Plumbers are expensive!

[MamaMia]

Should it cost $236.28 to have my daughters mascara snaked out of the toilet and the sprayer attachment on my kitchen sink changed out? :confused:

[Fugue]

no

[sanantoniosooner]

no.

But there is a reason they call them Drain Surgeons.

[frankensooner]

That is about a hundry too much, but he probably had some gamblin debts he had to settle.

[Flagstaffsooner]

Yes. I have done plumbing. When you have to deal with turds and female stuff in waste pipes no amount of money is too much.

[MamaMia]

Okay, now I'm really mad! There was nothing itemized on my bill.
All it said was BALANCE FORWARD....$236.28, so I called them yesterday morning and told them to fax me over an itemized statement. Finally after I call them again today, they send a fax saying that I owe $144.00 for labor to attach the $20.00 veggie sprayer and $72.00 labor to get the mascara out of the toilet.

The veggie sprayer he replaced was one I'd put on myself 5 years ago, when the hole for it was covered over, and it only took me about 10 minutes to do it! This just doesn't sound reasonable to me. Who governs these people?

[tbl]

Nobody, thus the high rates. Any time you have plumbing work that you can't do, call a handyman. Never call a plumber unless its a BIG problem that you absolutely cannot fix yourself.

[Vaevictis]

Did you time how long he was there?

[sanantoniosooner]

Okay, now I'm really mad! There was nothing itemized on my bill.
All it said was BALANCE FORWARD....$236.28, so I called them yesterday morning and told them to fax me over an itemized statement. Finally after I call them again today, they send a fax saying that I owe $144.00 for labor to attach the $20.00 veggie sprayer and $72.00 labor to get the mascara out of the toilet.

The veggie sprayer he replaced was one I'd put on myself 5 years ago, when the hole for it was covered over, and it only took me about 10 minutes to do it! This just doesn't sound reasonable to me. Who governs these people?
truth is you can charge whatever you want. But there should have been a price discussed up front.

Ask them what their hourly rate is. You should pay no more than that.

I usually charge about half of that to replace an entire faucet unless there are circumstances to deal with.

[Scott D]

I think the moral of this story is don't get a veggie sprayer.

[OUDoc]

http://www.soonerfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33719

Especially this (http://www.soonerfans.com/forums/showpost.php?p=620220&postcount=12) post.

I sent them a letter complaining about the cost, and they knocked $300 off of it. Try complaining, probably won't work, but it could. And, yes, you got hosed, mom. Did you at least get drinks out of the deal?;)

[GrapevineSooner]

Glad one of our best friends is a former plumber who does work in our home for...well, I don't want to say free because I do computer favors for him.

I'm probably getting the better end of the deal here, I suppose.

[MamaMia]

According to the invoice, they finally faxed to me, they charged me $216.00 for 3 hours of labor at $72.00 and hr., and $20.26 for the veggie sprayer. I was here for lunch when he arrived and got the mascara out of the toilet. That took him about 30 minutes. He then left to go get the sprayer at Locke's. That took him about 10 or 15 minutes. Locke's is less than a mile away. The maid was here so I left right when he got here to install the sprayer.

I installed the sprayer that he replaced. My husband just told me that yes, it took me about 10 minutes to do it and it was my first time to ever attach a sprayer.

By the way, since they are suppose to be licensed, there is a place where you can file a complaint against a plumber and the plumbing company. I called the state capital and got the name and number of who I'm to speak with. I spoke to one of their representatives who agreed with me and he wanted the name of the actual plumber who did the work. The guy only had his first name on his shirt but I have since found out his last name, his social security number, his wifes name and that he just moved here.

[MamaMia]

Are you Dog the Bounty Hunter?
No, and I don't know Mr. Dog. :D

[OSUAggie]

We charge $90/hour for labor in our door/cabinet shop. It's mostly so people will not want to pay it and either find someone else to do their bull**** work or not have their bull**** work done at all.

For bigger projects, we drop down to $45/hour.

[batonrougesooner]

We charge $90/hour for labor in our door/cabinet shop. It's mostly so people will not want to pay it and either find someone else to do their bull**** work or not have their bull**** work done at all.

For bigger projects, we drop down to $45/hour.

Interesting concept.

Charging more than you think people are willing to pay to discourage business. Brilliant! You must have an OSU MBA.:stunned:

[tbl]

My husband

Whoa... back up. So you're married? I thought maybe it was just your daughter and you in the house. Are you married to Sicem? ;)

[MamaMia]

The really nice inspector gentleman is coming from the city tomorrow to investigate. I shall make some ginger lemonade, a plate of finger sandwiches and a batch of sugar cookies. :)

[sanantoniosooner]

Interesting concept.

