Was I just ripped off by the plumber?

Question

my food disposal wasn't working, and called this service that lets you know all the best plumbers in the area. one plumber called back and said he could come by for a quick estimate. he came within an hour and then he got a white pipe and jammed it down my food disposal. the disposal was fixed within five minutes. He then writes down an invoice that says he is charging me $140 for 5 minutes work and something I could have easily done. I was totally shocked. Should I call and complain or is an amount like this totally normal.

Answer 1

That's normal for a service call.You are paying for travel time.Look at it this way.The plumbing company gets half so the plumber only got $70 for that hour and 5 min so the plumber only makes($70*40=2800) $2800 a week max(more likely half that with wasted time between calls so you have $1400 per week which is only $70k a year(2 week non pay vacation).Then he has to pay union dues/health insurance/license/education.If you think its an easy buck then get your license and become one yourself.

Answer 2

Great answers from everyone but you got nailed by the plumber. I deal with them all of the time in my business and there are honest guys out there and gougers and I'm sorry that you had to find out the hard way. Plumbers do have an hourly rate and almost always a flat rate for small repairs however $140 for a 5 minute job is gouging the customer. Good Luck with future repairs.

Answer 3

our service charge was 135.00 so sounds right.

next time email me the plumber i will help you get it done yourself

[e-mail]

Answer 4

You say you 'could easily have fixed it'. So why didn't you? Because before you watched, and learned from him, you couldn't.

So you called a plumber. You didn't, apparently, ask for an estimate before allowing him to do the job. You watched him, and you learned from him. You'll probably never call him out (or any other plumber) to do that job again. So, he taught you how to do the job for free next time.

That, I think, means your $140 is very good value for money.

Answer 5

As long as you paid him that becomes a contract and there is nothing you can do. And I know how you feel but these guys charge big bucks just to look at something.

Answer 6

It was broke, he fixed it.

It does sound high to me, but not unreasonable.  Sadly, many repairs are very simple.  Some aren't.  So you called for his availability, expertise, licensure, and bonding (not just his "fix-it pipe").

Answer 7

$140 (= £70) is about what you would be charged in UK ..

If you demand a break down you will get something like the following :-

Call Out charge, £35

Work time (which is almost always charged in units of 1 hour) £35

(at £35 per hour).

Answer 8

YES, YOU WERE JUST RIPPED OFF BY A PLUMBER....THANKS FOR ASKING.