What Do We All Think of Plumbers? (Experiences)

Lmikemurphy on 03/08/2016 - 18:47
Last edited 03/08/2016 - 18:52

Hi OzB,

I'm just wondering what we all think of plumbers? I'm sure at some point or another, we have all heard about someones story who had a nightmare of a time dealing with one, but I'd like to know about the positive ones too. Reviews online for this trade are very hit and miss. These guys supposedly make more than doctors, and I am wondering if anyone cares to share their experiences whether it be good or bad, or even unsure about what experience they received but seek feedback. I am happy to answer anyone's questions.

Disclosure: Both my father and brother are self employed plumbers, and I have worked in some way or another linked to the industry over the past 8 years, however, I am not a trade qualified one myself and do personally believe they sometimes can be on the expensive side. Fire away!

Home & Garden

Comments

  • peterpeterpumpkin on 04/08/2016 - 12:25
    +1

    90% have been bad experiences. Why? Plumbers are universal leaders in "drip pricing", especially now that airlines, ticketek and ticketmaster have faced the ACCC.

    Other than one almost-retired plumber we had, every random plumber would dish out surprise charges AFTER the job was done.

    40 minutes after ringing the doorbell:
    Plumber: "And that'll be $250 as quoted…"
    Grandma (thinking): "Hmmm, not cheap but guess it's a crappy job…"
    Plumber: "…plus $550 for use of the water jetter."

    Using Google, I've discovered one other industry that charges that much but at least their prices are upfront (NSFW): http://www.thegoldenapple.com.au/rates/

  • [Deactivated] on 04/08/2016 - 12:53
    +1

    Just like any profession you get good bad and average.

    Anyone with a brain knows most online reviews are crap because they are either paid for, or the person writing it is an idiot, so it's up to the person with a brain to use it when both reading reviews and engaging tradies.

    What??? plumbers make more than doctors ??? LOL. Full time doctors make around $5k to $7k per week according to ads on seek. The owner of a 'successful' plumbing business employing several plumbers may make more than this.

    • ninetyNineCents on 08/08/2016 - 20:32

      (profanity) idiots believe doctors make less than plumbers.

      Anyone with half a brain can google and see that docs make 250k at a minimum without trying. That's because they have repeat customers who keep returning because the Aussie taxpayer is footing the bill.

  • Spending2Much on 04/08/2016 - 13:55
    +1

    My old house, we needed a new had stove, the old one crapped out.
    Old fibro house with free standing, simple basic cheapest stove from HN.
    Apparently you can't just unplug the old stove with the bayonet fitting, same as a gas heater style, that was in the wall behind the stove.
    We needed to have all new connections made. Apparently new codes and regulations.
    Ok, wanting to do right thing, we phone around and engaged a plumber after getting some approx prices, since no plumbers wanted to come for a quote, and some wouldnt even offer an approx price no matter how much I described the job.
    Went with one company…..they fitted stove. Did these new fittings, I paid for the job.
    I was contacted by the gas board who do random on site inspections for compliance when new stove fitted.
    Luckily I was chosen. The fittings were wrong, the plumber was given a defect notice and we were told to not use the stove.
    WTF.
    Apparently the connections were wrong, there was no safety chain, the free standing stove wasn't fixed. Three was not shut off valve or disconnect.

    Oh, and the extras such as offering a price to come and snake the sewage pipe…..
    Yeah, that price doesn't actually include the cost of having the snake done, it's just the plumbers price.
    His price for the job up front, miraculously didnt include the cost of having the use of the tool, which he knew would be used anyway.

    And what's with them charging 2 x hours Labour for the plumber and clearly a first-year apprentice …… $100 your each, plus GST. And rounding up.
    1 hr 20 minutes, becomes 2 hrs.

    They say one bad apple spoils the cart…..what do you do when the whole bloody orchard is rotten

  • whodidthat on 04/08/2016 - 13:56

    Lets just say, Cardiff Plumbing - flush them!

  • Meowcat on 04/08/2016 - 14:28
    -1

    Hey OP what's your profession?

    • scrimshaw on 04/08/2016 - 14:39
      -1

      try reading the OP's post.

  • Unknown1 on 04/08/2016 - 15:01
    +3

    Experience with plumbers they can be fantastic or horrible. The factor depends on the individual, as is the case for all contractors. Regardless,
    it stings that plumbers potential earn more than Engineers or a Scientists.

    • Unknown1 on 04/08/2016 - 16:05
      +1

      Bias reports from Scientists and Engineers exist, where plumbers with the self-notion of superiority result in companies losing money.

      For example:
      Boss reports a client complaining about a peg set out that was incorrect. However, what occurred was a plumber believed that the pegs were in the wrong spot and had moved them.

    • solar on 05/08/2016 - 10:14
      +1

      Yes, it's shocking what they make in comparison to other professions. It seems a very Aussie phenomenon. This is a very tradie-centric country.

      • knk on 07/08/2016 - 11:59

        I don't think you quite understand the difference between a plumber working for themselves and being a full timer.

        If you work for yourself, provide your own equipment, Van/ute in this case, you have additional expenses which need to be covered. You also have less job security, annual leave, sick leave etc so of course you're going to charge more than your average person working in an office makes per hour.

        Take a look at this, it's equivalent to ~$60k per year if you were employed as a full time plumber. Not that great for a position which requires 3 or 4 years of trade school / apprenticeship.
        http://www.payscale.com/research/AU/Job=Plumber/Hourly_Rate

        • Unknown1 on 07/08/2016 - 13:48

          Engineers starting their own business require their own equipment,vehicles and insurance.

          Equipment for enginners is expensive and can range from 10k to 80k depending upon the field.

          Example:
          Pre-owned Topcon GPS from the US costs is on eBay for around 15k. However, I've heard that a new topcon GPS in Australia can fetch 30k+. That's excluding the regular service which are required.

