should have been an electrican.

First off 20 minutes to and from the job is matter of fiction in SLFs head, this figure was not in the original post so lets drop that.

€50 labour, plus vat and socket would be fair considering you d have this job done in a half hour. And yes I ve changed a socket myself so I know whats involved. Its a half hour job no matter what gloss you put on the story.
 
how about answering my question. Do you think trademens are entitled to travel time?
And 20mins might have came from SLF head but it is a very fair allowance or are you disputing that as well?
 
Yes I believe they are, of course. But you are getting away from the blatant over charging of the original poster and you are using travel as an excuse to impose this outrageous charge. The ordinary PAYE worker does not get expenses for travelling to and from work nor are they able to claim expenses on company vehicles and fuel.
 
Ah come now you cant compare normal paye worker and a tradesman! Does a PAYE worker have to pay for tools, insurance, van, office, and god forbid they may even make an allowance for profit sometimes etc.
Most companies in any given field will have a minimum call out charge whether it is in construction, IT health etc.

On one hand you say they are entitled to travel but then say 50 euros is a fair rate.
On another point people who say you should accept jobs based on hourly rates needs their heads examined. You should always try to get a quote for each job that is fair for the work involved. If yo put lads on hourly rates there is no incentive to get the job done quickly and will, in my experience, work out more expensive.
 
You should always try to get a quote for each job that is fair for the work involved.

Right on the money here Ludermor. We ill agree to disagree. Once thing I would say if a tradesman called to your door and gave you that quote for the above work I think Ledermor would be reaching for his ladder to do the job himself ;)
 
Ah come now you cant compare normal paye worker and a tradesman! Does a PAYE worker have to pay for tools, insurance, van, office, and god forbid they may even make an allowance for profit sometimes etc.
Most companies in any given field will have a minimum call out charge whether it is in construction, IT health etc.

On one hand you say they are entitled to travel but then say 50 euros is a fair rate.
On another point people who say you should accept jobs based on hourly rates needs their heads examined. You should always try to get a quote for each job that is fair for the work involved. If yo put lads on hourly rates there is no incentive to get the job done quickly and will, in my experience, work out more expensive.

In fairness I don't think you need a vast array of tools for this job. Paye workers generally need a car which they cant claim vat back on, the office you talk of would be a box room in their home or simply a laptop.

There are min charges but like in most areas of work now those minimums are expected to be lowered to fall in line with changing times and all that.
 
Right on the money here Ludermor. We ill agree to disagree. Once thing I would say if a tradesman called to your door and gave you that quote for the above work I think Ledermor would be reaching for his ladder to do the job himself ;)

Fair enough.
But i have to say i would be very wary to do anything to do with electricity ( except change bulbs!!) And as for getting quotes well im a QS so id make sure id have that down to a fine art before any work gets done. But its up to each individual to negotiate all costs befoer the job and if extra work arises to keep on top of the costs.
 
In fairness I don't think you need a vast array of tools for this job. Paye workers generally need a car which they cant claim vat back on, the office you talk of would be a box room in their home or simply a laptop.

There are min charges but like in most areas of work now those minimums are expected to be lowered to fall in line with changing times and all that.

But in fairness you do not buy tools for each specific job but you need them in the van/workshop all the time. The office i talk of MAY be a box room but if they have a few lad working for them there would need to be a bit more than that and maybe even someone to work as receptionist/accounts
 
i have to post....being the wife of an electrician & i handle all the accounts etc.

i do think that 100 was a little over the odds BUT different people have different ways of charging eg. alot of electricians charge a "call out charge" which usually includes the first hour of work, regardless if they are only there for 15 mins. But would always recommend getting a quote off a person first. My DH doesn't bother doing this "call out charge" thing as all his work is local and travel time is very little and just does flat charge per item done.

My DH spends many an evening just popping out to people to have quick look and give them idea of the cost before the work is carried out.

But people have to take into consideration that an electrician has many costs insurance, running van, disel, tools, materials, accountants fees, advertising, membership of ecssa/reci, training courses etc. We recently had a person in to fix a PC in work @ they charge 130 euro per hour....most of that is sitting around waiting for information to download!

But advise always get a price and shop around first!
 
Hey Paddy, are you an electrician?

Do you know your L from your N as compared to your E?

Do you know what it was she had done?

