plumber pricing?

[TLR-NUT]

My mom had a 7 year old water heater die. No problem, had 10 year warranty. Just have to pay the install( more switch out, since same unit). Two guys came and went in 45 min. Billed her $700 for the switch out. What a scam!

 

[JRC3]

My mom had a 7 year old water heater die. No problem, had 10 year warranty. Just have to pay the install( more switch out, since same unit). Two guys came and went in 45 min. Billed her $700 for the switch out. What a scam!

It's not a scam if both parties agree to it ahead of time. I got 5 quotes to have some work done in my crawlspace ranging from $3,000 to over 12. If I had chose the overpriced 12G it still wouldn't had been a scam, it would've been my choice.

I charge $300-400 to replace a water heater. It does take time to pick up the new heater and dispose of the old one. I don't do warranty work, I'm not a plumber, but I imagine it takes time other than changing it out for the warranty.

Just curious, who supplied the warranty heater.

___________________________


The OP wasn't "scammed" because he didn't choose to let his plumber to do the work. OP, please let us know how the other quotes went.

 

[Bigblockyeti]

My mom had a 7 year old water heater die. No problem, had 10 year warranty. Just have to pay the install( more switch out, since same unit). Two guys came and went in 45 min. Billed her $700 for the switch out. What a scam!

Is that greenbacks or Canadian pesos?

 

[signcrafter]

lmao.. wow you are off base. pay him a extra 20.00 to bring a helper. not even sure that covers the total cost of the helper even at min. wage.

That's alright, he can get a plumber that doesn't have workers comp and when his 20 buck an hour helper hurts himself on the owners property the helper can sue the home owner. Still glad you picked the cheapest guy out there and told him what you will pay him because his prices were to high?

Guys like the OP shouldn't be calling plumbers or any other service or trade. They should be getting all the guys they need off craigslist or facebook and then he can probably tell him how much he will pay. It will eventually catch up to him.

For my next mortgage I'm going to tell them I want it done for 100 bucks cash and I'll even toss in .01 cents per page of paper they print off for the mortgage. I mean, it's unskilled job so they shouldn't be making more then minimum wage right?

 

[relicrecoveryspecialist]

My mom had a 7 year old water heater die. No problem, had 10 year warranty. Just have to pay the install( more switch out, since same unit). Two guys came and went in 45 min. Billed her $700 for the switch out. What a scam!