          Starting a business is a risk. This usually results in decreased job security, annual leave, and sick leave.

        • knk on 07/08/2016 - 16:31

          @Unknown1:
          Exactly, so it's a bit much to say they have the potential to earn more as an engineer. Like for like, employed or self employed in either field there is still a huge pay discrepancy.

        • solar on 07/08/2016 - 21:04

          I understand employee vs self employed just fine. Professionals can also be self employed - many are. A self-employed plumber can make very close to what a self-employed professional makes, more in many cases. And self-employed professionals also have many business expenses, depending on their business area. When evaluated against earning for white collar positions, Australia has very highly paid tradies in comparison to other countries.

    • knk on 07/08/2016 - 12:01

      @Jack210493
      So can say, a carpenter or electrician who works for themselves and manages to bill out 8 hours of labour every day.

      If you were a freelance civil engineer your hourly rate would be through the roof, surely more than the standard $100 or so per hour a plumber would charge.

      • Unknown1 on 07/08/2016 - 13:53

        Hire rate of an engineer can be around $500* gross.

        This does not include insurance, any travel time, maintenance costs, and unrecorded work.

        The results in an freelance engineer netting around $150 per hour**.

        *Based off my previous boss hire rate.
        **What a Friend claims to earn from his business.

      • Unknown1 on 07/08/2016 - 14:15

        Compared to a plumber who claimed that he was earning $500 per hour net.

        • knk on 07/08/2016 - 16:32

          A plumber earning 500 p/h net is insane, are they wading through human waste or doing high risk work perhaps?

        • Unknown1 on 07/08/2016 - 19:56

          @knk:
          On occasion the plumber's job entails wading through human waste. That's probably the reason for that high income.

      • ninetyNineCents on 08/08/2016 - 20:34

        Tradies don't get paid for every hour they work. It costs time to fetch supplies, give quotes and travel. The weather also gets in the way for some jobs. Bit hard to dig a trench when it's pouring…

        Some people are utter idiots in believing nonsense and for not trying to figure out a few basics.

        • solar on 09/08/2016 - 11:11

          As you are clearly only referring to self-employed tradies, then maybe you should realize that self-employed professionals don't get paid for every hour they work. It takes time to respond to RFPs, write tenders and provide pre-sales activities. But go ahead and keep thinking that you're the only one who understands "the basics"….

        • ninetyNineCents on 25/08/2016 - 23:31

          @solar:

          You just repeated most of what i said and then you call me stupid…

          some people.

    • solar on 07/08/2016 - 21:09

      It's interesting to note that with the term "engineer" being used, every reply here has associated it with civil engineering. The mentality (and economy … and regulations … and taxation system…) in this country is very focused on construction/mining/trades.

      • Unknown1 on 07/08/2016 - 23:32
        +1

        Discovered the bias emerging as well.

        Intresting as in my comments "engineers", was refering to all general disciplines from Civil to Mechatronic engineering.

        Furthermore, neither my previous or current bosses are Civil engineers.

        Just goes to show how Australia is orientated.

  • johndoe789 on 04/08/2016 - 15:57
    +20

    I always wanted to be a plumber, but I keep passing all my exams

  • wanderingeyesau on 04/08/2016 - 17:39
    +8

    I don't have any good experience either.

    Had RACV Emergency Home Assist, called a plumber to fix the gas hot water loose valve as the water was pouring out and flooding the whole backyard. He used his screwdriver to do something and said, it's damaged and the while unit would need to be replaced, I sent him back. Called the gas unit company, another plumber came, replaced the valve in 4 Min. Charged $160 call out fee and $20 for the valve. Also pointed out that valve seems to be damaged very recently and possibly the RACV guy who came actually damaged so that I get a new installed by him. Such a shifty tradie.

    I wish I don't need to call any plumber in my life.

    • Jackson on 09/08/2016 - 22:06

      You should inform the RACV of the issue so others don't have the same problem

  • cowiie on 04/08/2016 - 19:58
    +5

    I f***n hate plumbers. Got a blocked drain. They came and unblocked the pipe using their special hose. got charged an expensive hourly rate, call out fee AND equipment hire. $450 total for less than 45 minutes of work.

  • FisSort on 04/08/2016 - 21:36
    +14

    My experience, get the plumber to come out on Friday at 3pm. More likely to get the job will get done quickly so he can go to the pub, sink piss and have a laugh with his tradie mates about who they ripped off during the week.

  • IgnitionS15 on 05/08/2016 - 02:31

    I think of hot masculine men covered in sweat

  • [Deactivated] on 05/08/2016 - 07:15
    +13

    Neg 1.

    Plumber at my parents house had to do some plumbing work from a relocation of a gravity fed to a mains pressure type that was going outside the house.
    He proceeded to complain that the electrical wiring needs to be redone because it dosent conform to standards which it does as i wired it up and am a qualified electrician.

    Anyway he gave my parents the talk and they called me and i quickly came over and yeh bit of a blue and told him to piss off.

    Neg 2.

    Plumber had to do a couple of mods to some pipe work under my house.
    He claimed my electrical install of my house was a death trap and switched all CBs off to my house.
    Luckily i was there that day and he showed me his electrical license (restricted) and anyway i played dumb and he started to con me into a few hundred bucks so i asked for his license to make a copy.
    Went inside and took a copy and took my lisence and asked him what the difference was…. his jaw hit the floor and he wasnt jappy when i told him im only paying for the work to get done and its my rules now or ill report you to fair trading…. in the end i did because i thouggt if he tried to do it on me who knows how many other people he must have done it on.

    Neg 3.

    To replace 10m of sewer pipe a plumber wanted to charge me 10k i told him no dice what if i dig it up how much and he only knocked off 2k which i think was bs.
    I told him how much all the gear would cost and he laughed at the price but i told him to bugger off.
    In the end 2 other plumbers wanted to take me for a ride so i rolled up the sleeves and $450 later and a week end i had replaced 10m of clay pipe with pvc all done to standards and backfilled… the nerve of it to charge me that much for a simple job is crazy.

