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Hi All

I am totaly gobsmacked. I rang a an to fix my cassette toilet last week he told me it wouldnt be a problem but didnt know how much it would be. I knew it was the pump and told him this. Also two of my neighbours on site wanted him to look at problems in their vans. Which again he agreed to. He took all my toilet apart and then told me it was the pump. which i knew. He had the part with him and said he would fix it now. went and got part from his van. I kept asking how much eventually he told me £85 which included £40 for the repair and £45 callout charge. I basicly told him to sling his hook. By law they have to tell you up front that there is a callout charge so due to his greed and wanting the callout charge off all 3 of us he never got a penny. as we didnt get it done.  I have now ordered the part off ebay for £14 and am fitting it friday with the step by step guide from thetford website. So be aware when you call anyone out get a price upfront.

I am not sure £45 for a call out charge exorbitant, especially if he had to travel some distance. However I do agree that it should have been mentioned at time of booking and I suppose he could have shared the call out between the three customers.

David

I am self employed and I don't charge a call out as such. If i dont fix it, I don't charge you. If I do you get a bill for the job. I try to give a decent estimate of things but sometimes it's impossible. In this case I personally don't think a bill of £85 for a complted job with parts is over the top. However if he had charged £45 just to look at it then that's another matter entirely.

As sunshinelovers says with the overheads and the ever increasing cost of fuel it's very easy to be working for nothing if you're not careful. I often find that a lot of people expect tradesmen to work for minimum wage just because we get dirty for a living. By the time you've paid your insurances and run a vehicle that is no use other than for work it's impossible to work for what some may expect.

Personally I get all my work from reccomendation so I never get that problem thankfully. For me calculating the worth of a job is simple, the cost of the materials plus fuel plus the time spent on each job.

As sunshinelovers says with the overheads and the ever increasing cost of fuel it's very easy to be working for nothing if you're not careful. I often find that a lot of people expect tradesmen to work for minimum wage just because we get dirty for a living. By the time you've paid your insurances and run a vehicle that is no use other than for work it's impossible to work for what some may expect

agree fully,there are a lot of hidden cost in running your own business.

You often find that it's those who are perfectly capable of doing a job themselves who moan loudest about the cost of getting jobs done. As me and my OH can  do most jobs ourselves I tend to work on the assumption that if it costs me less an hour than I earnan hour then it's worth saving some of my precious time and paying someone to do the job,

Apart from just now of course when I can't afford to pay anyone anything. OH will be getting his plumbers hat on to fix the leaking shower this weekend.

I looked on thetford website after he let me down the first time. I am a woman on my own and didnt think i would be able to do the job myself. He rang and said he would be there the following week. At this point i asked for a quote and told him it was the pump. he really should have told me about the callout charge then and i could have made the desision to have it done or not! I know people have to earn a living and also know this was a sideline for him and not his main job just for pocket money and obviously he had big pockets lol. Anyway I have learnt from this to check here anytime i have a problem someone might have the solution. x

It`s usually ole fellas who grumble like hell about paying for stuff!  My dad was one of `em, I`m going the same way.  And caravaners are a breed apart . . . I`m surprised tourist caravan sites actually exixt given the above.  But I`m glad they do!

Grumble on friends.  It keeps you young!