£120 for install of two supplied downlights... expensive or not?

Maybe he Booked ½ a day for it. In case of problems? Had he looked at the job?

 

I would say a decent price. Do they work?

 

No mate that price is a good price, in actual fact it is fairly cheap.

 

Look at it this way. cut two holes in the ceiling, run a bit of cable between lights, terminate from your old light position. it looks expensive as you think it is easy but he will have made it look easy. I charge on average the same rate.

 

Exactly mate. Worth paying someone else to do it.

 

Yep, a fair price, I would have charged about the same - smaller jobs inevitably are more expensive than bigger ones, economies of scale etc.

As self employed, we have lots of overheads which PAYE paid staff don't have to think about, in the £120 we are collecting for the tax man, paying our pension & NI contribution, insurance, scheme membership, van running costs, calibration of test gear, wear and tear on equipment, lunch etc...

When I sit down to do my accounts it's sometimes quite frightening where it all goes!, I used to work PAYE and thought nothing of it all, as it was all painlessy deducted before it got to me!

 

Sounds quite reasonable,

 

Other thing you have to consider is how long it really takes in these small jobs. I had one earlier this week, change two switches in a primary school - got there at 10.00, but had to wait for one classroom to be vacant to do that, then had to hang around for the next one and do that. Quick break for lunch (the head teacher is very nice and always offers a school meal, takes me back decades!!) off then across town to job number 2, replace a switch on a dimplex storage heater - oh poop, the replacement rocker switch is ever so slightly bigger than the old one and I havn't got a file, off to nearby B&Q to buy a file, back to job, switch fitted in minutes - landlord says, while you are here can you change a smoke detector, yes, so off to wholesalers for one of those.

Total working time that day 1 hour tops, 7 hours of farting about!!, next day on a newbuild first fixing 8.00AM to 16.00PM solid graft.

 

VAT?

 

presumably thats the £20!

 

Bet that £20 went in his back pocket with the other £100

 

In post #4 you said

So this charge must have included more than 1 sparky.

 

It seems to me that because other work was being carried out, this was expected to be a 'little extra job' at minimal cost.
Fair price or not, it's not really surprising that people who aren't competent attempt these types of jobs.

 

Yeah I agree, if it was me I probably wouldn't charge if I'm already there.

But that's why I cant afford a Milwaukee toolbox

 

Buy one then you will have no option but to charge. My prices have doubled since l;ooking at the radio and coffee cup