in 1008097 20101213 010051 "ARWadsworth" wrote:

Anyone with a brian cell ...

You got that bit right! ;-)

On Dec 13, 12:24*am, "The Medway Handyman" davidno-spam-
wrote:
Owain wrote:
On Dec 12, 7:12 pm, jgharston *wrote:
I let an elderly neighbour benefit from my outside light
to see to get to her electric scooter. She kept insisting
on paying for the electricity. I told her it was probably
something like a pound - so she dug one out and wouldn't
let me leave without it

"Och, son, we'll gae halves. There's ten boab"

I did have a 76 year old lady trying to beat me down on a quote yesterday
:-)

--
Dave - The Medway Handymanwww.medwayhandyman.co.uk

If you don't try, you don't get. We don't have a bargaining
philosophy in this country, but if we did no doubt the starting price
would be at least twice as high and there would be people getting
ripped off.

On Mon, 13 Dec 2010 00:53:14 -0000, ARWadsworth wrote:

So, what was the actual fault ?

The customers are on a pre payment gas meter and they were out of
gas/credit.

Total ******s IMHO

They hadn't had a snowman stolen last week, had they?
--
Peter.
The gods will stay away
whilst religions hold sway

On 13/12/10 00:55, Jim Newman wrote:
On 13/12/2010 00:22, The Medway Handyman wrote:
Jim Newman wrote:
On 12/12/2010 19:12, jgharston wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
I have an old lady customer who gives me a cheque for the bill,
then press's a 1 coin into my hand saying "get yourself a pint on
the way home" :-)

I let an elderly neighbour benefit from my outside light
to see to get to her electric scooter. She kept insisting
on paying for the electricity. I told her it was probably
something like a pound - so she dug one out and wouldn't
let me leave without it

Of course a true professional like TMH would have looked online for
the most expensive rate, then discounted it by 10% and thought he was
doing his customers a favour!

Another ****** who has never been self employed.


Does being self employed justify overcharging your customers?

So you think Tesco should sell you beans at cost?

Parts and labour - both are valid methods:

1) Markup parts and charge less labour

2) Parts at discount (trade cost) and higher levels of labour + admin
overhead plus time (at labour rates) to obtain part.

1) is in my view simpler for the customer to cope with rather than a
pointless excercise in summarising every internal cost.



--
Tim Watts

On 13/12/10 01:13, Jim Newman wrote:
On 13/12/2010 01:00, ARWadsworth wrote:
Jim wrote:
On 13/12/2010 00:22, The Medway Handyman wrote:
Jim Newman wrote:
On 12/12/2010 19:12, jgharston wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
I have an old lady customer who gives me a cheque for the bill,
then press's a 1 coin into my hand saying "get yourself a pint on
the way home" :-)

I let an elderly neighbour benefit from my outside light
to see to get to her electric scooter. She kept insisting
on paying for the electricity. I told her it was probably
something like a pound - so she dug one out and wouldn't
let me leave without it

Of course a true professional like TMH would have looked online for
the most expensive rate, then discounted it by 10% and thought he
was doing his customers a favour!

Another ****** who has never been self employed.


Does being self employed justify overcharging your customers?

When I charge expenses to my customer, I charge the actual amount, not
some made up figure.

I charge a separate amount for my expertise and skills.

The customer knows what are the costs of 'me', and can also check on
the specific expenses for the job.

You may choose to do it differently, but it cannot be denied that
you're overcharging the extra costs onto your customers.

Anyone with a brian cell charges a markup on parts.


Really? I charge for my skills and my time; I don't charge an extra 140%
on parts.

But hey, maybe you do.

I just wonder why you are so defensive about it.


So how do you charge the time taken to obtain parts, the time spent on
admin for that supplier account and so on?

Do you just mark up your labour to cover these hidden costs?

No such an obvious argument is it?

--
Tim Watts

On Mon, 13 Dec 2010 00:55:35 +0000, Jim Newman wrote:

When I charge expenses to my customer, I charge the actual amount, not
some made up figure.

But do you find the cheapest hotel to stay in for an area or just
take the offered by the nearest Hilton? Do you charge your mileage at
fuel only?

