We needed a plumber last week and I called a local tradie rather than the one from the next town who we used for two emergencies over the Covid lockdowns.

I always want to user locals and given how many there are around here I assumed their rates would be roughly the same, but I would at least save the "out of town" fee.

I received the invoice yesterday which shows their "time on site" is twice as long as what my cameras tell me and their rates are $290 an hour compared to $85.

My mistake for not asking first. When I questioned it they said it includes health and safety compliance. I asked if that was the guy leaning against the house for 20 minutes looking at his phone whilst the other bloke did all the work. No reply.

Oh well, lesson learned.