09:58:46 +0100, Stuart Noble
said:


What next: little old lady can 'afford' to pay £10,000 for a six foot length of
guttering, because she does not have all her marbles and so is 'willing to pay
it'?

No sentiment in "business", which is where it falls down as a religion.

Business is business - no religion in it.

Are you proposing that the supplier does jobs at cost or less for
sentimental reasons or operates on a low margin for charitable outcome?

If so, should he do *all* jobs on that basis or some at below cost
because he likes the old lady or deems that the work is essential and
there is an issue with the price?

There is cross subsidy all over the place. The tax system is an
ignominious example of it - a fair one would be VAT only.

If one is going to subsidise old ladies, then that has to be funded
from somewhere - either from the supplier's margin or from other
customers.

This takes us straight back to the concept of pricing based on ability
and willingness to pay.

The £10K would go towards Andy's protective gear, and the private
ambulance he would have parked up just in case.

It wouldn't go far towards those.

John Stumbles wrote:
On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 08:13:39 +0000, Jason wrote:

.... It's a
kind of "you are richer than me, so I am going to screw you approach"
which is on a par to a high street conman IMO.

How about "you are poorer than me but need the work done so I'll do
it for less than I really need to be charging to live on"? Is that on
a par with a high street conman?

Seems fair John. You could then explain to Tesco that they should charge
you less for your weekly shopping, or the building society that they should
reduce your mortgage.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 14:39:59 +0100, The Medway Handyman wrote:

Seems fair John. You could then explain to Tesco that they should
charge you less for your weekly shopping, or the building society that
they should reduce your mortgage.

Yeah, tried that when I was made redundant :-/

To be fair they did go for interest-only.

As for the supermarkets it's already a bit like that: the toffs got to
Waitrose while us pikeys use LiDL ;-)

--
John Stumbles

Xenophobia? - sounds a bit foreign to me.

Andy Hall wrote:
On 2007-06-30 09:58:46 +0100, Stuart Noble
said:


What next: little old lady can 'afford' to pay £10,000 for a six foot
length of
guttering, because she does not have all her marbles and so is
'willing to pay
it'?

No sentiment in "business", which is where it falls down as a religion.

Business is business - no religion in it.

Are you proposing that the supplier does jobs at cost or less for
sentimental reasons or operates on a low margin for charitable outcome?

Yes, if he feels like it at the time

If so, should he do *all* jobs on that basis or some at below cost
because he likes the old lady or deems that the work is essential and
there is an issue with the price?

It's up to him. Maybe he doesn't have a set of rigid rules because he's
a human being and not a walking calculator.

There is cross subsidy all over the place. The tax system is an
ignominious example of it - a fair one would be VAT only.

If one is going to subsidise old ladies, then that has to be funded from
somewhere - either from the supplier's margin or from other customers.

If I help one across the road and I lose 10 minutes of my ever so
precious time, I suppose I pay for it, but am I bothered?

This takes us straight back to the concept of pricing based on ability
and willingness to pay.

The £10K would go towards Andy's protective gear, and the private
ambulance he would have parked up just in case.

It wouldn't go far towards those.

On Fri, 29 Jun 2007 20:52:34 +0000, rrh wrote:

I charge according to the perceived depth of the punter's pocket, amongst
other factors.

Remind me never to employ you for any job on my house. Ever. What happened
to a fair rate for the job done?

I think he approach is a fair one. Many people do work not just for the
money but for a variety of other factors. I too, frankly, gain more
motivation on having a good working relationship with my customers
than the money. The latter has to be viable of course.

There are some jobs which you want to do well but you can only do them
well if you taje enough care. If you had to charge 'fairly' for what it
takes the job would never get done and/or someone else would do it badly
and/or the customer would be ripped off.



--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html
Choosing a Boiler FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/BoilerChoice.html
Gas Fitting Standards Docs he http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFittingStandards

On Fri, 29 Jun 2007 23:31:46 +0100, The Medway Handyman wrote:

John Stumbles wrote:
On Fri, 29 Jun 2007 22:22:07 +0100, Block wrote:

Remind me never to employ you for any job on my house. Ever.

OK: remember never to emply me for any job on your house!

What happened to a fair rate for the job done?
No excuse for ripping people of no matter which way you dress it.

The only complaints I ever get about my pricing are from a few
tight-wad private landlords minting it from ripping off tenants in
squalid accomodation.

Yup! BTDTGTTS. Just kicked another letting agency into touch because they
wanted everything done yesterday & queried every invoice - I don't need
that.


Quite so. I must be quite fortunate to have gathered a selection of
landlords who see the benefit of less total expenditure in the
medium/longer term by doing the job correctly with adequate detail and
quality first time.





--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html
Choosing a Boiler FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/BoilerChoice.html
Gas Fitting Standards Docs he http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFittingStandards

On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 08:54:50 +0000, John Stumbles wrote:

On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 08:13:39 +0000, Jason wrote:

.... It's a
kind of "you are richer than me, so I am going to screw you approach"
which is on a par to a high street conman IMO.