If you don't find the cheapest deal(s) for *all* your expenses you
are just being a hypocrite.

--
Cheers
Dave.

Andy Dingley wrote:
On Dec 12, 7:09 pm, "ARWadsworth"
wrote:

3. Was I offered a brew? No

How much does that put on your bills? 8-)

Loads:-)

Round here I even offer coffee if you're just working outside the
house, let alone doing something for me. That coffee has brought me a
couple of downed trees and several lengths of cable.

You would be surprised how many empty houses I have worked in where a
neighbour makes a brew for the lads.

--
Adam

In article , The Medway Handyman
writes
Owain wrote:
On Dec 12, 7:12 pm, jgharston wrote:
I let an elderly neighbour benefit from my outside light
to see to get to her electric scooter. She kept insisting
on paying for the electricity. I told her it was probably
something like a pound - so she dug one out and wouldn't
let me leave without it

"Och, son, we'll gae halves. There's ten boab"

I did have a 76 year old lady trying to beat me down on a quote yesterday
:-)

Feel free to re-use:
"I give my best price first time every time, there really isn't any room
for negotiation. I feel that's the fairest way for everybody."

Actually a variation of how I used to ask for quotes for suppliers in
industry, "best price, first time, every time". It was surprising how
many could not understand the concept.

Btw Adam, LOL, empty pre-payment meter, HA!
--
fred
FIVE TV's superbright logo - not the DOG's, it's ********

Owain wrote:
On Dec 13, 12:53 am, "ARWadsworth" wrote:
4. Why the hell should I have to apologise for turning up on a
Sunday morning to fix an easy fault (a fault caused by the
customer)?
So, what was the actual fault ?
The customers are on a pre payment gas meter and they were out of
gas/credit.

Hahahahahahaha.

So how were you expected to 'fix' that fault? Lend them a tenner, or
some 'imaginative' pipework?

Owain

They had put some credit on but the boiler had gone into lockout. They were
obviously too lazy to go and press the reset button.

--
Adam

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Jim Newman saying
something like:

Of course a true professional like TMH would have looked online for the
most expensive rate, then discounted it by 10% and thought he was doing
his customers a favour!

Trolling arsehole and you're not even any good at it.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "ARWadsworth"
saying something like:

The exact phrasing of the question is important I expect the people
asked got the impression your wife was looking to share a taxi with
them not offering a lift. Just asking the other peoples destination
without saying why I can easyly see how this misunderstanding came
about.

Yep, and they were all scared to offer to share "their" taxi.

Yes, because mad axe wielding psycho maniacs are so common in Tesco
these days. What the **** is it with people in towns these days? In
rural areas, you'd have a flurry of hands wanting the lift.

On Dec 13, 2:28*pm, fred wrote:
In article , The Medway Handyman
writesOwain wrote:
On Dec 12, 7:12 pm, jgharston *wrote:
I let an elderly neighbour benefit from my outside light
to see to get to her electric scooter. She kept insisting
on paying for the electricity. I told her it was probably
something like a pound - so she dug one out and wouldn't
let me leave without it

"Och, son, we'll gae halves. There's ten boab"

I did have a 76 year old lady trying to beat me down on a quote yesterday
:-)

Feel free to re-use:
"I give my best price first time every time, there really isn't any room
for negotiation. I feel that's the fairest way for everybody."

Actually a variation of how I used to ask for quotes for suppliers in
industry, "best price, first time, every time". It was surprising how
many could not understand the concept.

Do you?

How on earth do you know you are getting the best price, first time,
unless you test it?

MBQ

On 13/12/2010 15:33, ARWadsworth wrote:
wrote:
On Dec 13, 12:53 am, "ARWadsworth" wrote:
4. Why the hell should I have to apologise for turning up on a
Sunday morning to fix an easy fault (a fault caused by the
customer)?
So, what was the actual fault ?
The customers are on a pre payment gas meter and they were out of
gas/credit.

Hahahahahahaha.

So how were you expected to 'fix' that fault? Lend them a tenner, or
some 'imaginative' pipework?

