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Old 08-29-2016, 02:41 PM
 
Location: Holmdel, NJ
42 posts, read 46,839 times
Reputation: 62

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Just had 2 plumbers (from same company) done the following jobs for us (spent them about 3 hours)

1. Replacing a 3" leaking sewer pipe (about 2' long) for the main bathroom drain - which is the main reason I called the plumber.

2. Install a faucet and drain.

3. Fixing a leaking toilet - including removal of entire toilet and resealing it...

4. Replace a leaking hose value, including cutting out the old pipe attached to the old value, then install a new hose value.

They did solid nice work, but the bill is as high as $1600.

Does it seems like a ripoff ? Next time we'll make sure to negotiate price before starting the job....(was in a panic because of the leaking main drain pipe - did't shop around for more quotes ...)

Last edited by Daigo; 08-29-2016 at 03:34 PM..
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Old 08-29-2016, 04:43 PM
 
Location: New Jersey/Florida
5,816 posts, read 12,585,827 times
Reputation: 4409
Wish more youth went into blue collar jobs instead of going to college for 4 years and wait on tables now. You should of got an estimate.
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Old 08-29-2016, 04:52 PM
 
Location: Holmdel, NJ
42 posts, read 46,839 times
Reputation: 62
Quote:
Originally Posted by JERSEY MAN View Post
Wish more youth went into blue collar jobs instead of going to college for 4 years and wait on tables now. You should of got an estimate.
I have a friend who grew up in a very nice town on LI, his neighbors are mostly lawyers, doctors and plumbers.
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Old 08-29-2016, 06:15 PM
 
4,071 posts, read 4,112,671 times
Reputation: 2030
This remind me few years ago when I called in a big name contractor to get an estimate for replacing a water heater. $1800 for one. A water heater cost about 3 to 500$. So they basically want $1300 for delivery and for maybe a 15 minutes on soldiering the pipes, about $100 per minute. The time it take to empty the tank doesn't count. Unbelievable how much they ask.

I lately on found someone to do it for $200, we provide the water heater.
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Old 08-30-2016, 07:03 AM
 
124 posts, read 169,618 times
Reputation: 73
Quote:
Originally Posted by JERSEY MAN View Post
Wish more youth went into blue collar jobs instead of going to college for 4 years and wait on tables now. You should of got an estimate.

Totally agree with this. Plumbers make great $$. A lot of times they have the customers by the balls. So the customers will pay almost anything. $1600 for 6 hours of plumber labor time (2 ppl/3 hours per person) is not outrageous in my opinion.
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Old 08-30-2016, 07:31 AM
 
Location: NJ
4,940 posts, read 12,100,086 times
Reputation: 4562
Speaking of plumbers, don't ever call Roto-Rooter unless you are in an absolute emergency. They once charged me $450 to snake my kitchen sink drain. Granted this was 8pm on a Sunday but I could have just waited until Monday morning and probably saved a lot of money with my regular plumber.
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Old 08-30-2016, 08:45 AM
 
3,305 posts, read 3,841,752 times
Reputation: 2590
What would you think is a fair price for these things?
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Old 08-30-2016, 09:36 AM
 
Location: Wayne,NJ
1,352 posts, read 1,521,893 times
Reputation: 1833
It's really funny, people will pay someone $200 to spend 1/2hr repairing a computer and think nothing of it. When someone produces a bill for $200 for an hours worth of plumbing work they balk??? The plumber is licensed, is the computer shop??

I used to do truck road service, got a call to fix a hip-hop band's tour bus. It was an older bus and wouldn't run, I go there open the engine compartment, found the fuel shut off solenoid was stuck. I reset the solenoid and charged them $150.00, (I also showed them what I did in case it happened again). They balked at the price, I explained we charged 2 hrs at our then labor rate of $75 an hour. I also explained I knew which lever to push...... they paid the bill. ,
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Old 08-30-2016, 09:54 AM
 
Location: NJ
4,940 posts, read 12,100,086 times
Reputation: 4562
Quote:
Originally Posted by jaymoney View Post
What would you think is a fair price for these things?
Well, in my Roto-Rooter case, $450 seems quite excessive for less than an hour of work. After calling Roto Rooter the plumber showed up within 30 minutes of my call, so most likely this guy was just sitting around waiting for the next call to come in (the guy arrived looking like he had just woken up from a nap). So I guess part of what I'm being charged is so they can pay this guy to be "on call". But like I said, I knew what I was getting into, but if this ever happens again I will wait until Monday morning and pay my regular plumber about $85 to do the job.
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Old 09-01-2016, 10:35 AM
 
Location: Holmdel, NJ
42 posts, read 46,839 times
Reputation: 62
Just had 3 landscaping professionals worked on our 1 acre of of grass lawn for more than 3 hours and bill is only $150 - I feel so bad for these hard working people, they're making less than 1/10 of what those plumbers makes. (2 plumbers worked for 3 hours for $1600)

Last edited by Daigo; 09-01-2016 at 11:51 AM..
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