How about "you are poorer than me but need the work done so I'll do it for
less than I really need to be charging to live on"? Is that on a par with a
high street conman?

Nicely put.
So often the arguments to 'how can you charge me so much' come down to:

If others are so much cheaper why are you asking me?
Why don't you do it yourself.
i) No time.
ii) No skills.
iii) No tools.
iv) Not certified/qualified/legal.

Which all come down to my time is valuable, my skills have a price, my
tools cost money and they wear out and get stolen and finally getting
qualified is very expensive.

Why do you think my time is not worth as much as yours?

The most determining factors on getting me to do work for someone is
a) How busy i am.
b) How near they live to me.
c) Past experience good/bad of hassle and paying.

--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html
Choosing a Boiler FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/BoilerChoice.html
Gas Fitting Standards Docs he http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFittingStandards

Ed Sirett wrote in message
So often the arguments to 'how can you charge me so much' come down to:

If others are so much cheaper why are you asking me?
Why don't you do it yourself.
i) No time.
ii) No skills.
iii) No tools.
iv) Not certified/qualified/legal.

Which all come down to my time is valuable, my skills have a price,


But do you charge extra for plumbing because you have to keep going back to
jobs for free of charge, to rectify drips and leaks. ?



-

On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 22:55:23 +0000, Mark wrote:

But do you charge extra for plumbing because you have to keep going back
to jobs for free of charge, to rectify drips and leaks. ?

The question presupposes that Ed *does* have to keep going back to
rectify drips and leaks.


--
John Stumbles

Bob the builder - it'll cost 'yer
Bob the builder - loadsa dosh

On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 11:07:28 +0100, Andy Hall wrote:

Are you proposing that the supplier does jobs at cost or less for
sentimental reasons or operates on a low margin for charitable outcome?

Rarely less than cost, but certainly at lower than the sort of rates I need
to charge across the board get my target income.

If so, should he do *all* jobs on that basis or some at below cost
because he likes the old lady or deems that the work is essential and
there is an issue with the price?

No should about it: I do so if I'm thus motivated.

There is cross subsidy all over the place. The tax system is an
ignominious example of it - a fair one would be VAT only.

cough!There's a whole other argument there, wildly OT for uk.d-i-y, but
I thought it was generally accepted that purchase taxes such as VAT
favour the better off whereas income taxes favour those on
lower incomes. So it really depends on what one means by "fair"

If one is going to subsidise old ladies, then that has to be funded
from somewhere - either from the supplier's margin or from other
customers.

Or both. No-one *has* to engage me to do a job so if they have ideological
objections to subsidising the worse-off they can employ as fundamentalist
free-marketeer Adam Smith type.

This takes us straight back to the concept of pricing based on ability
and willingness to pay.

From each according to his ability
To each according to his need.

ducks!

--
John Stumbles

Women always generalise

On 2007-06-30 10:52:59 +0100, Huge said:

On 2007-06-29, John Stumbles wrote:
On Fri, 29 Jun 2007 00:21:44 +0100, The Medway Handyman wrote:

Would it be incongruous to charge one rate for most jobs but another for
plumbing?

As long as it's OK with the Guild of Medway Handymen I don't see why you
shouldn't charge what you see fit.

I charge according to the perceived depth of the punter's pocket, amongst
other factors.

We call it "big house effect". And it ****es me off. My "you're 'avin a laugh"
detector works just fine, big house or no.

Does it work in Sainsbury's?

On 2007-07-01 09:44:27 +0100, John Stumbles said:

On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 11:07:28 +0100, Andy Hall wrote:

Are you proposing that the supplier does jobs at cost or less for
sentimental reasons or operates on a low margin for charitable outcome?

Rarely less than cost, but certainly at lower than the sort of rates I need
to charge across the board get my target income.

Which is fair enough. The point is that the price does vary based on
the supplier's perception of the customer's ability to pay.

That can be for reasons of wanting to help the person who is going to
struggle to pay while effectively subsidising that from those who can
pay more.

Equally, one could say that the "old lady rate" is the "fair" one and
that the other punters are being gouged in their deep pockets.

It's a matter of perception and motivation.




If so, should he do *all* jobs on that basis or some at below cost
because he likes the old lady or deems that the work is essential and
there is an issue with the price?

No should about it: I do so if I'm thus motivated.

There is cross subsidy all over the place. The tax system is an
ignominious example of it - a fair one would be VAT only.

cough!There's a whole other argument there, wildly OT for uk.d-i-y, but
I thought it was generally accepted that purchase taxes such as VAT
favour the better off whereas income taxes favour those on
lower incomes. So it really depends on what one means by "fair"

Provided that it's structured in a tiered way, as is done a little in
the UK, but more extensively elsewhere, it's very fair. Zero rate or
low rate the essentials such as food and energy and have higher rates
for non essentials.
Thus the less well off are protected while the better off, who want to
buy consumer goods will pay the taxes.

There are at least two other benefits:

- Encouragement of saving and retirement and healthcare provisioning

- Ability to fine tune in specific sectors and activities. For
example, it's possible in France, to reclaim VAT on many types of home
improvement.





