I was once asked by a customer as to why my quote of £350 for a CU upgrade was almost double that of two others he had received over the phone from young men he had found via My Builder. I told him that he should apply a reverse mindset and ask them why their quotes were almost half the price of mine. I pointed-out to the customer that you get what you pay for and if he was offered a second-hand car worth £5000 for just £2500, then the first question he would ask the seller would be the obvious one: "What is wrong with it?"
I explained to the customer that in accordance with regulation 132.16, an installation needs to be inspected and tested prior to a board changeover, and that having just carried-out an inspection, I have determined that main protective bonding would need to be installed for the gas and water services as there wasn't any present.
He didn't have a clue what I was talking about and asked me why the other two 'electricians' hadn't mentioned any of this. "Probably because neither of them could be bothered to actually come to your house to check if the earthing and bonding arrangements were adequate as I have done", was my reply.
One of the 'electricians' told the customer that he would be able to do the job within "1-2 hours max so why are you telling me that the job is going to take nearly all day?" This is the point where I realised that I was p***ing in the wind and decided to walk away. There's just no talking to some people, so why even bother?
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