Does this seem reasonable? Electrical quote

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93 posts

Master Geek

#2896478 4-Apr-2022 06:02

I suggest that you get another 3-4 quotes. Avoid those who give a call out fee. I avoid them like a plague. Ask what the price covers then compare. 7K is unreasonable. Charge your $150 to experience, sorry.

tchart

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#2896609 4-Apr-2022 10:48

chez: I suggest that you get another 3-4 quotes. Avoid those who give a call out fee. I avoid them like a plague. Ask what the price covers then compare. 7K is unreasonable. Charge your $150 to experience, sorry.

Agree, I am getting other quotes they just happened to be the first ones to come out.

As mentioned in my original post this crowd had very good reviews, their rates were reasonable so I am a bit perplexed how the quote was formulated (given there is zero transparency)

I will be following up with them once I get the other quotes as I think the quote was very lack lustre given the charge.

BTW the options given to me were;

1. Pay $150 to come and give a quote

2. Come out to do the job, cost unknown.

I wonder how #2 would have turned out!

Needless to say I will be adding my thoughts to public review once Ive discussed with them.

shk292

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#2896621 4-Apr-2022 11:11

I would refuse to pay the $150, once I had obtained a few other quotes. These would show that the $7k quote was ridiculous, so you can then argue that the goods contracted for (a realistic and professional quote) had not been provided.

I'm not a lawyer, but I also don't like rip-offs.

1101

3122 posts

Uber Geek

#2896850 4-Apr-2022 16:18

Of course tradies need to charge for quotes
Of course tradies need to charge for callout fees.

Time to get real
We arnt living in the 1950's

Alot of time is WASTED traveling from one house to the next one for small jobs .
Alot of is WASTED on quotes that people reject (for whatever reason)
Alot tme is wasted doing small home jobs , when they can make significantly more on major jobs .

Tradies need to be paid for their time , including quotes .
Why bother spending the time to travel to a house for a quote when there may be zero return for that time.
Thats why quotes arnt free .
Guesses are free .

Look at all the other services & trades that are literally dying out because its no longer worth the effort .
Want sparkies to refuse small home jobs, then start making it a waste of time for them .

:-)

shrub

775 posts

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#2896860 4-Apr-2022 16:31

This entire thread is the reason why 2 of my family members who are qualified electricians work on commercial jobs only. They both tried to make a go of it and failed at residential work.

Its not that there is not enough work out there. Its that you are answering calls and doing quotes for small jobs just to be told ill just get my mate to do it for a box on the weekend.

Then if you ask for labor and travel for 2 visits it will always start an argument.

These guys need to be paid a fair rate that covers both the downtime(ordering and picking up parts) and the travel. If your off the tools 50% of the day then the hourly rate needs to double. Adding in Quotes just adds to this downtime and increases hourly rates.

timbosan

2159 posts

Uber Geek

#2897425 6-Apr-2022 09:01

Thought I would share my experience of costs as a comparison from last month. Old wooden cottage in Auckland, original (single core) wiring in some places, no ceiling space in places (skillion roof???), some new stuff, no RCD's, outside board with asbestos, etc.

I wanted a full rewire plus some new bits (extra circuits to the office, extractor fan in bathroom, ourdoor lights and PP, new hot water, fast chargers, etc.). Got a quote from a local guy which was free. I asked to split it into two (first stage rewire, second stage new hot water and EV fast charger) which he did all for free plus also answered many questions I had.

50% deposit up front, work completed in 4 days. Total cost $5000 including new internal board, full replacement of all wiring to the lights, removal of all the old bad cables (some which went nowhere!). Excellent job and really nice guy, and even though the house is small its still way larger than a sleepout!

tchart

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#2897457 6-Apr-2022 09:20

Ok so have a second quote, again not itemised but more palatable figure @ $3300.

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tchart

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#2897460 6-Apr-2022 09:26

shrub:

This entire thread is the reason why 2 of my family members who are qualified electricians work on commercial jobs only. They both tried to make a go of it and failed at residential work.

Its not that there is not enough work out there. Its that you are answering calls and doing quotes for small jobs just to be told ill just get my mate to do it for a box on the weekend.

Then if you ask for labor and travel for 2 visits it will always start an argument.

These guys need to be paid a fair rate that covers both the downtime(ordering and picking up parts) and the travel. If your off the tools 50% of the day then the hourly rate needs to double. Adding in Quotes just adds to this downtime and increases hourly rates.

