Some time back we discussed the ability to pay cash and save a bundle on
service calls. Last night my hot water heater died. It ticked me off. I
had wanted a bath and and started filling the tub. I left the room to
undress, came back and jumped into a tub of cool water. I got out, went
down and checked the hot water heater. It was not running. I tried
relighting the pilot light.... no luck.

First thing this morning I called my regular plumber and found out they
no longer have anyone certified for gas but the woman gave me the name
of her son's friend who she said was pretty good. I called him just
after 9am. He said he could be here by noon.

The guy showed up, checked it out, got his tools and got to work. He
replaced the thermo coupler which was worth approximately $22. The cost
of the service call, an hour labour and parts.... $100.

On 3/6/2024 1:04 PM, Dave Smith wrote:
> Some time back we discussed the ability to pay cash and save a bundle on
> service calls.  Last night my hot water heater died. It ticked me off. I
> had wanted a bath and and started filling the tub. I left the room to
> undress, came back and jumped into a tub of cool water.  I got out, went
> down and checked the hot water heater. It was not running. I tried
> relighting the pilot light.... no luck.
>
> First thing this morning I called my regular plumber and found out they
> no longer have anyone certified for gas but the woman gave me the name
> of her son's friend who she said was pretty good. I called him just
> after 9am. He said he could be here by noon.
>
> The guy showed up, checked it out, got his tools and got to work. He
> replaced the thermo coupler which was worth approximately $22. The cost
> of the service call, an hour labour and parts.... $100.
>
>
Last time I had a plumber it was $150 for about 15 minutes. You got a
good deal.

On 2024-03-06 11:04 a.m., Dave Smith wrote:
> Some time back we discussed the ability to pay cash and save a bundle on
> service calls.  Last night my hot water heater died. It ticked me off. I
> had wanted a bath and and started filling the tub. I left the room to
> undress, came back and jumped into a tub of cool water.  I got out, went
> down and checked the hot water heater. It was not running. I tried
> relighting the pilot light.... no luck.
>
> First thing this morning I called my regular plumber and found out they
> no longer have anyone certified for gas but the woman gave me the name
> of her son's friend who she said was pretty good. I called him just
> after 9am. He said he could be here by noon.
>
> The guy showed up, checked it out, got his tools and got to work. He
> replaced the thermo coupler which was worth approximately $22. The cost
> of the service call, an hour labour and parts.... $100.
>
>
Having had to determine charge-out rates for my staff, that seems
pretty reasonable. A charge of 2.5 to 2.75 times base salary is
reasonable on top of parts.

Dave Smith wrote:

> Some time back we discussed the ability to pay cash and save a bundle
> on service calls. Last night my hot water heater died. It ticked me
> off. I had wanted a bath and and started filling the tub. I left the
> room to undress, came back and jumped into a tub of cool water. I
> got out, went down and checked the hot water heater. It was not
> running. I tried relighting the pilot light.... no luck.
>
> First thing this morning I called my regular plumber and found out
> they no longer have anyone certified for gas but the woman gave me
> the name of her son's friend who she said was pretty good. I called
> him just after 9am. He said he could be here by noon.
>
> The guy showed up, checked it out, got his tools and got to work. He
> replaced the thermo coupler which was worth approximately $22. The
> cost of the service call, an hour labour and parts.... $100.

Ouch but that's what experienced gas workers run.

Graham wrote:

> On 2024-03-06 11:04 a.m., Dave Smith wrote:
> > Some time back we discussed the ability to pay cash and save a
> > bundle on service calls.  Last night my hot water heater died. It
> > ticked me off. I had wanted a bath and and started filling the
> > tub. I left the room to undress, came back and jumped into a tub
> > of cool water.  I got out, went down and checked the hot water
> > heater. It was not running. I tried relighting the pilot light....
> > no luck.
> >
> > First thing this morning I called my regular plumber and found out
> > they no longer have anyone certified for gas but the woman gave me
> > the name of her son's friend who she said was pretty good. I
> > called him just after 9am. He said he could be here by noon.
> >
> > The guy showed up, checked it out, got his tools and got to work.
> > He replaced the thermo coupler which was worth approximately $22.
> > The cost of the service call, an hour labour and parts.... $100.
> >
> >
> Having had to determine charge-out rates for my staff, that seems
> pretty reasonable. A charge of 2.5 to 2.75 times base salary is
> reasonable on top of parts.