Owain

They had put some credit on but the boiler had gone into lockout. They were
obviously too lazy to go and press the reset button.


Maybe that should have been sussed during the initial phone call?

Jim Newman wrote:
On 12/12/2010 22:34, ARWadsworth wrote:
Jim wrote:
On 12/12/2010 19:12, jgharston wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
I have an old lady customer who gives me a cheque for the bill,
then press's a 1 coin into my hand saying "get yourself a pint on
the way home" :-)

I let an elderly neighbour benefit from my outside light
to see to get to her electric scooter. She kept insisting
on paying for the electricity. I told her it was probably
something like a pound - so she dug one out and wouldn't
let me leave without it

Of course a true professional like TMH would have looked online for
the most expensive rate, then discounted it by 10% and thought he
was doing his customers a favour!

Well it is always nice to have a total **** like yourself vent your
opinion. Now do **** off you steaming great ****.

Clearly you have no objection to little old ladies being overcharged
by handymen for parts.

I don't 'overcharge' idiot. They could of course get the parts from
Homebase & pay even more.


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

stuart noble wrote:
On 13/12/2010 15:33, ARWadsworth wrote:
wrote:
On Dec 13, 12:53 am, "ARWadsworth" wrote:
4. Why the hell should I have to apologise for turning up on a
Sunday morning to fix an easy fault (a fault caused by the
customer)?
So, what was the actual fault ?
The customers are on a pre payment gas meter and they were out of
gas/credit.

Hahahahahahaha.

So how were you expected to 'fix' that fault? Lend them a tenner, or
some 'imaginative' pipework?

Owain

They had put some credit on but the boiler had gone into lockout.
They were obviously too lazy to go and press the reset button.


Maybe that should have been sussed during the initial phone call?

Easier said than done when the customer has no intentions of doing anything
for themselves.

Whilst messing about they had also lost the RF signal between the programmer
and the receiver.

--
Adam

Jim Newman wrote:
On 13/12/2010 00:22, The Medway Handyman wrote:
Jim Newman wrote:
On 12/12/2010 19:12, jgharston wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
I have an old lady customer who gives me a cheque for the bill,
then press's a 1 coin into my hand saying "get yourself a pint on
the way home" :-)

I let an elderly neighbour benefit from my outside light
to see to get to her electric scooter. She kept insisting
on paying for the electricity. I told her it was probably
something like a pound - so she dug one out and wouldn't
let me leave without it

Of course a true professional like TMH would have looked online for
the most expensive rate, then discounted it by 10% and thought he
was doing his customers a favour!

Another ****** who has never been self employed.


Does being self employed justify overcharging your customers?

No one is overcharging anyone.

When I charge expenses to my customer, I charge the actual amount, not
some made up figure.

Presumably by expenses you mean travel, accomodation etc?

I charge a separate amount for my expertise and skills.

At what hourly rate?

The customer knows what are the costs of 'me', and can also check on
the specific expenses for the job.

You may choose to do it differently, but it cannot be denied that
you're overcharging the extra costs onto your customers.

Of course it can be denied. Do garages supply parts & consumables at their
cost prices? Do appliance repair guys supply parts at cost price?

Its not 'overcharging' its sensible & acceptable business practice.


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

On Sun, 12 Dec 2010 22:07:59 +0000, Dave
wrote:



When I asked what he wanted for the job, he just said give me £20-00.
I'm going to give him £25-00 and tell him to buy himself a drink.

I have an old lady customer who gives me a cheque for the bill, then press's
a £1 coin into my hand saying "get yourself a pint on the way home" :-)

She must be very old, bless her. It's the thought that counts.

Dave

She may be a member of the Temperance movement and expects him to get
a Pint of Milk.

G.Harman

ARWadsworth wrote:

Whilst messing about they had also lost the RF signal between the programmer
and the receiver.

I've got this problem with a customer, or maybe it's the thermostat.
The remote Thermostat is calling for heat, but the receiver at the
boiler is not receiving the signal, so doesnt start up.
When the reset button is pressed on the remote thermostat, all is well
again.

