Pricing!

[Welshsparky]

Quoted a shower installation

16 meter run of 10mm , pull switch in bathroom with an Rcbo installed in consumer unit as rcd side is full ( plumber supplying shower ) quoted £185 and have pretty much been called a con artist is this right!?

Quoted a EICR at £130 for a 3 bed , told by customer that she'd had a quote at £85 !!

very disheartening

 

[happyhippy68]

Average price where I am is around £120+VAT for an EICR on a three bed property with one consumer unit. There are some doing it cheaper and i heard of one guy doing a test at £70.00+Vat. How can you make a living at that price? I would like to see some of these cheaper tests in progress. I agree with the other posts here, stick to your price and let the customer have it done cheaper else where.

I include a letter with my quotes pointing out what the competing quotes should include and what the customer should be asking for such as registration details etc. This puts these requirements in the customers mind and of course as you have shown all this evidence they already know you will do it properly.

We are all customers for someone and we all love a bargain. It just takes a bit of education to get our customers to understand that cheapest is not always best option when it comes to electrical installation work.

 

[imago]

It doesn't always work like that, sometimes a customer is interested in quality and standards. I went to look at a job yesterday, install a new feed for a cooker and run in some CAT 6 data points. The oven coming out is gas, the new one is a 6.8kW electric oven. 8 metre run to the isolator, no issues with access. He also asked about a possible CU change.

I looked at the board and the head/meter is on the other side of the wall about a metre away. In place of the tails there's a 10mm T&E. I asked about other loads and they have electric underfloor heating plus the usual. I explained that the cable was too small to be used for tails and why. Ran through the usual dual RCD v RCBO or combination options. He wants an RCBO board with tails upgraded as the preferred option.

Some customers are cottoning onto the fact that the price is only one part of the job.

 

[thomas-1981]

Price what you feel is right and stick with it. Try and compete with these guys doing cash in hand jobs you will end up rushing a job and not doing it to your usual standards. Leave them the number for Rogue Traders on the way out.

 

[Octopus]

Back to the OP.

You don't say where you are so that has an impact but I'd say your pricing is about right, if not a bit on the low side but I'm in Surrey.

Stick to your guns on pricing, concentrate on getting customers and do a GOOD quality job. Recommendations is what you are after.

 

[Ducksy]

Quoted a shower installation

16 meter run of 10mm , pull switch in bathroom with an Rcbo installed in consumer unit as rcd side is full ( plumber supplying shower ) quoted £185 and have pretty much been called a con artist is this right!?

Quoted a EICR at £130 for a 3 bed , told by customer that she'd had a quote at £85 !!

very disheartening

That's about £55 worth of cable, I'm guessing its in pvc trunking so you can say about £35 for that rcbo about £25 isolator switch £10 that's £125 leaves you with £60 which you pay £15 tax on..........i would have charged more.......don't be disheartened you will always meet people wanting the world on a stick.

 

[Spark1979]

Personally think that's a very good price esp. Putting 10mm in I find the stuff like a snake just goes where it wants its a right faff on putting it in. Eicr prices I charge £80 as that's what everyone else round here (newcastle) charges. I do a visual and remove 10% of fixed accessories for inspection, as the saying goes they get what they pay for and tbh most punters want a satisfactory test sheet IMO so aren't bother if limitations listed are as long as your arm. I personally find most faults you find are visual anyway unless you have a lost cpc etc.
Oh and remember that your not there to fix or fault find, just to right it down and report it

 

[pete555]

Quoted a shower installation

16 meter run of 10mm , pull switch in bathroom with an Rcbo installed in consumer unit as rcd side is full ( plumber supplying shower ) quoted £185 and have pretty much been called a con artist is this right!?

Quoted a EICR at £130 for a 3 bed , told by customer that she'd had a quote at £85 !!

very disheartening

don.t be disheartened learn polish or some other eastern european language and you will naturally become cheaper

 

[sbelec]

Am really glad there is not only me that has these problems, and the £185 could be really cheap depending on the RCBO. I had to buy an MEM rcbo head, the rcbo head fits on the mcb as a conversion and got charged £98.50 for the RCBO head only! And given the latest "rules" on only fitting "appropriate" rcbo's in the box it can make it difficult.
At present I am looking at similar job and am discussion with schneider on a suitable RCBO for the Merlin Gerin box and they are not hopeful. Am then down to a second box with RCBO looped off the switch in the consumer unit as its impossible to get new tails from the meter using henly boxes. Am currently working on about 3 hours to cable conduit and the rest of the day messing with the supply - I hate showers in fact becoming to hate houses..... Last year spent 2 days running a cable for a shower and have never managed one in less than a day.
I reckon your £185 is cheap, on the upside some of the major companies use £76 per hour, and remind your customer that they have to notify Building Control of the work being completed and show them the £350 notification fee.

 

[danzor]

Quoted a shower installation

16 meter run of 10mm , pull switch in bathroom with an Rcbo installed in consumer unit as rcd side is full ( plumber supplying shower ) quoted £185 and have pretty much been called a con artist is this right!?

Quoted a EICR at £130 for a 3 bed , told by customer that she'd had a quote at £85 !!

very disheartening

£185? What profit was you looking at? Especially for half a days work.

 

[Englishman]

£185? What profit was you looking at? Especially for half a days work.

That's what I was saying, £185 inclusive of materials, quotes like that are part of the problem that we're experiencing.

 

[Welshsparky]

again people you are assuming the job is this and that when infact the job itself is a piece of cake , the shower is in a flat were every ceiling is suspended with 50 x 50 trunking to every room in the house between the two ceilings , materials are £85 , the job itself will take 3 hours £100 for 3 hours work is hardly undercutting, if i had to run trunking or chase in then yes price would be dearer but the fact is the job is a piece of cake, possibly the easiest shower installation ill ever do .. also Englishman you were talking about the EICR being under priced in your original post their was no mention of the shower being under priced at all so why are you now making out it was the shower price you were talking about?