Yup. Most of the rest goes to social security, insurance, any benefits
you offer, any pay for those staff (secretary/scheduler, tax and
payrole processing and parts then advertising and lastly a bit for
profits. That assumes no company vehicles to purchase and maintain
plus apt to be gas to run them. Most folks don't add that up.

On 2024-03-06 5:06 p.m., cshenk wrote:
> Dave Smith wrote:

>> The guy showed up, checked it out, got his tools and got to work. He
>> replaced the thermo coupler which was worth approximately $22. The
>> cost of the service call, an hour labour and parts.... $100.
>
> Ouch but that's what experienced gas workers run.

I wasn't ouching. I thought it was a great deal. I was expecting to be
billed for a service call plus the hour labour, plus parts and tax. I
had expected to pay more than double that. He also came within three
hours and completed the work in less than an hour. I am very happy with it.

cshenk wrote:
> Graham wrote:
>
>> On 2024-03-06 11:04 a.m., Dave Smith wrote:
>>> Some time back we discussed the ability to pay cash and save a
>>> bundle on service calls.  Last night my hot water heater died. It
>>> ticked me off. I had wanted a bath and and started filling the
>>> tub. I left the room to undress, came back and jumped into a tub
>>> of cool water.  I got out, went down and checked the hot water
>>> heater. It was not running. I tried relighting the pilot light....
>>> no luck.
>>>
>>> First thing this morning I called my regular plumber and found out
>>> they no longer have anyone certified for gas but the woman gave me
>>> the name of her son's friend who she said was pretty good. I
>>> called him just after 9am. He said he could be here by noon.
>>>
>>> The guy showed up, checked it out, got his tools and got to work.
>>> He replaced the thermo coupler which was worth approximately $22.
>>> The cost of the service call, an hour labour and parts.... $100.
>>>
>>>
>> Having had to determine charge-out rates for my staff, that seems
>> pretty reasonable. A charge of 2.5 to 2.75 times base salary is
>> reasonable on top of parts.
>
> Yup. Most of the rest goes to social security, insurance, any benefits
> you offer, any pay for those staff (secretary/scheduler, tax and
> payrole processing and parts then advertising and lastly a bit for
> profits. That assumes no company vehicles to purchase and maintain
> plus apt to be gas to run them. Most folks don't add that up.
>

Indeed, and add 10% if the worker is retired navy, and 50% if they served
at sasebo. Special people require special charges.

Dave Smith wrote:

> On 2024-03-06 5:06 p.m., cshenk wrote:
> > Dave Smith wrote:
>
> > > The guy showed up, checked it out, got his tools and got to work.
> > > He replaced the thermo coupler which was worth approximately $22.
> > > The cost of the service call, an hour labour and parts.... $100.
> >
> > Ouch but that's what experienced gas workers run.
>
>
> I wasn't ouching. I thought it was a great deal. I was expecting to
> be billed for a service call plus the hour labour, plus parts and
> tax. I had expected to pay more than double that. He also came
> within three hours and completed the work in less than an hour. I am
> very happy with it.

Ah good then!

cshenk wrote:
....
> Ah good then!

it's really tough to find a good plumber these days.

our last three have been iffy to horrid. most recent
was ... *sigh*

songbird

On 2024-03-09 9:36 a.m., songbird wrote:
> cshenk wrote:
> ...
>> Ah good then!
>
> it's really tough to find a good plumber these days.
>
> our last three have been iffy to horrid. most recent
> was ... *sigh*
>

I have been lucky with plumbers. I have one coming Tuesday morning. The
woman there is the one who recommended the heating and cooling guy who
came for my hot water heater the other day. I had called them first
because I had the two jobs to do, but they no longer deal with gas. I
had called them for a small job a couple years ago but they were booked
up for about a week. I tried another local guy. He stopped by on his way
to another job in town. He was in an out in 15 minutes and did it for
$40 cash.

On 2024-03-09, songbird <songbird@anthive.com> wrote:
> cshenk wrote:
> ...
>> Ah good then!
>
> it's really tough to find a good plumber these days.
>
> our last three have been iffy to horrid. most recent
> was ... *sigh*

I've been married to my plumber for about 35 years. I'll miss
him when he's gone.

--
Cindy Hamilton