I've left it unplugged now, but it will have to be sorted sometime - any
clues on what to do?
The Thermostat is a Salus RT500, new a few weeks ago. It doesnt have a
good reputation if googled, so maybe it is just a crap thermostat.
Not really my problem, as I wired it up for a plumber, but it will need
to be fixed if possible, as it is a rented house.

Aaln.

--
To reply by e-mail, change the ' + ' to 'plus'.

Owain wrote:
something like a pound - so she dug one out and wouldn't
let me leave without it

"Och, son, we'll gae halves. There's ten boab"
Or was this before you moved?

Was down in Sheffield last week after striving through
sleet, snow and glom of nit to collect my car.

JGH

On 13/12/2010 19:30, wrote:
On Sun, 12 Dec 2010 22:07:59 +0000,
wrote:



When I asked what he wanted for the job, he just said give me £20-00.
I'm going to give him £25-00 and tell him to buy himself a drink.

I have an old lady customer who gives me a cheque for the bill, then press's
a £1 coin into my hand saying "get yourself a pint on the way home" :-)

She must be very old, bless her. It's the thought that counts.

Dave

She may be a member of the Temperance movement and expects him to get
a Pint of Milk.

Oh! yes. you can still get a pint of milk outside a supermarket. I
think. for that price.

Dave

Owain wrote:
The customers are on a pre payment gas meter and they were out of
gas/credit.

Hahahahahahaha.
So how were you expected to 'fix' that fault? Lend them a tenner, or
some 'imaginative' pipework?

In this country we have what we call "MONNEEE". You go to
what we call a "POOST OFFICCCE" or a "NEWWWSS AGENTS" and
give the gentleman some MONNNEEE...

JGH

A.Lee wrote:
ARWadsworth wrote:

Whilst messing about they had also lost the RF signal between the
programmer and the receiver.

I've got this problem with a customer, or maybe it's the thermostat.
The remote Thermostat is calling for heat, but the receiver at the
boiler is not receiving the signal, so doesnt start up.
When the reset button is pressed on the remote thermostat, all is well
again.

I've left it unplugged now, but it will have to be sorted sometime -
any clues on what to do?
The Thermostat is a Salus RT500, new a few weeks ago. It doesnt have a
good reputation if googled, so maybe it is just a crap thermostat.
Not really my problem, as I wired it up for a plumber, but it will
need to be fixed if possible, as it is a rented house.

Start off with moving the programmer to check the signal is not blocked,
then try re-pairing them up again. Other than that, swap it.

--
Adam

On Dec 13, 7:30*pm, wrote:

She may be a member of the Temperance movement and expects him to get
a Pint of Milk.

Chavenbrau is cheaper than milk

The Medway Handyman wrote:

Donnie wrote:
Anthony R. Gold wrote:

On Sun, 12 Dec 2010 16:54:04 -0000, "ARWadsworth"
wrote:

I got a call this morning from a building firm I work with
about a customer with no HW or CH.

As it was Sunday morning and I live local to the job (everyone
else is at least 20 miles away) the owner of the firm called me
and asked if I would nip round for a quick look.

I went round and fixed the fixed the problem. However I was
looking after my girlfriend's 5 year old lad at the time so I
took him with me.

Did you spend the 30 seconds it would take to explain that to the
customer?

Of course taking kids out on jobs is unprofessional, so you need
to explain that you are only offering to do that as a favour to
them. I guess you are a brilliant plumber who could benefit from
a brief course in bedside manner.

Tony

I guess you're a ****ing ****.

And who the **** are you to voice an opinion?

Hi Im Donnie. Pleased to meet you. Now, you were agreeing with Tony?

--
Donnie - "**** the world, it's time to fight back"
Honda CB500R "Look out, Donnie's about!"
Lambretta Series 2 186cc "The ****ter"
Lambretta LD 175cc "The Chopper"

Tim Streater wrote:
In article ,
"tim...." wrote:
I don't drink the stuff so there is none in the house (though I do
have a kettle)

Neither tea nor coffee you mean? Don't you have hot drinks at your
place?

Not at home no.

Most unhealthy.