Do you know what it involved?

What do you think she should have been charged?

If you can't answer all of those questions then you should leave it to us tradesmen to give a good answer.

And by the way

Grrrr


Yes to all of the above and how this guy sleeps at night is behond me. Nice work if you can get it but would find it difficult to live with myself if I did.
50 Euro for labour max plus material.
And in relation to the time spent getting the materials. Marginal. Any good Electrician gets a large delivery as required and rarely purchases individual items.
 
maybe the term is competitive rather than cheap, sign of the times and all that
 
So you are an electrician then.

I know several electricians none of them are as cheap as you.

Can you pass me your number as I could use a cheap man like you.


well to be honest SLF,
I consider myself fortunate as during the boom I had the foresight not to raise my rate excessively, thus I maintained a good and loyal customer base. I therefore never had to advertise and maintain that loyal customer base now. Because of this I find myself in the fortunate position that I do not need to post my number or details to unknowns on the internet.

I would recommend to anyone that competive rates and quality work will sustain you throughout a recession. I stand by my original statement that that poor girl was ripped off.
 
well to be honest SLF,
I consider myself fortunate as during the boom I had the foresight not to raise my rate excessively, thus I maintained a good and loyal customer base. I therefore never had to advertise and maintain that loyal customer base now. Because of this I find myself in the fortunate position that I do not need to post my number or details to unknowns on the internet.

I would recommend to anyone that competive rates and quality work will sustain you throughout a recession. I stand by my original statement that that poor girl was ripped off.

I really don't see how it is possible for you to employ tradesmen to work for you when you charge such a small amount of money for your time.

By my calculations if (big if) you get 3 of those jobs done a day you'll be lucky to come home with a hundred after tax and expenses.

Better off going to Mc Donalds and applying for a job down there.
 
I really don't see how it is possible for you to employ tradesmen to work for you when you charge such a small amount of money for your time.

By my calculations if (big if) you get 3 of those jobs done a day you'll be lucky to come home with a hundred after tax and expenses.

Better off going to Mc Donalds and applying for a job down there.

Who said I employ someone and who said that this guy who ripped off that poor girl is an employee. In fact by the very fact that he was able to bill here there and then suggests he was a one man operator in his own van. If he worked for some nig firm the invoice would have followed.

Regardless, that poor girl was ripped off.

And another point. I think we all know that those type of jobs are the kind that you would do on the way home from a bigger job and would plan your day accordingly. If your driving especially long distances for those jobs perhaps you should learn to manage your time a bit better.
 
Who said I employ someone and who said that this guy who ripped off that poor girl is an employee. In fact by the very fact that he was able to bill here there and then suggests he was a one man operator in his own van. If he worked for some nig firm the invoice would have followed.

Regardless, that poor girl was ripped off.

And another point. I think we all know that those type of jobs are the kind that you would do on the way home from a bigger job and would plan your day accordingly. If your driving especially long distances for those jobs perhaps you should learn to manage your time a bit better.

We will have to agree to disagree, since the man who charged the girl is not here to defend himself and let us all know what was done its very hard to really know.

If he had charged a couple of hundred I'd say definitely a rip off anyway I tend to give all these stories the benifit of doubt...

Have a good one Paddy and I hope you continue to do well.:)
 
To say the girl was ripped off is putting it a little strongly, however she was overcharged by todays market standards. The day of sparks charging what they feel like just because it has been that way are coming to an end. Thank god.
 
Running a business as a tradesman

I suppose one of the hardest things about being out on your own is you have to charge prices for stuff like holidays, personal taxes and the basic running costs of a business.

If by some chance you get sick nobody is going to come around and give you money to help tide you over.

Basically you have about 44 weeks to make your money (4 weeks holidays 11 bank holidays 2 weeks paper work).

You have to travel to jobs.

You have to price jobs.

Answer the phone.

Deal with quotes.

Its a never ending list of stuff that isn't productive.

There is never enough hours in the working day for me to get it all done.

When I get home from work I end up calling out to possible customers then I'm working out quotes, I've often worked till 12 at night getting my stuff done.

I'd love to have a situation where all that end of thing is done by someone else but it just isn't possible, the buck stops with me.

So when I have a job I have to charge for all that stuff that isn't productive otherwise I'll be making less than the min wage.
 
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