  • Powershopz on 05/08/2016 - 09:12
    +5

    In my experience plumbers are generally poorly skilled and will opt for a replace method rather than fix which is often more costly. Most of the work they do you could do yourself.

    My dad has worked in the construction industry for over 50 years and is a qualified electrician and qualified plumber. I've learned a ton of stuff from him over the years and do most of my own work myself if I ever have anything that needs fixing/installing. I'm a mechanical engineer by trade and love tinkering with stuff so that helps but calling someone to fix something is a last resort. I'd rather do it myself than pay someone an over the top price to do a sub par job.

    • Jackson on 09/08/2016 - 22:21

      This is my experience over and over again with plumbers, they are up there with used car salesmen and real estate agents.

      Previous post: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/231377

      Another experience I had was a bloke came in and fitted out a bathroom, charged me a reasonable amount, but not what I would call cheap. Afterwards there was a leak, I asked him to come back, he came once but did nothing except flush the toilet a couple of times, then asked him to come again and he stood me up, then asked him again and he still didn't come (he actually abused me and called me a pest among worse things) . In the end got the gun plumber I know to out the toilet in for me, charged 1200 bucks for a waterproofing test and fit a new toilet. Granted the previous guy charged the same amount for a spa, vanity and toilet and replace the piping for a shower (taps to showerhead) but if he is crap then it could cost you a lot more.

  • ryoma555 on 05/08/2016 - 09:55
    +3

    Hot water valve was broken in the bathroom. Called plumber. 40 mins job, charged 800$.

    It was partly my fault as well, he did tell me the cost before starting the job, but I had no idea at all on how much plumber job cost. I thought it was normal.

    I realised that I was ripped off after I asked my boss and my colleagues. I called the customer service after that, they returned 100$.

    • [Deactivated] on 05/08/2016 - 10:38
      +7

      Gee sometimes I hope there really is a hell

  • JimB on 05/08/2016 - 10:21
    +1

    I've had good experiences with Plumbers overall. Then again they are from referrals.

    I done a few renovations and am confident to replaced fittings, tapware, traps, toilets, showerbases etc etc.

    The only time I use they recently is when moving water outlets and or moving waste pipes. With the push fit fitting these days, I'll attempt these too.

    I think I do a good job, it's not rocket science. The only thing I won't do is move a gas pipe.

    I would get a plumber to do everything, but hey 2 hours of their work can be more than my daily after tax earnings.

  • [Deactivated] on 05/08/2016 - 10:37
    +1

    I've used about five plumbers, pretty much all terrible except one, these are the ones I remember

    1 - excellent and good price (in ADL, PM me if you need details)
    1 - quoted $900 to replace a toilet - turned out to be a rubber seal 50c from bunnings
    1 - completely belligerent, errors everywhere, mixed up recycled water and fresh water, ugly work

  • Skramit on 05/08/2016 - 11:40
    +1

    Just renovated my kitchen. This is the dealing I had with the plumber.

    1)

    Had to move gas cooktop pipe 1m to the gith. Had to move sink pipes 1m to the right. Booked for 2pm. Calls at 1 advises will be a bit late. Says how about 6:30? WTF. Anyway turns up at 7:30. Takes one look at the job and says "right off to bunnings to buy the pipe". WTF, you're a plumber and you dont have the very basics to do the job?

    Comes back 9pm, installs the waste pipe for the sink over the floor instead of under, right where the dishwasher is going. Has to un-do all of it and re-do under the floor. Blames me, even though i gave him the kitchen plans where the Dishwasher was going, clearly he never bothered to look.

    Leaves cigarette butts all over our front lawn, right next to the bin….

    2)

    Comes back to fit off the gas cooktop and sink after the kitchen is installed. Installs the $500 tap. I go to use it for the first time, it explodes water everywhere bursting out the top of the tap. I call the plumber who abuses me for questioning his work, blames the "crap" tap choice I made and it's my fault for buying that brand. He recommends another brand and will come and dismantle the tap tomorrow and install a new one I should get.

    In the mean time I call the tap manufacturer who assures me if installed correctly theres no way the tap can blow the top off like that as it has a locking mechanism. Call plumber back who says rubbish, there's nothing to hold it in, crap tap, my fault again. Call manufacturer back who sends me the instruction manual for the locking mechanism. Wife goes around to the building site to look for THE MISSING PARTS THE PLUMBER LEFT IN THE BOX. Finds them in the box, sends me a picture. I send the picture to the abusive plumber saying I found the parts you left off. He says he'll be 'right over to fix it'.

    Comes to fix it, cant work out the instructions. My wife, while holding our 5 month old baby shows him how to put it together. Plumber swearing and grumbling the entire time about the stupid tap, swearing in front of my wife and baby.

    3)

    Move back home after renovations, discover plumber has put hot and cold pipes on back to front on the tap mixer.

    Tell him, but not to bother coming back and not to bother sending a bill, we'll get somebody else who knows what they are doing. Cop another tirade of abuse.

    • JimB on 05/08/2016 - 14:55
      +3

      You should have called it quits after the first encounter with the plumber.

      • Skramit on 05/08/2016 - 15:19
        +1

        Hindsight is a wonderful thing….

  • baker bob on 05/08/2016 - 12:43
    +4

    My experience with plumbers is that after seeing the invoice and their terrible work, I seriously considered throwing in my well paying office job and doing an apprenticeship at 38 years old because if you can make so much money doing such average work, imagine what someone who did a good job could make!

  • jzx100 on 05/08/2016 - 12:49
    +2

    What I have found is most tradies lack common sense. I'm not trying to have a jibe at them but leaving school around the age of 15 probably doesn't help their mental growth nor how to interact with people in society. A switched on person can see when these moles are trying to rip you off. Personally I try and avoid using them as you tube and other online tutorials provide sufficient ways to do majority of home diy and if I find it too difficult I will ask my friend for a honest tradesmen. Don't be charmed by their easy going ways, there's a reason why they earn so much ;) someone has to be the victim I guess.