Nothing to stop you keeping some in for the purpose - and for
visitors in general.

I tried that

It goes stale (and you still need the milk!)

So add the milk then.

No way. Stale tea is horrible.

I keep a kettle, two unbreakable cups, tea, coffee, sugar and coffee mate in
the van.
The coffee mate is for emergencies (ie no shops nearby for fresh whole fat
milk).

--
Adam

On 14/12/2010 17:06, ARWadsworth wrote:
Tim wrote:
In ,
wrote:
I don't drink the stuff so there is none in the house (though I do
have a kettle)

Neither tea nor coffee you mean? Don't you have hot drinks at your
place?

Not at home no.

Most unhealthy.

Nothing to stop you keeping some in for the purpose - and for
visitors in general.

I tried that

It goes stale (and you still need the milk!)

So add the milk then.

No way. Stale tea is horrible.

I keep a kettle, two unbreakable cups, tea, coffee, sugar and coffee mate in
the van.
The coffee mate is for emergencies (ie no shops nearby for fresh whole fat
milk).

When I was working in the aerospace industry, I had a coffee maker in
the bottom drawer of my desk in front of the aircraft.

I used to use long life cream, but never coffee mate. It was disgusting.

I miss the coffee now.

Dave

On 14/12/2010 21:33, Dave wrote:
On 14/12/2010 17:06, ARWadsworth wrote:
Tim wrote:
In ,
wrote:
I don't drink the stuff so there is none in the house (though I do
have a kettle)

Neither tea nor coffee you mean? Don't you have hot drinks at your
place?

Not at home no.

Most unhealthy.

Nothing to stop you keeping some in for the purpose - and for
visitors in general.

I tried that

It goes stale (and you still need the milk!)

So add the milk then.

No way. Stale tea is horrible.

I keep a kettle, two unbreakable cups, tea, coffee, sugar and coffee
mate in
the van.
The coffee mate is for emergencies (ie no shops nearby for fresh whole
fat
milk).

When I was working in the aerospace industry, I had a coffee maker in
the bottom drawer of my desk in front of the aircraft.

I used to use long life cream, but never coffee mate. It was disgusting.

I miss the coffee now.

Dave


Apparently the Brits working on German building sites in the 80s used to
have a large bucket on the go with about 50 tea bags floating around in
it, much to the amusement of the locals

In article ,
Jim Newman wrote:
Really? I charge for my skills and my time; I don't charge an extra 140%
on parts.

But hey, maybe you do.

I just wonder why you are so defensive about it.

A decent repair person will keep at least some of the commonly needed bits
in stock. If they are then 'sold' to the customer at 'cost', how do you
recover the investment of actually bothering to stock these parts?

But perhaps you thing it ok to charge directly for the time and expenses
of a visit to B&Q or whatever for one thingie.

--
*I pretend to work. - they pretend to pay me.

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

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Jim Newman wrote:
Really? I charge for my skills and my time; I don't charge an extra 140%
on parts.

But hey, maybe you do.

I just wonder why you are so defensive about it.

A decent repair person will keep at least some of the commonly needed bits
in stock. If they are then 'sold' to the customer at 'cost', how do you
recover the investment of actually bothering to stock these parts?

Buy at trade prices, charge retail.

It worked for me when I was in charge of pricing stuff at the garage I
worked at. In fact, I often charged (Checkable) retail less a percentage
to show a discount, and the client was even happier.

--
Tciao for Now!

John.

In article ,
John Williamson wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Jim Newman wrote:
Really? I charge for my skills and my time; I don't charge an extra
140% on parts.

But hey, maybe you do.

I just wonder why you are so defensive about it.

A decent repair person will keep at least some of the commonly needed
bits in stock. If they are then 'sold' to the customer at 'cost', how
do you recover the investment of actually bothering to stock these
parts?

Buy at trade prices, charge retail.

Indeed.

It worked for me when I was in charge of pricing stuff at the garage I
worked at. In fact, I often charged (Checkable) retail less a percentage
to show a discount, and the client was even happier.