If one is going to subsidise old ladies, then that has to be funded
from somewhere - either from the supplier's margin or from other
customers.

Or both. No-one *has* to engage me to do a job so if they have ideological
objections to subsidising the worse-off they can employ as fundamentalist
free-marketeer Adam Smith type.

I am sure that all but the most naive would expect that you would do
this. the more far thinking might even work out that some years into
the future they may need more creative pricing.



This takes us straight back to the concept of pricing based on ability
and willingness to pay.

From each according to his ability
To each according to his need.

ducks!

Let's not go too mad :-)

On Sun, 01 Jul 2007 08:23:11 +0000, John Stumbles wrote:

On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 22:55:23 +0000, Mark wrote:

But do you charge extra for plumbing because you have to keep going back
to jobs for free of charge, to rectify drips and leaks. ?

The question presupposes that Ed *does* have to keep going back to
rectify drips and leaks.


Plumbing is an awkward trade as the required standard is perfection.
No one is perfect. My hit rate for joints is around 98% (all types of
fittings). Of those that do leak 90%+ are detected and dealt with at the
time. That leaves the ones even if it's only one in every 500 joints which
cause a call back.

When I first started my percentages were worse.
My apprentice said "It's one thing doing this in college on the bench it's
a bit more difficult doing it in a badly lit cellar with old pipes."


--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html
Choosing a Boiler FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/BoilerChoice.html
Gas Fitting Standards Docs he http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFittingStandards

On 2007-07-01 10:31:41 +0100, Huge said:

On 2007-07-01, Andy Hall wrote:
On 2007-06-30 10:52:59 +0100, Huge said:

On 2007-06-29, John Stumbles wrote:
On Fri, 29 Jun 2007 00:21:44 +0100, The Medway Handyman wrote:

Would it be incongruous to charge one rate for most jobs but another for
plumbing?

As long as it's OK with the Guild of Medway Handymen I don't see why you
shouldn't charge what you see fit.

I charge according to the perceived depth of the punter's pocket, amongst
other factors.

We call it "big house effect". And it ****es me off. My "you're 'avin a laugh"
detector works just fine, big house or no.

Does it work in Sainsbury's?

Sainsburys can't see my house.

Reminds me of the famous line:

"Hey Peter, I can see your house from here!"

On 2007-07-02 10:06:34 +0100, Huge said:

We call it "big house effect". And it ****es me off. My "you're 'avin a laugh"
detector works just fine, big house or no.

Does it work in Sainsbury's?

Sainsburys can't see my house.

Reminds me of the famous line:

"Hey Peter, I can see your house from here!"

"Whoosh!", I'm afraid.

[Googles}

Ah. *grin*


Coming back to DIY

http://tinyurl.com/2lxosv

On Jul 1, 9:23 am, John Stumbles wrote:
On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 22:55:23 +0000, Mark wrote:
But do you charge extra for plumbing because you have to keep going back
to jobs for free of charge, to rectify drips and leaks. ?

The question presupposes that Ed *does* have to keep going back to
rectify drips and leaks.

--
John Stumbles

Bob the builder - it'll cost 'yer
Bob the builder - loadsa dosh


If you had to revisit to rectify a problem then that's fair enough
isn't it.
I'm sure generally people have better things to do than call up
plumbers for ficticious problems (although I agree this sometimes
happens)
People tend to call back when they have a problem not for the fun of
it.

As for charging "well off" people more.
Then how exactly do you ascertain this?

The type of house, where it is, the decoration, what the person is
wearing, age, how they speak?
Its bordering on discrimination. Its fairly difficult in most cases to
know who is well off and who is not.

Ripping people off in any field is simply unacceptable and is sheer
greed.
No wonder the Polish people are getting all the jobs. (although from
experience are learning your ways too)

"Huge" wrote in message
...
On 2007-07-01, Andy Hall wrote:
On 2007-06-30 10:52:59 +0100, Huge
said:

snip

We call it "big house effect". And it ****es me off. My "you're
'avin a laugh"
detector works just fine, big house or no.

Does it work in Sainsbury's?

Sainsburys can't see my house.


That can if they have you post code, especially if you use a direct
marketing ca... sorry, a 'store loyalty card' - one reason why I'm
very curt with anyone who suggests that people should be obtaining /
using them...

On Sun, 01 Jul 2007 10:24:31 +0100, Andy Hall wrote:

Equally, one could say that the "old lady rate" is the "fair" one and
that the other punters are being gouged in their deep pockets.

It's a matter of perception and motivation.

As I said earlier: bottle half empty or half-full?!

--
John Stumbles

I forgot to take my amnesia medecine again

On 2007-07-02 23:17:10 +0100, John Stumbles said:

On Sun, 01 Jul 2007 10:24:31 +0100, Andy Hall wrote:

Equally, one could say that the "old lady rate" is the "fair" one and
that the other punters are being gouged in their deep pockets.

It's a matter of perception and motivation.

As I said earlier: bottle half empty or half-full?!

Yes I suppose that is a way to look at it.

How things look depends on where you are sitting.