Rip Off

[skratch]

I had a guy come out to replace a thermocouple ( sic ? ) on our water
heater. Charged me 95.00 bucks an hour labor, hour and a half. My fault, should have ask
the rate before I hired him ,,, or maybe not.
Anyway I paid him but gave him a good dressing down he won't soon forget.
The guy was shivering and shaking like a dog pooping peach seeds.
He went down the road with his tail up twixt his legs.

Sound familiar ?

 

[Jim Dandy]

Scratch
$95 and hour does not sound out of line for a person that was able to find the problem and repair it.. I am sure he had travel time to and from the job. One and a half hours sounds very reasonable to me. Just a few of his expenses are fuel insurance vehicle and many more. At the end of the day he does not have much of that $95 dollars an hour. What do you think would be a reasonable charge for the job that he did?

 

[Captain Itch]

Recently had a refrigerator repair guy come by .. That is what they charge..

 

[mickeyd]

Not only what the others have already said, since most water heaters can use different Thermocouples, I hope he had the knowledge to put the correct one on.

 

[Roadworthy]

The price was not at all unreasonable for the service rendered. That's the reason I do as much stuff as I can myself. You should be glad the guy had the correct part with him rather than making another trip and charging for the second trip, too.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I had a guy come out to replace a thermocouple ( sic ? ) on our water
heater. Charged me 95.00 bucks an hour labor, hour and a half. My fault, should have ask
the rate before I hired him ,,, or maybe not.
Anyway I paid him but gave him a good dressing down he won't soon forget.
The guy was shivering and shaking like a dog pooping peach seeds.
He went down the road with his tail up twixt his legs.

Sound familiar ?

Why chew him out?
Because he charged you the going rate for such repairs?

I think you would loose it if you knew what I used to charge an hour for repair work, and even more so for what I charge for work I do now.

 

[bearbait]

Reality check aisle 3 please.

 

[Bmyers]

So, you contact a repairman for a repair. You do NOT ask the rate he charges. He fixes your problem and then you get mad because he charges you for fixing your problem. You then berate the man that fixed the problem that you couldn't fix. I would be embarrassed to post that on the internet.

I think you owe a serviceman a phone call with big old apology.

 

[BAP]

Some people want everything for nothing then have to brag about it.

 

[skeets]

Take the bike to the HD,,, ( HD doesnt mean 100 dollars) shop 100 bucks an hour just to look at it

 

[D2Cat]

Isn't Skratch the one who has threads focusing on when things are going to end, and discussing abstract things? Maybe he doesn't have time to discover DIY solutions. Or maybe it's below his pay grade.

Replacing a thermocoupling in a water heater takes about as long as it probably took the service man to get there. But...you have to have it to put in, and know how to get to it. A You Tube search would quickly solve the DIY part!

Once you hire someone, whether you ask the cost or not, you're ethically responsible to pay the charge. If that charge doesn't suit your idea of fair price, giving him "...a good dressing down he won't soon forget", reflects on you....not the service person.

 

[motionclone]

Anyway I paid him but gave him a good dressing down he won't soon forget.
The guy was shivering and shaking like a dog pooping peach seeds.
He went down the road with his tail up twixt his legs.

Sound familiar ?

What exactly did you "dress him down for"? What did he do wrong?

Also im calling BS on the "The guy was shivering and shaking like a dog pooping peach seeds". He was probably just fuming over the idiocy of some customers.

Im a mason contractor and wont leave the house for less than a full days pay for me and 1 helper, doesnt matter if its an hour and half job.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Not above (or below) my pay grade. Owning rental's, I do my own. I keep spare igniters for the furnaces and HWH's on hand all the time. Not complex to install other than hot surface igniters have to be handled carefully as in no touch. Not rocket science by a long shot.

His hourly rate is right in line far as I'm concerned.

Heck, shop rate at the Freightliner dealership I retired from is now $130 an hour and you go to them, they don't come to you.

My open station M9 is headed to my dealer soon for some a new upper outboard bushing and a new timing (front cover) seal. Could do it myself but at their shop rate (80) per hours, I'd rather have them do it.

 

[Poohbear]

I had a guy come out to replace a thermocouple ( sic ? ) on our water
heater. Charged me 95.00 bucks an hour labor, hour and a half. My fault, should have ask
the rate before I hired him ,,, or maybe not.
Anyway I paid him but gave him a good dressing down he won't soon forget.
The guy was shivering and shaking like a dog pooping peach seeds.
He went down the road with his tail up twixt his legs.

Sound familiar ?

As a retired hvac tech/owner that rate for a licensed plumber was dirt cheap. You owe him an apology. He has to jump thru hoops to keep his license, expensive liability insurance, maintain a stocked service truck, etc etc etc. You would get on our list of customers that we told when they called back after using cheap techs, " we're booked thru next week ".
What do/did you make on the job ? Total that includes all benefits.

 

[Daren Todd]

Not above (or below) my pay grade. Owning rental's, I do my own. I keep spare igniters for the furnaces and HWH's on hand all the time. Not complex to install other than hot surface igniters have to be handled carefully as in no touch. Not rocket science by a long shot.



His hourly rate is right in line far as I'm concerned.



Heck, shop rate at the Freightliner dealership I retired from is now $130 an hour and you go to them, they don't come to you.



My open station M9 is headed to my dealer soon for some a new upper outboard bushing and a new timing (front cover) seal. Could do it myself but at their shop rate (80) per hours, I'd rather have them do it.

Shop rate of $80 per hour is cheap!!!!! Especially for a dealer. Dealer rate around here is $115 to $130 on average. The Deere and Cummins dealers are $180.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[m.t.hands]

don't feed the trolls

 

[Fordtech86]

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[SidecarFlip]

Shop rate of $80 per hour is cheap!!!!! Especially for a dealer. Dealer rate around here is $115 to $130 on average. The Deere and Cummins dealers are $180.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

I know it is and I've mentioned that to the owner before (I happen to know him personally). His reply was., I'm comfortable with it. So is everyone else around here.

Shop is always packed and not just Kubota's either. He works on Case and New Holland.

He's always busy either selling new or used units or servicing them. I know his lead tech too, I shoot with him at the local gun club.

Not a fancy, glitzy dealership with huge overhead, mom and pop place and it's fine with me and a lot of other people too.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Poor skratch... Came here looking for sympathy and got scolded for being cheap.

 

[Magicman]

I have had customers to comment to me that my sawmilling rates are a bit higher than other sawyers that they talked to.

My answer is that they know what their sawing is worth. Funny thing is that after talking, they hired me.