I do wonder about some dealer's mark up, though. I recently bought an
inlet manifold gasket for my old Rover from a Land Rover main dealer -
didn't want to wait for the post. Cost 28 quid. 3 times the price of one
mail order. And probably from the same maker.

--
*Don't byte off more than you can view *

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

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
I do wonder about some dealer's mark up, though. I recently bought an
inlet manifold gasket for my old Rover from a Land Rover main dealer -
didn't want to wait for the post. Cost 28 quid. 3 times the price of one
mail order. And probably from the same maker.

Quite possibly, for a part like that.

The main dealer mark up *is* often quite generous. What I found, though,
was that if I bought a pallet load of, say, filters, direct from the
makers, the price was very low per unit, but I had to find room to store
them for anything up to a year, which cost a fair bit. That's what
pushes dealer costs up, well, that and the logo on the high street door.
Their discount on small orders isn't that good, either, from what I
remember.

The postal supplier has a warehouse on a trading estate, so his rent's
lower, and he doesn't have to impress the people walking past, so his
shop's cheaper to set up. He also turns his stock over more quickly, and
often carries a smaller range, so he's not subsidising the slower
selling items with the faster turnover stuff. The extreme with some
postal suppliers is where they have zero stock, and wait for enough
orders to come in so they can buy a batch.

--
Tciao for Now!

John.

On 2010-12-15 14:16:38 +0000, John Williamson said:

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
I do wonder about some dealer's mark up, though. I recently bought an
inlet manifold gasket for my old Rover from a Land Rover main dealer -
didn't want to wait for the post. Cost 28 quid. 3 times the price of one
mail order. And probably from the same maker.

Quite possibly, for a part like that.

The main dealer mark up *is* often quite generous. What I found,
though, was that if I bought a pallet load of, say, filters, direct
from the makers, the price was very low per unit, but I had to find
room to store them for anything up to a year, which cost a fair bit.
That's what pushes dealer costs up, well, that and the logo on the high
street door. Their discount on small orders isn't that good, either,
from what I remember.

The postal supplier has a warehouse on a trading estate, so his rent's
lower, and he doesn't have to impress the people walking past, so his
shop's cheaper to set up. He also turns his stock over more quickly,
and often carries a smaller range, so he's not subsidising the slower
selling items with the faster turnover stuff. The extreme with some
postal suppliers is where they have zero stock, and wait for enough
orders to come in so they can buy a batch.

Or they simply contract the manufacturer to drop ship to the customer.
Seems pretty common for larger items.

In article ,
John Williamson wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
I do wonder about some dealer's mark up, though. I recently bought an
inlet manifold gasket for my old Rover from a Land Rover main dealer -
didn't want to wait for the post. Cost 28 quid. 3 times the price of
one mail order. And probably from the same maker.

Quite possibly, for a part like that.

The main dealer mark up *is* often quite generous. What I found, though,
was that if I bought a pallet load of, say, filters, direct from the
makers, the price was very low per unit, but I had to find room to store
them for anything up to a year, which cost a fair bit. That's what
pushes dealer costs up, well, that and the logo on the high street door.
Their discount on small orders isn't that good, either, from what I
remember.

In this case I'd guess the costs were pushed up by me being served - at a
desk in the showroom - by a chap in a suit. No stores counter. Not
surprising, I suppose, given how Land Rover have pushed up market. Even my
local BMW dealer has a stores counter with a storeman in protective
clothing.

--
*When did my wild oats turn to prunes and all bran?

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

In message , The Medway Handyman
writes
Owain wrote:
On Dec 12, 7:12 pm, jgharston wrote:
I let an elderly neighbour benefit from my outside light
to see to get to her electric scooter. She kept insisting
on paying for the electricity. I told her it was probably
something like a pound - so she dug one out and wouldn't
let me leave without it

"Och, son, we'll gae halves. There's ten boab"

I did have a 76 year old lady trying to beat me down on a quote yesterday
:-)

Hope you didn't forget the safety word



--
geoff

In message , geoff
writes
In message , The Medway Handyman
writes
Owain wrote:
On Dec 12, 7:12 pm, jgharston wrote:
I let an elderly neighbour benefit from my outside light
to see to get to her electric scooter. She kept insisting
on paying for the electricity. I told her it was probably
something like a pound - so she dug one out and wouldn't
let me leave without it

"Och, son, we'll gae halves. There's ten boab"

I did have a 76 year old lady trying to beat me down on a quote yesterday
:-)

Hope you didn't forget the safety word

Has the NG died?

