How much to change a washer?

[benz1]

Got a plumber to change a washer on a leaking tap yesterday. Tenant says he was there for 20-30 mins. Received his invoice today for 1.25 hours @ $55/hr plus $13 travel making a total of $92 including GST.

Does this sound about right or is it excessive?

Thanks,
Ben

[Aston]

It does seem excessive just to change a washer but you're lucky to find a plumber just to change a washer.

I had a plumber in today to do exactly the same thing, I'll let you know how much the bill was.


Aston

[Perry]

Ouch! What was the price of the actual washer?

[Gatekeeper]

I'd say that would be at the top of the range, but I doubt you'd get anyone to fix a washer for less than $50-$60 these days. Most tradesman call-outs seems to be around $70 without any parts.

[allani]

Wow!! I changed every tap washer in a renter at xmas thats 10 taps , cut the seats where needed and I did the whle lot before morning smokeo bout 1.5 hours I would have to say that everything went well nothing broke
Cheers

[AustinWong]

Correct that the tradeperson may have been there for 20 mins. But they charge from base, which could be 30mins away. There and back is 1hour plus the 20mins works comes to about the 1 hour 15mins you mentioned.

The mileage charge can be an indicator though. $13 was the bill for this. Some charge a flat rate for mileage within a certain radius and drive time. Assuming a nominal 62 cent per km charge, they travelled 21km. so they are about 11.5km away. Were they travelling at peak hour on the Auckland motorway?

Personally I would phone and ask how far their business is from the house. If they are 5minutes away, then speak to the manager and challenge the account, with the logic I have given.

I did this last year when I got sent 2 people to do a 1 man job and got charge 3.5hours labour. I told them I was not a mug and knew how long it takes to do things.

I may have lost the use of that plumber but I am not interested in using rip off merchants anyway, they can stick it. Plumbers are still required to provide reasonable service. Do the maths.

I save myself about $70+


Go kick some tush!!

[QueenBee]

My tenant recently asked for the taps to be fixed because they were dripping. I rang the Plumber (who was a friend of a friend) and asked to go around and replace the washers in two taps.

A couple of days later I got a text from the Plumber to say the bill was $270.00. I nearly had a fit. I asked him why so much, he said he had to put new taps on in the laundry and they were $120.00. I was going to pay him cash but then I texted him back and said send me the bill and itemise it.

I got the invoice a couple of days later for $140.00. So I don't know what was going on there, but I probably won't use him again.

I think I may have to go on a "How to Change a Washer" course so I can do it myself next time.

QB

[revdev]

Hi QB,

$120 for bottom of the range taps sourced directly from a Plumber is about right. On a quality scale of 1-10, they would come in about 5.
Cheaper taps that you can get from hardware stores would be about a 3.

However, still doesn't clarify why he didn't call you for authority to change taps or why he discounted $130 after your phone call. Odd.

G

[QueenBee]

Probably because he thought I was some idiot female and that I would not question his price. When I asked him what the labour content was he said three hours. Bit long for changing a tap and a couple of washers I would think. Maybe he got an attack of the guilts.

QB

[xris]

Well done for standing your ground. If this plumber is as he appears to be from the information you have supplied, he does not deserve to be a plumber.

What interests me though is why he reduced his bill simply on the strength of your phone call. Has he given any reason yet? Have you asked him?

xris

[QueenBee]

No I haven't asked him. I'm just not going to use him again. The thing that bugs me is that a friend of mine is a painter and he needed a plumber for one of his jobs and I told him to ring this guy. The reason being, I had used this plumber once before and he was pretty cheap. He only charged $80 to install a vanity unit. It was straight forward and took him maybe 15-20 minutes.

So this plumber has got a bit of work out of me, because the painter has used him a couple of times, and had no problems with money issues. Maybe it's a guy thing, I've found someone else now anyway, and he seems pretty reasonable, and he's easy to negotiate with.

I deal with quite a few plumbers in my line of work, and I generally find that they want to charge an arm and a leg if you want them to do something, but if they want you to do something, they are so tight they squeak.

Just my observations, not saying all plumbers are like that.