I wish folks like this lived closer to me. I do residential work, remodeling, plumbing, and minor electrical. I’ve been quite proficient at hot water tanks as I’ve replaced more of them in my life time than I care to take a stab at the numbers. They are simply easy to replace. I’ve only had one hard one, and that was simply because it fell through the guys floor when it sat for months overflowing the drain pan, and the customer didn’t realize that they had a leak. I quote a general quote based off rates others get in the area, I also add in unforeseen issues that may arise like busted water lines if the home has sat empty for years. I had a guy scam me for $1700 after we signed a contract to remodel the inside of a home that had sat empty for 15 years, his tank had fell through the kitchen floor. I replaced in all 6 floor joists in the kitchen, and another 4 in the laundry room as the water had gotten into the laundry room next to the kitchen. I was still scammed tremendously by the guy. He didn’t realize when a house sits empty with no heat, water, or other utilities that pipes can be very brittle, and once you hook service back up, ie a new meter, hot water tank if those old pipes don’t break you’re very lucky. Needless to say I got everything routed, and floors replaced he also didn’t state in the original quote that he wanted the plumbing installed inside the walls under the sink as opposed to the standard out of the floor under the cabinet, and then to the sink. When I turned the water back on there was a massive blowout from a old pipe down under the house. I fixed that one, and went to turn it back on, this time only half as much as before, making sure not to water hammer the lines, and low and behold several other lines busted. In all I replaced all plumbing to his house. He was mad that my original quote didn’t reflect me having to replace the entire plumbing system in his home. He gave me the run around about having to sell/auction off some industrial cooking items, and he’d be able to pay me. He ever did. I went to his business, talked to him about it, was able to get $300 from the guy, and when I reached out to him over the phone he never answered, I again went to his place of employment that he owned, and the place was completely vacant, a 70,000 sq ft building was completely empty after just a week before that being jammed packed full of industrial cooking supplies. I went to take him to small claims court only to find out he had falsified his Info on the contract, my unforeseen clause was on there, the judge in my favor, but they could not locate someone who didn’t have a real name, let alone a check or ID that was real. There was black mold in the home, and well as asbestos, he wanted to merely paint over the black mold, and due to my reputation being on the line I refused to do that because small children, and families would be living there. So I decided to call the building inspector, and code enforcement out to look at the property. Needless to say he got what he deserved by not sticking to the contract, me losing money on the deal because I had to by some of my own parts, as well as my own fuel. I worked on that house day and night, sometimes only by the light of my head lamp, and a few drop lights I had rigged up because the other lighting was very unsafe. Be sure to always get a accurate ID, physical address, and other ways to CYA. The man has still not paid me it’s been over two years, I replaced his plumbing, hot water tank, re-routed the plumbing to the inside of the walls, and also replaced 10 floor joists, and flooding in kitchen, laundry, and even building a wall with a rough cut door in the bedroom to section off the bedroom from the bathroom. Once my buddies at the city saw his home, they placed a stop work on it, and also cited him for infractions within the home(black mold, and asbestos), along with a process server sending him papers for court. He never showed, and last I learned he had moved, and changed his number. So now on I write out a statement, with my info, the job details, unforeseen circumstances, and require photo ID. It ***** to ask for a deposit up front, but to keep a man honest you have to do that to recover what you may potentially lose in the future. It only takes one bad apple. He thought by remodeling one room, getting a new kitchen floor in, new water heater, new wall and sheet rock on the addition in bedroom, as well
as me hauling off used materials, and ALL the 80 year old plumbing replaced, along with removing old joists replacing them, and flooring in kitchen, laundry room, as well as demoing cabinets in kitchen as well as laundry room, as well as rerouting piping I laundry room, adding a washer waste water pipe,
Box for hot and cold as well including drain,
Building a stand to meet the cities guidelines for hot water tanks, as well as adding and entire
closet for hot water tank, I only received $1500 out of the original $3k, and the haul off fees, and unforeseen issues clearly stated in the contract he signed.


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[relicrecoveryspecialist]

That's alright, he can get a plumber that doesn't have workers comp and when his 20 buck an hour helper hurts himself on the owners property the helper can sue the home owner. Still glad you picked the cheapest guy out there and told him what you will pay him because his prices were to high?



Guys like the OP shouldn't be calling plumbers or any other service or trade. They should be getting all the guys they need off craigslist or facebook and then he can probably tell him how much he will pay. It will eventually catch up to him.



For my next mortgage I'm going to tell them I want it done for 100 bucks cash and I'll even toss in .01 cents per page of paper they print off for the mortgage. I mean, it's unskilled job so they shouldn't be making more then minimum wage right?

Exactly[emoji23][emoji23]


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[brewchief]

My mom had a 7 year old water heater die. No problem, had 10 year warranty. Just have to pay the install( more switch out, since same unit). Two guys came and went in 45 min. Billed her $700 for the switch out. What a scam!

Yep totally a scam, I mean all the plumber had to do was make a trip out to verify it was leaking, drive to the supply house, wait in line at the supply house, pay for a new heater, then drive to the customers house and install it. After that he only had to collect from the customer, drive back to the supply house, fill out warranty paperwork, drop off the old heater or at least the rating plate on it and then wait for his account to be credited for the water heater. Of course the credit might be less if the supply house charges a " warranty paperwork fee" or an " upgrade fee", I don't know what the upgrade is but we have to pay it for at least one brand.

All said and done it can easily be 2 1/2 or 3 hours total, multiply that by 2 guys and when you figure that our break even point is right about 100$ per man hour after all wages, benefits and overhead and there isn't much meat left on the bone.

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[Kpaige]

My sons newly purchased 1930’s house had a blockage in the basement and the upstairs bathroom. I tried everything and could not clear it. Had a camera put down and it hit solid blockage. Result hydrolaz the upstairs pipe that was 1700 and a 1 man all day gig. Basement was 3400 to tear up a 4 ft by 3 ft area nd remove the clogged T that should have been a y.
All caused from flushable wipes. Plumber said it had been blocked a long time but mysteriously the previous owner had no issues.