Charging more than you think people are willing to pay to discourage business. Brilliant! You must have an OSU MBA.:stunned:
Actually a very common tactic.

It does make sense to charge out the wazoo for jobs you don't WANT to do.

That way you probably don't have to do it, but if you do, you get well compensated.

[Tiptonsooner]

I am in the HVAC trade and I can relate with Mama and plumber both. Do realize Mama, he did make a house call. It take's quite a bit of overhead to get his truck to your door, realize it or not. I do think he should have discussed price with you before working though. The state mechanical inspector probably won't be able to do much if said plumber is liscenced and performed work up to code. That is another good reason to only hire liscensed contractors, the state will back you up on unsatisfactory work.

[sanantoniosooner]

Price up front is important. Overcharging is not illegal, and it is acceptable if you are bent on using a specific contractor over others available.

But if a guy intends to stick it to you, he ought to give the price up front so that you can comparison shop.

[Mjcpr]

I am in the HVAC trade and I can relate with Mama and plumber both. Do realize Mama, he did make a house call. It take's quite a bit of overhead to get his truck to your door, realize it or not.
I think she should've taken the sink to him too.

And the mascara terlet.

:D

[Tiptonsooner]

I think she should've taken the sink to him too.

And the mascara terlet.

:D


I see you are an unliscensed ******rocket, therefore I have no recourse......:P

[MamaMia]

Look Mr.Tiptonsooner, this is a small town and I am very wise when it comes to picking my battles. To overcharge me $144.00 on a $236.28 bill is battle worthy. Whether the inspector does anything or not, that plumbing company will regret the day they overcharged me. Are we on the page yet? :)

Oh, and I just mowed my own lawn to save 40.00. No way did I mow my own lawn to give some plumber extra money for 2 hours of work they didn't do.

[Tiptonsooner]

Look Mr.Tiptonsooner, this is a small town and I am very wise when it comes to picking my battles. To overcharge me $144.00 on a $236.28 bill is battle worthy. Whether the inspector does anything or not, that plumbing company will regret the day they overcharged me. Are we on the page yet? :)

Oh, and I just mowed my own lawn to save 40.00. No way did I mow my own lawn to give some plumber extra money for 2 hours of work they didn't do.


OK Mrs Mama, you win. I was just looking at both sides. :D I agree that seems kinda high for what he did, but we are talking about playing in someone elses poo. I wouldn't do it for 10 times what he charged. The thing is, he just lost a huge customer base by ticking you off. I get the feeling you are a respected and known lady in your town, he just lost you and all future recommendations for business from you. Big mistake on his part.

Look at it this way, he'll have a tooth ache one day. Then he will get his.

[Scott D]

personally I think the labor charges were backwards on that fax, and the $144 labor would have been in regards to the toilet. The cost of them doing anything with a toilet skyrockets if they have to remove the toilet from the fixture at all.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

i work as a elec/hvac/plumb on the side...65 is our hourly rate..no way thats more than a 2 hour job

[goingoneight]

Who governs these people?

Crab People.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w125/goingoneight/Crab_People.jpg

[MamaMia]

OK Mrs Mama, you win. I was just looking at both sides. :D I agree that seems kinda high for what he did, but we are talking about playing in someone elses poo. I wouldn't do it for 10 times what he charged. The thing is, he just lost a huge customer base by ticking you off. I get the feeling you are a respected and known lady in your town, he just lost you and all future recommendations for business from you. Big mistake on his part.

Look at it this way, he'll have a tooth ache one day. Then he will get his.
The toilet was very clean. The water was just running slow. The only "poo" in my house was that plumber himself. He even wasted 15 minutes of my precious time trying to talk me into buying a new toilet and sink from him even though mine are only 5 years old.
personally I think the labor charges were backwards on that fax, and the $144 labor would have been in regards to the toilet. The cost of them doing anything with a toilet skyrockets if they have to remove the toilet from the fixture at all.
Scott, nobody had to remove the toilet from any fixture. It took him a half and hour at the most to get the tube of mascara out of there. Who said anything about removing the toilet? Are you trying to push my buttons? :D

Oh, and I found out that they only charged one of our friends $60.00 an hour labor a month ago for their stopped up toilet. So you know what; its decided. I'm paying that company for an hour and a half labor and for the veggie sprayer, which is probably about $36.00 too much, and thats pretty much all there is to that.

And before anyone else feels the urge to defend the poor little plumber man from the mean MamaMia...Hes an osu cowpoke...okay?

[Scott D]

I would never defend the poor little plumber man, just usually higher labor costs tend to go with a toilet over pretty much anything else in the house, sans tearing up a floor or wall to get at those pipes.