    • Jackson on 09/08/2016 - 23:01

      This completely. It's less hassle to learn and do it yourself provided that you aren't in a situation where insurance can bite you (eg. In a unit)

  • tonyjzx on 05/08/2016 - 13:08
    -2

    We contract out plumbers for property management.

    Be that as it may, I do home plumbing work on my own property and its not pleasant work.

    So my submission to you is why dont you drive over to some nasty ass people and work on their nasty ass toilet and see how much you want to charge… I can fully sympathise with plumbers who we get to go to a tenants place to fix crap (literally) and you're dealing with tenants and I'm sure its not fun.

    Its easy to heap shit on plumbers but it IS nasty unpleasant work.

    When I do it, it sucks.

    Be that as it may, many of them are unprincipled charlatans, I assume some are decent people.

    • ykwon10 on 05/08/2016 - 13:45
      +4

      Whatever job/trade it is, there will always be decent and bad people. But it seems like general consensus thinks plumbers they have encountered are mostly bad/crooks. Your comments about nasty toilet; I do agree but what about simple fixes like examples mentioned above? Does that even warrant the amount they are charging? In 1 example above, $800 for a broken hot water valve!

      • Roqua on 05/08/2016 - 20:20
        +2

        100%. I'm an apprentice tiler, and I'm not being cocky… I've seen first hand. I can do better work than people that are qualified. It's all about the attitude you have for the job.

    • scupper on 05/08/2016 - 13:57
      +1

      You can pretty much say the same about waiters and people with similar jobs, but you don't expect them to transfer a bad experience from one customer to another. Besides, I don't think most plumbers have the victim mentality.

  • themadman on 05/08/2016 - 15:28
    +2

    I've got a mate who's a plumber and he's the most honest, hardworking guy I know, so they're definitely not all bad. His boss died just after he became fully qualified a few years back and he's since kept the business going on his own. He always does a good job and cleans up after himself, and he's an absolute legend in general. I've done a few days work for him (as a Uni student), and while I wasn't paid the most amazingly he's great fun to work with and I've never seem him do anything dishonest or dodgy on a job. There's definitely good plumbers around, you just need to know where to look! :)

  • simonjb on 05/08/2016 - 18:20

    Generally arrogant and very eager to lead you into a non fixed price situation and gouge you, even those that have given fixed quotes have been arrogant enough to charge extra for 'unforseen' issues that should have easily been on the quote. I hate dealing with plumbers in general. Definitely a racket in Australia. When I find out someone is a plumber at a BBQ I subtly leave and talk to someone else.

  • Roqua on 05/08/2016 - 20:18

    I'm an apprentice tiler and I work on most of the big name project homes (Dennis Family, Gardner, Kings etc).

    Sometimes we will need to replace a tile because of someone else damaged the tile.

    9 times out of 10, it's a plumber.

    They are rough and just don't care about the final product or the fact others have to spend time and money to come back to fix their mistakes.

    If I was the boss, plumbers would be getting a bill. I'm fed up with replacing a shower wall tile because some dumb s**t plumber overtightend the flip mixer.

    This said, I've also meet my fair share of top bloke plumbers.

  • cantstanzya on 05/08/2016 - 20:59
    +8

    I'm a plumber. Feel bad about all the negative experiences here. Average plumber earns a lot less than a doctor etc despite what the media tells you. (60k vs over 100k) Good honest plumbers and trades people in general don't have to advertise much or look for work because they are always busy. Maintenance plumbing doesn't pay much which is where a lot of bad experiences come from - Employee plumber under the pump from the boss, rushing through jobs, sees none of the profit hence he doesn't give a stuff. Some maintenance companies offer financial incentives to employees to upsell to customers and rip off poor pensioners. On the other hand we don't have x-ray vision and most pipes are in walls, roofs or underground so giving fixed quotes on the unknown leads to obvious problems. Plumbing equipment and materials are dear as poison. Overheads, vehicles, public liability, business insurance, tool insurance, licence fees. I have 4 separate licences from four different departments! Anyway not all of us are stupid dodgy rude pricks. Good on all the people doing diy plumbing keep it up and just make sure you don't cap off the tprv lol. And next time you need a plumber go word of mouth not phone book.

    • Exec-Matrix on 07/08/2016 - 07:51

      Fair call and I agree most aren't dodgy pricks, but it's no different from other trades with tools, public liability, insurance etc. Try have a plasterer or painter want to charge $120.

  • OzzyOzbourne on 06/08/2016 - 00:37
    +4

    Expensive and clueless, but they can be as government regulation forces us to use them.
    The public are assumed to have an IQ of zero and zero sense so the government regulates that we have to pay someone to do everything from changing a light bulb.

  • Lancerx on 06/08/2016 - 12:26
    +1

    BUNCH OF RIP OFF!! SOMEONE GOTTA REGULATE THIS INDUSTRY!! WHO ARE THEY TO CHARGE $120/HR FOR SIMPLE JOB! AND THEY ALWAYS FIND WAYS TO CHARGE YOUR MORE!

    • Lancerx on 06/08/2016 - 14:57
      +1

      Add on, I got plumber to install hand rail for, but he didn't have tool to remove existing shower head ( I was like WTF). So he got out to buy, and still charge me for the time he's out! They charge you for time they're not even working, and most of the time, they probably just purposely do it slowly so can charge you more. I was like 5 min over an hour, he wanted to charge me $30 extra! Screw them! IN future, I'm just gonna get the plumber to give me fix price, their hourly charge is stupid!

  • snook on 06/08/2016 - 13:17
    +1

    In March last year the toilet in my unit stopped flushing properly.
    Building plumber said it was X (I don't remember what now) and charged me $220.