@shrub I appreciate that commercial work is probably easier & more lucrative.

I dont have an issue with the fact that they wanted compensation for quoting. The issue I have is a one liner quote with no explanation. As mentioned their hourly rate is ~$100. The job shouldnt take more than a day, maybe day and a half. So at the most 16 hours. Thats $1600. Maybe he brings an apprentice so maybe chuck on another $400. Which means they are either gouging on materials or its just a BS quote.

chez

93 posts

Master Geek

#2897850 6-Apr-2022 22:24

I strongly suggest that you get another 2 quotes and make sure to ask how they are going to do the job for you. Again, compare. You are going to pay thousands for it, not a hundred dollars. You would want a proper quote to cover yourself if things go south.

Handle9

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#2897857 6-Apr-2022 22:43

tchart:

chez: I suggest that you get another 3-4 quotes. Avoid those who give a call out fee. I avoid them like a plague. Ask what the price covers then compare. 7K is unreasonable. Charge your $150 to experience, sorry.

Agree, I am getting other quotes they just happened to be the first ones to come out.

As mentioned in my original post this crowd had very good reviews, their rates were reasonable so I am a bit perplexed how the quote was formulated (given there is zero transparency)

I will be following up with them once I get the other quotes as I think the quote was very lack lustre given the charge.

BTW the options given to me were;

1. Pay $150 to come and give a quote

2. Come out to do the job, cost unknown.

I wonder how #2 would have turned out!

Needless to say I will be adding my thoughts to public review once Ive discussed with them.

Tell them you require an itemised quotation to assess what they are offering. If they don't give it to you don't pay them.

Any contractor will have broken this type of job down by x quantities of material and y of labour. if they come back with ridiculous quantities (which is possible) then discuss it with them. They may have made a mistake.

Handle9

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#2897858 6-Apr-2022 22:44

shrub:

This entire thread is the reason why 2 of my family members who are qualified electricians work on commercial jobs only. They both tried to make a go of it and failed at residential work.

Its not that there is not enough work out there. Its that you are answering calls and doing quotes for small jobs just to be told ill just get my mate to do it for a box on the weekend.

Then if you ask for labor and travel for 2 visits it will always start an argument.

These guys need to be paid a fair rate that covers both the downtime(ordering and picking up parts) and the travel. If your off the tools 50% of the day then the hourly rate needs to double. Adding in Quotes just adds to this downtime and increases hourly rates.

If they don't want to quote then don't run a business. Work for someone else.

Commercial work is even more demanding with quoting and when you get it wrong you don't get to go back and complain, you wear it.

tchart

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#2898068 7-Apr-2022 13:00

OMG its just laughable at this point, this was their reply;

We do not itemise our quotes. The price quoted includes all the labour charges, materials required to complete the job and certification.

Despite this being a straight forward job there is a lot of conduit work involved under the sleepout due to the polystyrene insulation used.

richms

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#2898076 7-Apr-2022 13:09

Why would they not be using non migratory cable? Is that not still a thing these days? It was back when a friend was having work done with a lot of poly insulation.

Seems absurd to expect $150 for that sort of information.

Richard rich.ms

elpenguino

3421 posts

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#2898079 7-Apr-2022 13:12

shrub:

This entire thread is the reason why 2 of my family members who are qualified electricians work on commercial jobs only. They both tried to make a go of it and failed at residential work.

Although the risk of subbing is when the primary contractor goes under and you're left holding the baby. That scenario has put many small contractors out of business over the years.

I don't disagree with you about the difficulties of residential work though and I note that some of the tradies I've used over the last few years are a bit picky about choosing their customers. Like customers finding tradies, tradies get some reassurance from hearing about their customers by word of mouth.

I'm enquiring with small businesses about various products and services at the moment and based on what is returned as a quote, I think the thing many of them suffer from is a low level of office tools and automation. I speculate they simply can't itemise the required labour and materials from multiple suppliers into a presentable format.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

xpd

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#2898081 7-Apr-2022 13:17

tchart:

OMG its just laughable at this point, this was their reply;

We do not itemise our quotes. The price quoted includes all the labour charges, materials required to complete the job and certification. Despite this being a straight forward job there is a lot of conduit work involved under the sleepout due to the polystyrene insulation used.

I'm sorry but I am unable to complete payment without an itemized quote so I know what I am getting in return. MY fee to process an non itemized quote is $150 per quote.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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