burst pipe e300 bill

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elainem

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Hi! My partner had one burst pipe in a house he rents. The bill started (ex-tenant's boyfriend) off at e50 to fix the burst pipe and then ended at e300. Just wondered if this is expensive. He said he had to bring a new pipe down from under the bath upstairs to downstairs in the kitchen - the pipe burst in the kitchen on the wall near the patio door. I believe he was there for four hours. He said the materials alone cost a lot - wondered what other plumbers thought? He is also reluctant to give an invoice. Don't mind paying it, but partner doesn't want to be conned.
 
Well its not cheap and its not extortionate either.

It would be normal to have a call out charge, then an hourly labour rate plus materials.

Again the rates for the above should have been agreed before the work started.
 
I love how the ENTIRE pipe had burst, what happened to cutting out the damaged section and installing a new piece with straight connectors?
 
sustanon said:
I love how the ENTIRE pipe had burst, what happened to cutting out the damaged section and installing a new piece with straight connectors?
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And then the Bill would go to €400 instead of €300. Get real here posters. The plumber has his Insurances to pay, his equipment had to be paid for and make an allowance for his expertise. This sounds like a fair bill especially if the leak is repaired
 
Hi! Thanks to all of you for your replies. I'm glad to hear that bill is average enough. We weren't sure as he just refused to give us a quote for the work even when he had started it - and without our permission -Girlfriend and her father had got him to start the work before they contacted us. All a big drama! But glad we're not being ripped off. Thanks.
 
Plumbers can be reluctant to give quotes for time and materials work, that's true, but most people will give an estimate of the hourly charge our rate plus materials.
Plumbing work on burst pipes can be a chicken or egg situation, particularly if the burst draws attention to a deterioration in the pipe material in an old house...
The real question is - how long is a piece of string once you start looking at older systems [not saying yours is old OP]
Certainly €300 for that kind of work sounds reasonable to me in plumbing terms.

ONQ.
 
Rip off !! Do NOT hand over any money till you get a itemised bill and just for the laugh ask him to make sure he puts his contact details. More than likely this guy is unemployed and working on the quite and without giving a invoice he can charge what he likes .
 
rescue16 said:
Rip off !! Do NOT hand over any money till you get a itemised bill and just for the laugh ask him to make sure he puts his contact details. More than likely this guy is unemployed and working on the quite and without giving a invoice he can charge what he likes .
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That's a fairly generalised reply ... and the more than likely bit about he being unemployed ... well .... we'll not even go there.

All things being equal (unless OP says otherwise) it should surely be accepted that it was a genuine, professional who provided the service.

It was a straight forward question ..... like mercman say's ... no need for the begrudgery.

Plumbers have to make a living too!
 
elainem said:
Hi! My partner had one burst pipe in a house he rents. The bill started (ex-tenant's boyfriend) off at e50 to fix the burst pipe and then ended at e300. Just wondered if this is expensive. He said he had to bring a new pipe down from under the bath upstairs to downstairs in the kitchen - the pipe burst in the kitchen on the wall near the patio door. I believe he was there for four hours. He said the materials alone cost a lot - wondered what other plumbers thought? He is also reluctant to give an invoice. Don't mind paying it, but partner doesn't want to be conned.
Click to expand...

That sounds very high to me. I had a burst pipe in my kitchen over Christmas. The plumber (the guy I always ring, so I know him well) spent two and a half hours on the job and even supplied a few metres of Qualplex and a bit of pipe insulation. He charged me €90 and I gave him €100.

I wonder what or how much materials your partner's plumber supplied. Sometimes, the customer is charged a multiple of the cost of the materials, if the guy doing the job thinks he'll get away with it. It happened to me one time with a renevation job and it left a very sour taste in my mouth. I learned a hard lesson but, once bitten, twice shy!
 
The original poster never said that a plumber was doing the work!!!!

The post said "tenants boyfriend".

Question,

Was he a plumber? Did you get an invoice to offset against the rent? Did the €300 include vat?

Did the tenant pay the boyfriend or did the landlord pay him?

Did the landlord reimburse the tenant or was the money deducted from the rent?

If there is no "docket" for the expenditure, the overall cost is considerably higher than 300 euro.
 
4 hours sounds like a long time, but without knowing the conditions on site or what complications were faced, it's very difficult to say! Parts should be cheap, but it's still under €75 an hour if there was no call-out charge which there often would be for a case like this with a normal plumber.

But this sounds like a case of the ex-tenant's boyfriend chancing his arm. You are legally entitled to an invoice showing VAT, otherwise do not pay it. What guarantee was provided on the work carried out? Did you authorise the tenant to get this work carried out on your behalf?
Leo
 
Leo and glasto i'll say it again, what planet are you on!
i mean in your book a little under €75 an hour is ok for what essentially was a nixer this is an out and out RIP OFF.
i Leo as im sure you do work in this industry and with no go ahead of what and how you were going to do a job leaves it wide open to abuse of the client.
and as for no invoice.... i'll say no more
 
Burst pipes e300 bill

Hi! everyone, thanks for your replies. The plumber is fully qualified and registered. He is the tenant's boyfriend and started the work without our permission. We are going to pay him the e300 tomorrow. We tried to find someone else to finish the work but no one locally would come back to do the job as tenant had badmouthed us - my cousin and his plumber from 30 miles away came to sort the rest of the stuff out. The plumber will be paid for just fixing the burst pipe. My partner wants to keep his good name in the community so he didn't argue about it - but it's a lesson learned! Thanks again.
 
I paid 300 to a plumber for locating and fixing a burst pipe also. Was 4 hours work. Not easy to find the pipe. Some kitchen units had to come out. I thought it was a fair enough price.
 
just a question, what does everyone here pay per hour for car servicing?
in comparison to a plumber
 
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