    Toilet still didn't flush properly.
    Building plumber said cistern was too old, and please note that cistern was not too old previously.
    So they charged me $242 for a new cistern.

    Now my toilet flush was in the top of a timber cabinet that was also the vanity. Just the button came out. These DODGY plumbers installed a normal, everyday, plastic cistern into this box and cut a hole in the timber vanity to access those buttons. How dodgy is that?! It's the kind of thing you'd do at home to get you through because your new bathroom is on it's way. NOT, what you do in someone else's bathroom without asking.

    Toilet still didn't flush properly and now plumber says toilet is too old. Isn't the slightest bit interested in any rectification of the butchering he did to the vanity without asking. I complained to building corporate but they didn't care. I should have taken it further but I was busy.

    Plumber was Treat Plumbing, Sydney. AVOID.

    Cost me $4000 to get cabinet rebuilt and complete new toilet system put in. Had to get the floor retiled. Went to different people. They did a good job.

  • snook on 06/08/2016 - 13:28

    Building a new bathroom and using a shower system that has a plastic wall. All shower hardware was there before they started the job so they knew what they would be installing.

    Everything is in - the tray, the backing, the plastic wall, the shower screen. They go to put on the dual shower -rain shower + hand held- and we see that they have put the single mixer tap in a straight line to the water outlet. Rain showers have longer rails than normal hand helds for support. Not only that but the hand held hose comes directly out of the bottom of that rail.

    The rail goes straight over the top of the mixer tap.

    Apart from pulling everything out and replacing the plastic wall (can't patch plastic), the only thing I can see that they can do is offset the rail. In a 900 x 900, this leaves it super dodgy. At the time of writing no rectification of this problem has been provided to me and the shower remains without an actual shower.

  • Lancerx on 06/08/2016 - 15:00
    +2

    I have an idea. Let's make a website to name and shame plumbers! If anyone has the technical knowledge, you have my financial backing! We should do an Uber style fightback at taxi industry with plumbing industry, or tradie industry in general! Seen too many bogan tradie who ripped ppl off too much!

    I'm SERIOUS, if anyone has knowhow to create an app like above, I'm definitely willing to invest!

    • hetzjagd on 09/08/2016 - 15:57

      I don't know about an app, or how you would mimic any of ubers functionality for something like trade work but as far as a centralized repository of feedback on the trade indutry - someone already did this http://www.tradecritic.com.au/

      Unfortunately the Canberra section appears to be underutilised at the moment but I will be digging through my memory and whatever records I can find to try commend one garage company and admonish one garage company and one arborist. Unfortunately I think I can only recall the arborist details as it was most recent and the worst experience. This guy couldn't seem to get his head around that I was only at the stage of comparing quotes. After establishing the job and providing a verbal only quote and not getting the OK from me, he stuck around and repeatedly lowered his price which revealed his first offer was almost a $1000 beyond what it could have been. His demeanor and the akwardness of his wife sitting in the car and staring at us as he repeatedly lowered his price I can't quite describe. He called me back the same day to ask if I had made a descision yet, then called me back another day at about 7:30 in the morning. I told him at that point to f*** off and stop contacting me entirely. About a week or more later he called me again but it seemed to be a 'wrong number' as he didn't have anything to say. Presumably that was him digging through previous people he's spoken to to follow up and pester them to take him up on work.

  • mrluke on 06/08/2016 - 16:03
    +1

    fat, lazy, incompetent arseholes who don't do their job properly and are vastly overpaid for it…

  • Damnsmart on 06/08/2016 - 17:43

    I have had few issues, but, there one guy i feel like i am being treated/quoted with genuine price/work….his name is Maurice (vantage plumbing). He is somewhere around Tullamarine area. Let me know if anyone else dealt with him and felt the same way?

  • TRANCE on 06/08/2016 - 18:55

    Got charged $200 for 15 min of work, and they even had to borrow one of my tools as they weren't prepared. First and last time I ever call a plumber, will do it myself from now on, I'm 24 by the way, a long life without plumbers lies ahead for me.

  • Untameable on 06/08/2016 - 21:44
    +3

    I respect anyone who cares about their work and does it well, no matter what it is (though it'd be hard to notice a well made McDonalds burger it's definitely easy to notice a terrible one!)

    My experience with plumbers has been very mixed. I visited my niece once and her family were using next door's toilet because one was blocked and the other was leaking! I called an emergency plumber out, they quickly fixed one and noticed the other was just a bad cable, replaced it, and all up it cost me $200-300 or so. It's a lot for an hour's work but they did what they were meant to.

    Another time I had a landlord do a bodgy self-fix on a tap that had made it give massive water hammer (replacing a cable with a different size cable plus an adapter; it was working for years beforehand and then terribly after). I tried to take it off but he had also obviously stripped the thread on the copper tube from the wall and so it wouldn't screw off. I was scared it might break and flood water everywhere so I called a plumber and planned to pay for it myself.

    I tried calling 3 that were advertised for my area. 2 never picked up. The third one set a time and date to come, then never showed up, and then never picked up their phone again. What - they've all suddenly been assassinated or something? In the end I did nothing because what could I do. Literally a few months before I moved out the washer got stuck and I replaced it with a no-hammer one, and it also fixed the problem fine (though I'd still be concerned about the cable breaking one day that's no longer my problem).

    More recently I had a roof plumber come look at some clogged drainpipes. He was a nice guy and a good guy and I trusted him, but, to be frank the work didn't turn out well. I am not sure if I will get him in again (because there's still fixing and cleaning up to be done). I'm not sure what else to say about that but I called 2 others and they were all too busy to come look at such a small job. It cost me about $500 for a few hours work. Sorry that's small…

    My colleague hired a plumber to replace some old tap ware. It dripped afterwards. They called them back and they laughed and charged more to "fix" it. It was still broken. Cost a couple hundred bucks and my colleague got nowhere getting a refund. That's pretty awful.