Just checking


--
geoff

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
...
Dave wrote:
On 12/12/2010 16:54, ARWadsworth wrote:
I got a call this morning from a building firm I work with about a
customer with no HW or CH.

As it was Sunday morning and I live local to the job (everyone else
is at least 20 miles away) the owner of the firm called me and asked
if I would nip round for a quick look.

I went round and fixed the fixed the problem. However I was looking
after my girlfriend's 5 year old lad at the time so I took him with
me. The ungrateful *******s later phoned the company back to tell them I
was unprofessional by taking a child to work with me. That phone
call moved them from a "free courtesy call out" to a "billed call
out" as they could have fixed the problem themselves. With a bit of
luck they will get the bill on Tuesday morning:-)

Wife phoned our tame local plumber yesterday and he phoned back last
night to find out about the problem we had. (Leaking feed pipe to
toilet cistern.)

To cut the story short, he cut the copper pipe before the bends and
fitted a flexible one and fitted a replacement ball valve assembly,
that I supplied.

When I asked what he wanted for the job, he just said give me £20-00.
I'm going to give him £25-00 and tell him to buy himself a drink.

I have an old lady customer who gives me a cheque for the bill, then
press's a £1 coin into my hand saying "get yourself a pint on the way
home" :-)




Point me in the direction of where your drinking .. a quid for a pint!! the
holy grail!!

On 20/12/10 23:17, Matthew.Ridges wrote:
Point me in the direction of where your drinking .. a quid for a pint!! the
holy grail!!


1985 is that way ----

--
Tim Watts

On Mon, 20 Dec 2010 23:17:38 -0000, "Matthew.Ridges"
wrote:


"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
...
Dave wrote:
On 12/12/2010 16:54, ARWadsworth wrote:
I got a call this morning from a building firm I work with about a
customer with no HW or CH.

As it was Sunday morning and I live local to the job (everyone else
is at least 20 miles away) the owner of the firm called me and asked
if I would nip round for a quick look.

I went round and fixed the fixed the problem. However I was looking
after my girlfriend's 5 year old lad at the time so I took him with
me. The ungrateful *******s later phoned the company back to tell them I
was unprofessional by taking a child to work with me. That phone
call moved them from a "free courtesy call out" to a "billed call
out" as they could have fixed the problem themselves. With a bit of
luck they will get the bill on Tuesday morning:-)

Wife phoned our tame local plumber yesterday and he phoned back last
night to find out about the problem we had. (Leaking feed pipe to
toilet cistern.)

To cut the story short, he cut the copper pipe before the bends and
fitted a flexible one and fitted a replacement ball valve assembly,
that I supplied.

When I asked what he wanted for the job, he just said give me £20-00.
I'm going to give him £25-00 and tell him to buy himself a drink.

I have an old lady customer who gives me a cheque for the bill, then
press's a £1 coin into my hand saying "get yourself a pint on the way
home" :-)




Point me in the direction of where your drinking .. a quid for a pint!! the
holy grail!!

In the spirit (!) of d-i-y it's probably possible to brew yourself a
pint of something for a quid.

Actually a pint of milk still costs well under a quid...

--
Frank Erskine

"Matthew.Ridges" wrote in message
...

Point me in the direction of where your drinking .. a quid for a pint!!
the holy grail!!

I know a place where it was 85p until it went to 99p a few weeks ago.
I would never go in the place, the police and ambulances are there
frequently.
I think they are profiteering now though as the xmas prices are £1.39 last
time I looked.

On Tue, 21 Dec 2010 15:16:32 -0000, "dennis@home"
wrote:


I know a place where it was 85p until it went to 99p a few weeks ago.
I would never go in the place, the police and ambulances are there
frequently.

I didn't think their drivers would be drinking on duty...

--
Geo