Throw away, wasteful culture my as*!!!
Discussion
The temperature adjuster in my shower stopped working.
Then a week later my oven stopped getting hot.
Called out a plumber and an electrician
Both charge £80 per hour during office hours or £120+vat from 6pm onwards
Plumber: Thermostat packed up, £124 for the part plus fitting, oh and £94 for the callout now. thanks very much. So at best: £333 to fix
electrician: thermostat and grill both packed up, £280+vat for the parts, plus fitting, oh and £94 for the callout. So at best £517 to fix
The shower is a bit special so no getting out of that one but, the oven is £250 from currys +80 installation and disposal of the old one.
When electricians and plumbers charge a third of the cost of the appliance they service per hour, we then wonder why we are living in this white goods wasteful, throw away culture!
Absolute f
king bonkers!
Then a week later my oven stopped getting hot.
Called out a plumber and an electrician
Both charge £80 per hour during office hours or £120+vat from 6pm onwards
Plumber: Thermostat packed up, £124 for the part plus fitting, oh and £94 for the callout now. thanks very much. So at best: £333 to fix
electrician: thermostat and grill both packed up, £280+vat for the parts, plus fitting, oh and £94 for the callout. So at best £517 to fix
The shower is a bit special so no getting out of that one but, the oven is £250 from currys +80 installation and disposal of the old one.
When electricians and plumbers charge a third of the cost of the appliance they service per hour, we then wonder why we are living in this white goods wasteful, throw away culture!
Absolute f
king bonkers!bigmanteebs said:
The element on my oven packed in about 2 months ago. Was quoted £90 per hour + VAT to have a look at, then parts on top. Was going to be looking at about £150-£250 to get fixed.
Bought the element online for £19 and fitted it myself in 30 mins.
Bargain.
oh! ok. I personally don;t mind doing DYI on electrical items, but knowing my luck, there will be a fire, the oven will be to blame, and the non-qualified electrician (i.e. me) will have the insurance claim turned down, because of it.Bought the element online for £19 and fitted it myself in 30 mins.
Bargain.
Part of the problem is the stupidly low prices of the appliances. A twin tub Hoover washing machine (hardly high-tech) cost about £70 in the late sixties which equates to about £1000 in today's costs. At that rate a repair makes eminent sense. Not a cooker I realise, but you get the point.
isee said:
When electricians and plumbers charge a third of the cost of the appliance they service per hour, we then wonder why we are living in this white goods wasteful, throw away culture!
Times have changed. Once, 'luxury goods' as they were known were just that, luxuries, because they costed at least a month's wages, maybe several. So to pay a TV repairman £10 to fix a £1,000 TV made sense.Now we have the yellow people pumping out luxury goods that cost only a few day's wages and the repairers needing to earn £30K a year just to break even because they get half taken away in taxation.
Simpo Two said:
isee said:
When electricians and plumbers charge a third of the cost of the appliance they service per hour, we then wonder why we are living in this white goods wasteful, throw away culture!
Times have changed. Once, 'luxury goods' as they were known were just that, luxuries, because they costed at least a month's wages, maybe several. So to pay a TV repairman £10 to fix a £1,000 TV made sense.Now we have the yellow people pumping out luxury goods that cost only a few day's wages and the repairers needing to earn £30K a year just to break even because they get half taken away in taxation.
People wouldn't moan so much about about call-out charges if they realised what that charge incorporates.
i.e. insurances required, office overheads, vehicle overheads, travel costs and travel time, inspectorate charges, accountancy charges the list goes on.
Out of that charge the guy might even be able to pay himself
i.e. insurances required, office overheads, vehicle overheads, travel costs and travel time, inspectorate charges, accountancy charges the list goes on.
Out of that charge the guy might even be able to pay himself
Edited by Westy Pre-Lit on Wednesday 3rd February 13:02
Westy Pre-Lit said:
People wouldn't moan so much about about call-out charges if they realised what that charge incorporates.
i.e. insurances required, office overheads, vehicle overheads, travel costs and travel time, inspectorate charges, accountancy charges the list goes on.
Out of that charge the guy might even be able to pay himself
Implying that the guy is busy enough to get at least one call per day on average (which is very, very conservative imho) How much does the public liability insurance come to per year and per hour? The way you make it sound is as though the cost is so massive that each one listed is at least £10 per hour so out of six mentioned the guy is lucky if he gets away with paying £60.i.e. insurances required, office overheads, vehicle overheads, travel costs and travel time, inspectorate charges, accountancy charges the list goes on.