    I work in IT and I can tell you that there's a massive mix of people; from dodgy bro scumbags who could give less than a shit about what they're doing, and other people who will follow something through to the end of the Earth and back. So yeah it's like that in every job.

    Basically I'm beyond labelling people based on their jobs. What kind of idiot does that? It always comes down to your work and whether it's good or bad.

  • keverns on 07/08/2016 - 01:23

    every industry has its good and bad. skimmed through a few comments… yeah sound like you've been ripped off. and while other comments i'd say it's averaged priced.

    people are not understanding on the the cost to get to your place. eg citylink/eastlink . or parts required. time etc.
    there's also so many brands out there that its impossible to carry every single part.

    ive been stung before as well.. tenant said ignitor off stove wouldnt stop clicking. property agent sent someone out, week later received a bill $630 with note saying "couldnt find this brand anymore(obsolete), had to remove take it back to the shop and service the conductors and clean it ." shit hit the fan with me when they could've told me at the start. i would've personally bought a new one for half the price at any store and just install it for me in 1hr.

    i've learnt my lesson with unacknowledged stuff.
    -for those uncertain problems. get a couple quotes with inspections and run it with you, keep the quote list… and then go ring up another and ask how much they charge.
    -for things with brands/product try ring the manufacturer or supplier company to get some advise. they're generally pretty helpful and tell you what parts are needed, if its too old weigh out the cost for a new one.

    keep those that are trust-able in you phone book.

    other than that people suggesting a shamelist… just doesnt work in society. people will be always to point the finger at a crook in business. but how about all those other good guys out there. no one makes an effort to put them on a fame list?

    same shit happens at work…do something good.. no rewards..screw something up… you're in huge shit.

    • Untameable on 08/08/2016 - 14:09

      fame list?

      I try extra hard to leave glowing reviews whenever I have positive experiences with tradespeople.

      When you're on Gumtree or ProductReview or whatever and there's 20 people all with nice business cards it can be hard to know who to trust. I hope my little bit helps.

  • scupper on 07/08/2016 - 01:53
    +1

    I guess we can do this with car mechanics, insurance, internet providers, the government, what have you. We could have used Yelp, but then again, we have our own community here that we like. We all know that those that get no complaints, get hardly any praise. It's the ones that stuff up that remain in most people's memory and get the rant, hence that's most of what you see here. If things went well, there's hardly any story, the plumber pretty much has to have done some heroic effort (and not charged accordingly) to get a good mention really.

    How about let's change track a bit, should you preference a sole trader plumber over a larger company? Would a plumber working for himself be more inclined to do quality work or the opposite?

  • syousef on 07/08/2016 - 07:33
    +1

    My father in law is a now retired plumber. He spent most of his career teaching plumbing in TAFE. When he still had his plumber's license he did a bunch of work for us for free and did his best to show me how to do stuff. That damn plumber!

    What do you think of Ozbargainers? Those shifty peeps will sell their grandmother for a bargain, try to pass of dodgy deals as bargains and start threads whining about a whole class of tradesman like children in a playground. They downvote anything and anyone who says something they don't like, even if it's true. Yet they claim all they're after is a bargain. One of them came to my house and stole my mojo. Another one came to my house and my sink started leaking, my crapper got clogged and my dog didn't like me anymore. I tell you you're much better off doing your own bargain hunting.

  • Exec-Matrix on 07/08/2016 - 07:42
    +2

    Plumbers and sparkies seem to be the princesses of trades.

    Charge a fee usually to quote, rip stuff apart and expect all the other trades to fix things up and never seem apologetic about it.

    My friends old man who's in his 80s, had a cheap shower head replaced, fixed a leaking toilet and replaced a toilet seat for $980. Needless to say she was livid!

    Also, I used to live in an apartment with car ports. There were 14 car ports, each with their own fluorescent light. We had sparkies there who replaced the wiring, the housing and baton on all 14. Two of them were there from 8am to 1pm and I found out that it cost the body corp $6k… Rude.

    Makes me wonder, if a painter charges $700 to prep and paint a large room that might take him two days people still think it's expensive. Yet people pay sparkies $700 for 3 hours work, still have a heart attack and still pay it. Don't get it.

    • Janko on 07/08/2016 - 16:12

      I replaced mum's showerhead, shower taps and the whole toilet last weekend - took about 90 minutes, most of which was removing the old cement packed inside the bowl's base with ill-suited tools.

  • PurchaseAnxiety on 07/08/2016 - 11:05
    +1

    From my experience, local businesses are the way to go. Used a local one once, charged ~$240 for about 90 minutes work, call out included. Was super helpful and friendly too, and throughouly explained what he had done. He even stuck around a bit longer (after we had paid him) to make sure our hot water was working correctly, as he had to turn it off at one point.

    Used Jims plumbing for a clogged toilet next time. Didn't have an extension cord, so he had to borrow one of mine. Spent 20 minutes machining an access point, before suggesting that he would have to jack hammer the cement to raise an access point closer to the toilet, but refused to give a time or cost estimate for it. Naturally, I was pretty reluctant to hand over an open cheque book. Only at that point did he suggest drain snaking the actual toilet, saying that it probably wouldn't be much help, but I insisted he try it. Took a minute tops, and it worked. All up, $300 for 30 minutes of work, which included a $50 discount apparently.

    The best part, their website heavily advertises their drain camera system, which they use to identify blockages. Well he tells me that he doesn't have one of those systems, and since he couldn't visually verify the blockage had been cleared, their work came with ZERO guarantee. My only other option was to wait a few days for some other bloke to come out, which I would be charged a 2nd callout fee for. Never again.

    • Untameable on 08/08/2016 - 14:12

      Those drain camera things are such a scam.

