Issues with hiring a plumber

[jayhawk]

Then I have to chase my money because people complain AFTER the work is done that I’m too high.
This is why I’ll never own my own company. It’s to easy to just get up and work for another company. Time spend with my family is worth more than the time spent chasing money!

Very true. Entrepreneurship is romanticized.
One thing I see a lot is people who love the work, then try to start their own business around the work. They quickly realize that very different skills are required for those two tasks

 

[Steve300xcw]

. They quickly realize that very different skills are required for those two tasks

Amazing how much faster a guy learns, when it is your money flying out the window

 

[basket8]

@basket8, we dont know the extent of work that was done, so im going to say this under the assumption of a typical job.
it is very hard to get to 800$ in materials even if the materials were doubled. there really isnt much that goes into doing 3 vanities. one thing that I want to question about the cost, did this "plumber" use sharkbites? they are expensive relative to the right way and could explain the high cost.

he did use shark bites.

 

[roymunson]

I had a customer complain a little about my 4 hour minimum... I "only worked not quite 3 hours".

But she wouldn't let me start until 10, and I had no guarantee of how long it would take. It was the only money I made that day.

most people don't understand opportunity cost. And somehow you're the A Hole for charging too much... The job wouldn't be that expensive, it's all the other shenannigans that go into completing the job, professionally, that add cost.

 

[cornfedkiller]

he did use shark bites.

Just so I'm clear, what exactly did he have to do? From reading the other posts, I'm assuming he installed the faucet and drain in the sink, hooked up the p-trap, put sharkbite fittings on the pex (or copper) lines and ran braided lines from there to the faucet?

So he bought sharkbites, braided lines, and a couple p traps?

Were the drain pipes already where they needed to be, or did they have to be moved?

 

[displacedtexan]

most people don't understand opportunity cost. And somehow you're the A Hole for charging too much... The job wouldn't be that expensive, it's all the other shenannigans that go into completing the job, professionally, that add cost.

As I explained it, she started to get it... But still.

 

[roymunson]

As I explained it, she started to get it... But still.

We all learn at different paces... I'm generally not as slow a learner as I am an expensive learner...

 

[CJohnson]

I think were getting away from my original question, I asked if it was unreasonable to get an itemized list of the $800 worth of materials I paid for to go in my home. I never said it was easy either, in fact I said there were some unusual things I wanted a professional to handle. I also never did anything myself, I bought materials and had them sitting there. 2 days after completing the job one of the drains was leaking, a fitting on the P trap was loose, I tightened it and no more leak. For $1800 I would at least think they could tighten their fittings.

Sorry I didn’t answer your original question. I don’t think you have enough details to answer it, tbh. Did you ask for an itemized list of materials before the work was started, sign a contract, agree on a firm price or T&M?

I’m also a little sensitive to this because when I first saw the post I just got done with a service call where a know-it-all homeowner (ER doc) called about some basement recps not working. I talked him through a few likely issues over the phone, most likely a tripped GFCI recp. He told me he wasn’t an idiot, he checked all those before he called. Since it was about a 2 hour round to trip to his place, I told him up front it would be $250 minimum to show up and $75/hr after that. He agreed. I showed up, went to the basement, slid a file cabinet over, reset a GFCI, and all the recps started working again. Then, he didn’t pay me because “$250 for 5 minutes worth of work was ridiculous.”

It’s all about perspective I guess. His 5 mins was 2 hours of lost time for me I could’ve been working for customers who actually pay their bills.

I could write a book about homeowners who do this type of stuff. It’s why I focus primarily on commercial and industrial work now. Even if you try and do the right thing, do a good job, and not be greedy, you can’t win for losing in the residential space because people will pay someone $1800 to do a sorry job when they could’ve paid $2000 for a good job.

 

[stanginthe11s]

I’m also a little sensitive to this because when I first saw the post I just got done with a service call where a know-it-all homeowner (ER doc) called about some basement recps not working. I talked him through a few likely issues over the phone, most likely a tripped GFCI recp. He told me he wasn’t an idiot, he checked all those before he called. Since it was about a 2 hour round to trip to his place, I told him up front it would be $250 minimum to show up and $75/hr after that. He agreed. I showed up, went to the basement, slid a file cabinet over, reset a GFCI, and all the recps started working again. Then, he didn’t pay me because “$250 for 5 minutes worth of work was ridiculous.”

it's always the customers who have money that refuse to pay. WTF
then you have the guys with no money but are willing to pay, but they end up with the worst person.

I won't touch commercial. around here most commercial is net 30, some are more, and they still have problems paying. no thanks.

 

[Steve300xcw]

I could write a book about homeowners who do this type of stuff. It’s why I focus primarily on commercial and industrial work now. Even if you try and do the right thing, do a good job, and not be greedy, you can’t win for losing in the residential space because people will pay someone $1800 to do a sorry job when they could’ve paid $2000 for a good job.

Automotive side is the same way. And for many of the same reasons I prefer the commercial/industrial jobs. Theres a fine line though. As soon as you start having to deal with corporate and having to go through 15 people just to find the right person who can tell you why they haven't wrote the damn check yet. Then it turns into a PITA again...

I won't touch commercial. around here most commercial is net 30, some are more, and they still have problems paying. no thanks.

net 30 isnt bad. I have a few customers that will write a check on day 59, every single time. Every so often I will hold new work that was dropped off, hostage until somebody finds some money. Thats always gotten the right persons attention LOL

 

[jimh406]

The time to ask is before you hire them. . Yeah, I know that's pretty obvious. I've found known good contractors to be a good choice for giving references. Of course, you have to find the good contractor, and they miss sometimes, too.

That being said, don't sweat it too much. In many areas, it's a struggle to get any work done. Hopefully, he/they did a good enough job that at least you can fix what you don't like.

As far as plumbers vs other trades/professions. There are people in all professions/trades that either don't know or don't want to do a good job.

 

[Dos Perros]

I like nice fishing rods and guns

Ever get any time to actually use them?

 

[Chad717]

Ever get any time to actually use them?

Owning a business definitely isn’t for everyone but I wouldn’t have it any other way after working for someone for 10 years I make plenty of time for hunting guns and other hobbies that’s the beauty of it as you make more money and can a lot of times make your own schedule.

 

[roymunson]

Ever get any time to actually use them?

2 week in alaska this year, probably spend a day each week at my hunting land, couple weekend trips a year with the wife and kids... I do ok... thanks for caring tho...

 

[RUDDYDUCKY]

You tube helped me with a disposal. My wife wanted me to hire a plumber. Yeah right. So unreliable. Bought the parts. About an hour and fixed it. Also learned a new skill.

 

[bigloveystyle]

Weird obsession with the trades here these last couple days…