Out of that charge the guy might even be able to pay himself
Edited by Westy Pre-Lit on Wednesday 3rd February 13:02
I used to run a computer repair business. with a rented shop, car, insurance, my time etc etc, would have been massively worried if my workload was so low that all of that combined averaged out to a tenner per hour in costs.
One reason why I have the following insured:-
Cooker
Washing machine
Tumble Drier
T.V. (5 years from John Lewis)
Hoover
Sat dish, (Replaced last year £210 - cost me ziltch)
Sky+ (Fitter coming out this week, playin up, insurance will replace it free if they cant fix it)
Central heating, and plumbing.
Drains.
Last year, a jar of fruit preserve in some kind of oil, (just an ornament) suddenly cracked, got oil inside the insulation of the oven, no way of getting it out, 100% refund on initial price for a new one. Got it from John Lewis same as the first one, hense another 5 years free insurance.
Last year, Tumble drier finally kicked the bucket, 100% refund for a replacement.
If I were to be born again, I think I would be a plumber.
Cooker
Washing machine
Tumble Drier
T.V. (5 years from John Lewis)
Hoover
Sat dish, (Replaced last year £210 - cost me ziltch)
Sky+ (Fitter coming out this week, playin up, insurance will replace it free if they cant fix it)
Central heating, and plumbing.
Drains.
Last year, a jar of fruit preserve in some kind of oil, (just an ornament) suddenly cracked, got oil inside the insulation of the oven, no way of getting it out, 100% refund on initial price for a new one. Got it from John Lewis same as the first one, hense another 5 years free insurance.
Last year, Tumble drier finally kicked the bucket, 100% refund for a replacement.
If I were to be born again, I think I would be a plumber.
Edited by Vipers on Wednesday 3rd February 13:25
isee said:
Westy Pre-Lit said:
People wouldn't moan so much about about call-out charges if they realised what that charge incorporates.
i.e. insurances required, office overheads, vehicle overheads, travel costs and travel time, inspectorate charges, accountancy charges the list goes on.
Out of that charge the guy might even be able to pay himself
Implying that the guy is busy enough to get at least one call per day on average (which is very, very conservative imho) How much does the public liability insurance come to per year and per hour? The way you make it sound is as though the cost is so massive that each one listed is at least £10 per hour so out of six mentioned the guy is lucky if he gets away with paying £60.i.e. insurances required, office overheads, vehicle overheads, travel costs and travel time, inspectorate charges, accountancy charges the list goes on.
Out of that charge the guy might even be able to pay himself
Edited by Westy Pre-Lit on Wednesday 3rd February 13:02
I used to run a computer repair business. with a rented shop, car, insurance, my time etc etc, would have been massively worried if my workload was so low that all of that combined averaged out to a tenner per hour in costs.
Still it's an hours drive, an hour on site and an hour back.Yep.
Same here. Shower started to go... Fixed the offending part but it was on it's last legs so searched around and got a replacement one. Fitted it myself. Of course ideally you need to work out which model replaces the ageing one.. As it needs the same connectors (ours is an electric one). Job done
Same with the fridge door shelf. It developed a crack, but found a new one online. Ordered, done.
Managed to replace the toilet cistern as well, but that was a real pain, the old one just didn't want to come off!
Not so sure about the oven... Tempted to replace that.. Though they're a bit heavy!
Admittedly it takes a lot longer to source and fix some parts, than using a plumber or sparky.
Same here. Shower started to go... Fixed the offending part but it was on it's last legs so searched around and got a replacement one. Fitted it myself. Of course ideally you need to work out which model replaces the ageing one.. As it needs the same connectors (ours is an electric one). Job done
Same with the fridge door shelf. It developed a crack, but found a new one online. Ordered, done.
Managed to replace the toilet cistern as well, but that was a real pain, the old one just didn't want to come off!
Not so sure about the oven... Tempted to replace that.. Though they're a bit heavy!
Admittedly it takes a lot longer to source and fix some parts, than using a plumber or sparky.
eps said:
Not so sure about the oven... Tempted to replace that.. Though they're a bit heavy!
Ovens are peasy, it's washing machines that are buggers to shift.I got my new WM in through the front door using a little wheeled platform jobbie and an old door as a ramp. The front wheel punched a hole through the door!
Edited by Simpo Two on Wednesday 3rd February 15:13
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