      I had blocked downpipes with a cement fitting at the bottom so no access. I called some roof plumbers to take a look and they were like, blah blah. I was happy to pay a few hundred bucks or so to get it all done but asked, "What about this drain camera?" 'Oh sure you can have that, but it's $600 additional per day!' Really, how (profanity) expensive is the camera on top of whatever else you're doing?

      I decided not to go with them.

  • dji1111111 on 07/08/2016 - 11:22

    No good experience with plumbers. They are one of the worst tradies ever. I don't know how they sleep at night.

    I had stormwater drainage issue at a new investment property. Few quotes from different plumbers ranged from 3500-10000. All different ideas. The one that did the job was dodgy and left me with stormwater pits that doesn't do what it's meant to do. Ended up doing a chargeback through my credit card company to get my money back. Pipewhisper in Carindale. Stay away from them!

    Another plumber my property management company hired sent an invoice to fix a leaky basin which turned out to be just silicon seal that needed redoing. Charged 65 callout fee plus labour charge for a total of 135 for a dead simlple job.

    Hate plumbers with passion

    • knk on 07/08/2016 - 12:07
      +2

      How is that example unreasonable?

      So you call the plumber, say my basin is leaking. This plumber drives to your premises, looks at the job and with his expertise says that seal needs to be fixed. Applies silicone and charges you $135. That's very cheap in my opinion.

      It doesn't matter if he needed to replace a tap, a washer or anything. His minimum is $135 and he could've been at a different job. The simplicity of your issue isn't his problem.

      Case in point, I'm self employed as an IT Consultant. Had someone call me out of the blue saying they couldn't access a server. I went onsite, and turned it on…it was powered off. I drove 20 minutes there and back. Should I give them a discount because the problem was simple to fix? No I charged them my $140 for the hour and $45 callout, total of $185.

      If you want good service you have to pay for it.

      • Untameable on 08/08/2016 - 14:16
        +1

        I agree. Anything with a callout fee is usually around the $100 mark minimum; locksmith, tradesperson, plumber.

        We really need to focus on where work isn't good or people are being conned into buying more than they've asked for. The real victims in the thread are having $6k and $10k problems.

  • knk on 07/08/2016 - 11:53
    +1

    This whole thread seems to be people hanging shit on plumbers. Personally I've never had a bad experience.

    Experiences:

    -Had someone doing some earthmoving rip a pipe out of the house (main water) and damage some downpipes > plumber came out was professional fixed the issue quickly and charged appropriately for a Saturday.
    -Hot water supply had some sort of explosion, internals were pretty melted. Called a few guys in the local area to get an idea on price, once I found one I was happy with he was leaving my house with the unit replaced and working 2 hours after I placed the first phone call.

    Great service all round, it's the same with any tradesman…good and bad examples.

  • jetabe on 07/08/2016 - 14:08

    I called a local plumber five star rated on google to fix a vanity top
    not even one review was bad.

    some number of tradies came and played trying to act like they are measuring the same top I had bought from bunning for $100

    you'll need to get new vanity go to this shop with these measurements.

    total cost of similar vanity $1100 their fitting $650

    i get a good handyman I trust to look as I knew the replacement was for same top.
    15 minutes later he has fitted it.
    $50 he says I paid him $100 and thanked him. The others didn't even want to try.

    plumbing here is based on fear and licensing to scare people.

    i am always surprised at how Australians are just denied basic amenities and service standards.

    Medical system is a similar story of fear and illiterate doctors colluding together as frontline juniors and specialists just rendered incapable because they haven't dealt with complications. oh and fear of getting sued means they will kill you silently rather risk anything.

    i hope I'm out of here soon if things don't change.

  • Janko on 07/08/2016 - 15:57
    +1

    Stopped using plumbers years ago after too many bad experiences:

    One experience: needed solution to stop water from gutters saturating lawn and downhill neighbour's yard after days of torrential rain. Plumber 1, underground storage pit, $10000 - I thought that would only delay flooding so rang council, asked if charged lines were allowed. Yes. Plumber 2 wanted $5800 to do it as an excavator would be needed to pull up shrubs. Asked how much if pipe was laid through native garden so shrubs could stay, still $5800. Next plumber $2700 to do same job, never turned up after 3 or 4 cancellations. Asked council if I could do it, yes, with condition I re-cemented footpath same colour. I was shocked I was allowed to cut through the footpath. $350 parts (@retail), council inspected and was happy.

    Another experience: I nearly broke a new vanity tap when first turning it on only to discover it was a clockwise->on tap. Upon finding another tap started to leak, I questioned him about the reverse turn - he said that's how they do it these days. I decided not to get him back to fix the leak.

    Last straw: Wanted to put washing machine next to hot water boiler, few metres of copper piping teed off existing lines and stops. Job not big enough - we didn't even discuss cost, no plumber was interested.

    So since then I go out the local TAFE library, read the appropriate codes and course textbooks and do everything myself. No leaks, no smells, no wasted days off work to be around for no-one.

    • kiwimex on 14/08/2016 - 18:47

      And no insurance if any of your plumbing work fails

      • Janko on 17/08/2016 - 13:24

        I back my work so don't care about insurance. The chance of failure times potential cost is far better than a claim excess alone, plus I don't have to deal with insurance companies.

  • [Deactivated] on 07/08/2016 - 19:51
    +1

    Plumbers rock, we'd be wall to wall in sh1t3 if it weren't for them.

  • tristanmarsh on 07/08/2016 - 21:25

    You could be a plumber

  • soza on 08/08/2016 - 15:33

    I was a plumber since leaving school and worked in the trade for 20 years before packing it in and training to be a nurse. The job is shithouse….yeah $80+ an hour to run your own business but working for the man your on $25-$30. Like other trades work can be anywhere so you travel a lot this means 2 hour drives in a morning or staying away from friends and family sleeping in budget digs.
    The fun stuff——
    under houses, on top of roofs and in ceilings….that and any other tight corner is your office. Your working alongside spiders, snakes and pissed off possums. Breathing toxic fumes and carting around an explosive time bomb in your oxy kit….not to mention the day to day man handling of human waste.
    you know then smelly piss stained public urinals? yep its your job to unblock them…..Nope its not all naked women coming out of a steamy showers.
    After years in the game your back and knees are going to be f@#ked and no career path out is on offer. The best you can do is be your own boss and run your own business.
    Anyone here pissed off with plumbers or believe that they have a licence to print money…go do it yourself. its not hard and only takes 3 years out of your life to train. But in my experience it aint that great.

