Am i too dear?!!!!!

[ukpablo]

just got a call from a quote i did for a hot tub.

did not get the job by the way!

bit annoyed really, but it got me thinking!
Ok, new sub board req (rcd protected)from a new henley block where i would have split tails.
10 meters internal run 6mm, 25 metres external run with armoured, lift 16 slabs and bury cable, re-lay with sand all nice and even into rotary isolator in shed, back out 6 metres under 5 slabs, lift and re-lay to hot tub location.
Install bonding to gas and water as non existant, 50 metres in total, pain to run in under kitchen units too, test, cert etc and guarentee for 1 yr.

£450 all in including materials which were £202.00!!!!!

so, am i too expensive or was she after a cheap one?!

thoughts please, and if so what would u have charged?

 

[pennywise]

Maybe a little cheap even, would be looking closer to 500-600 This is down in south London within the M25 Mind you.

 

[MFHEng]

Don't be too dissapointed, it sounds very much like you may have been too cheap in comparrison and they may have thought the worst, or you were undercut by a cheaper spark, or you may be competing with someone pilfering kit from work for private jobs, or they knew a freind of a freind etc, or they may know some diy jerk from up the road whose going to do it , or the hot tub company may void their warrenty if they don't use their own sparks.....the list is endless, but given your prices, I'd say you were too cheap, quite possible 200 quid light at least.

But these are only my oppinions , others will have theres, some clients are just scroats, you couldalways inform the LABC that the works maygoing ahead and it might not be being registered for part P as it should!!

 

[nickblake]

nope that seams a fair price to me about a day and a half labour prob got his mate to do it .

 

[cbw]

I am with Pennywise on this, 1 day 2 of us with the digging etc £550.00

 

[jedisparks]

You sound a bit on the cheap side mate. I think every now and then youre just going to get these come.

a year or 2 ago i priced up some alterations on a bungalow most circuits were to be worked upon and many having cables buried in the wall. There was no RCD protecion existing so i suggested replacing the consumer unit....... You know whats coming..... the guy then just argued about and baiscially didnt believe it was necessary.

Ok you could have done the work if you used about a dozen RCD spurs, but to me that would have been a bit of a crap job.

Anyway i did my quote as i thought best. the guy rang me a couple of weeks later to let me know that i didnt get it (nice of him) so i asked if i was far out on the price. i was 500 pounds too expensive because of the consumer unit and bonding i had allowed for (i think i allowed 400ish for that infact).

So the trouble is you can only do your best and price the job as you see fit. you can never bargin for someone coming in on the cheap to do a crap job. how can you compete with that.

OP from what you have said you really dont want to go in any cheaper on a job like that.

 

[Guest123]

Dont be annoyed mate......I'd probably be a bit heavier than £450 too. Some people are just tight and dont appreciate what they are getting, chalk it down and move on.

 

[MFHEng]

Whats the design current of the hot tub?

 

[accordfire]

just got a call from a quote i did for a hot tub.

did not get the job by the way!

bit annoyed really, but it got me thinking!
Ok, new sub board req (rcd protected)from a new henley block where i would have split tails.
10 meters internal run 6mm, 25 metres external run with armoured, lift 16 slabs and bury cable, re-lay with sand all nice and even into rotary isolator in shed, back out 6 metres under 5 slabs, lift and re-lay to hot tub location.
Install bonding to gas and water as non existant, 50 metres in total, pain to run in under kitchen units too, test, cert etc and guarentee for 1 yr.

£450 all in including materials which were £202.00!!!!!

so, am i too expensive or was she after a cheap one?!

thoughts please, and if so what would u have charged?

And therein lies a reason we run miles from residentials.

I'd say it was on the cheap side, like others though. Another hundred quid would have been nearer it.

Still at least you got feedback on the quote, and you're not going to waste time waiting for it to come in now. That's a plus.

Quotes round here for groundworks alone would be around £150 or so.

 

[pennywise]

Quotes round here for groundworks alone would be around £150 or so.

I would always get someone in for the ground works now, as you say around a days work or so for someone thats used to digging holes. Just got a price from a builder m8 of 110 all in for a 30m trench following the side of a path 450mm deep and back filled, the guy was national apprentice bricklayer of the year feel a bit guilty asking him to dig holes

 

[accordfire]

I would always get someone in for the ground works now, as you say around a days work or so for someone thats used to digging holes. Just got a price from a builder m8 of 110 all in for a 30m trench following the side of a path 450mm deep and back filled, the guy was national apprentice bricklayer of the year feel a bit guilty asking him to dig holes

Lol. Good thing is though, our main groundworkers will put in flexiduct or solid for us, draw wire and back fill too if we can't make it to site with them. They tend to get busy too, some reason.....

 

[pennywise]

Lol. Good thing is though, our main groundworkers will put in flexiduct or solid for us, draw wire and back fill too if we can't make it to site with them. They tend to get busy too, some reason.....

Sounds like a good set up wonder why they are so busy lol. Once you've got a trusted person and know their way of working it's just one more thing not to have to worry about . Think I will have him put flexiduct with the smooth inner liner in next time, got so many bloody submains to log cabins to put in at the moment, everyone thinks it's a great idea to do garden works in the WINTER! in preparation for next summer.

 

[accordfire]

Sounds like a good set up wonder why they are so busy lol. Once you've got a trusted person and know their way of working it's just one more thing not to have to worry about . Think I will have him put flexiduct with the smooth inner liner in next time, got so many bloody submains to log cabins to put in at the moment, everyone thinks it's a great idea to do garden works in the WINTER! in preparation for next summer.

Yup - we use 'em for a lot of CCTV groundworks too, and very true what you say about hanging onto the good ones - we've had all sorts in the past - yeah we checked the depth at 1m - yet you can see bits of duct barely covered! Yeah, we backfilled with pea shingle - oh yeah, where's the empty bag(s) then?

And yes, Winter for heating, external works, outside lighting, because come winter, we're all flipping Eskimos! Summer for loft work, because we need to lose all the blubber we piled on to get through the winter!!!!!

Sure that's how customers see it anyway.

Mind, ol' Merv on Watchdog hasn't seen a loft in a while, I'll bet.

 

[ian]

I think it’s a bit light; I did something similar last year, I charged £550.00 and was the cheapest by miles.

Don’t to despondent, cant win em all.

 

[ukpablo]

Cheers for input lads and lasses