  • netsurfer on 08/08/2016 - 16:40

    It depends on the plumber (the person). There are good ones and there are bad ones. The good ones do really good jobs . The bad ones, they just want to do a quick and dirty job.

    I had a few plumbing issues with the place I used to live. The house was under warranty. There were three issues, and it took the plumbing company 6 times to fix it. One issue required 3 different plumbers. One required 2 different plumbers. All three issues were actually fixed properly by the very same plumber at the end. He was really good and he did not cut corner. His other colleagues were very different. They just wanted to do a quick fix. One was more interested in leaving to watch the Melbourne Cup (and this is in Sydney BTW), decided not to fix the issue and leave.

    I can see the difference in the work ethics, attitude and approach between them. Had a quick chat with the good one. He basically told me that he fixes things properly because he knows if he doesn't, he will need to come back and fix it again anyway. It is better to just get it right.

    Most plumbers are pretty bad, but there are some really good ones too.

    • scupper on 08/08/2016 - 17:09

      It looks to me that if a bad plumber can get about $300 for 30 minutes work, he would rather do multiple 30 minute jobs and give up on anything harder, or charge about $500 for an hour or other ridiculous rate. In other words, they get so used to being able to charge high rates for little effort that it's not worth breaking their backs for the harder jobs. It really makes you wonder the amount of money the good ones are probably giving up on by taking on the harder jobs and charging honest rates.

  • ChrisLevo on 08/08/2016 - 17:10
    +1

    We just had a father and son plumber team in today.

    Diagnosed the problem over the 'phone, turned up on time, did a professional job and charged us less than the estimate.

    I grabbed a heap of fridge magnets off them, and will be handing out to family and friends!

    PM if you want details - Adelaide Eastern suburbs.

  • wyrmy on 08/08/2016 - 18:28

    Dealt with a wide range of tradies for personal and business and plumbers would rank the lowest. You get good and bad in all professions but most plumbers seem to fit on the bad side. Charging ridiculous rates for easy jobs, not showing up on time, forgetting essentials tools/parts and rescheduling, doing an incomplete job which needs further work later on etc etc.

    I'm generally confident with DIY so BS meter is usually on and I've got some idea of what is reasonable cost and effort. Best example is a plumber who quoted 1k for putting in a T junction with a pressure limited female socket. Called a retired plumber friend for help and with his help got parts for under $200 and finished job in around 30 mins.

  • jaybo on 08/08/2016 - 20:30
    +1

    excellent stories here, water heater replaced at quite short notice (went bang at 6pm, plumber came over 8am the following morning to do the replacement) and at a very decent price (backed up by a mate who is a plumber just not in my area, confirmed that i got a good price on the unit). used the same plumber a few months later to do our roof when we did a small extension. quoted well, did the work well, totally painless. could not be happier.

    inner western burbs of melbourne. happy to pass on details if anyone wants.

  • captobvious on 08/08/2016 - 20:41

    Cost of plumbers is unsustainable. Plumbers cost more than doctors for no duty of care and youd be lucky if the plumber you got has even finished highschool.

  • samojed on 09/08/2016 - 00:31

    dealt with an absolute scumbag not long ago, he had an ad saying $75 for unblocking the drains in the local newspaper, charged $125 when finished, I only had $120 on me, he wouldn't accept any cards, I asked if he'd take $120 without an invoice, he refused and got me to drive to the nearest ATM, he took cash and drove off without giving me an invoice

    • JimB on 09/08/2016 - 16:21

      I would have said $75 as per your ad.

  • pingMarky on 09/08/2016 - 12:00

    I have a friend who is a plumber. He gives me great rates (reasonable TBH). IMHO the plumbers are using cheap cheap gear to improve their profit margins. Hourly rates are inflated to cover travel/site inspections.

  • lainey13 on 09/08/2016 - 14:03

    Had a youngish plumber use my Sheridan face washer as a rag, then took it with him after he finished a simple tap leak fix.
    On par with real estate agents.

  • [Deactivated] on 09/08/2016 - 14:15
    -3

    My local Apple service centre charges $150 p/h, another bash the tradie thread, the way things are going they will be charging what they want soon as no one is putting on apprentices because of the costs involved and the tight arse public out there trying to screw tradies over. Tossers.

    • wyrmy on 09/08/2016 - 15:28

      I hear enough positive stuff about the other trades.. Its the plumbers that are getting the bashing for pricing and bad attitude. No one forced you to buy or use Apple products. Running water and working toilets are a necessity and this is exactly why plumbers think they can get away with poor service.
      What are the costs involved which are so different to other trades?

      • [Deactivated] on 09/08/2016 - 16:18

        Not just Apple all computer tech's are the same. Maybe you can dig a whole out the back :) No need for a plumber.

    • captobvious on 09/08/2016 - 16:31

      I'm in development and have had my fair share of dodgy trades it is important to shop around. Our Australian Plumbers are by far the worst out of all the trades, a huge percentage that I have delt with are Lazy, stupid, drug (profanity), and the majority are illiterate and cant read plans properly.
      I've hired and sacked a few lately but I have discovered the ones who have qualified overseas like the UK are well above the Aussie ones, I like supporting local but honestly I cant if you provide me sub standard service.
      Just a tip in construction word gets around pretty fast and we dont tend to employ a plumber who has a bad rep, most of the time these dodgy plumbers will end up at the lower end of the spectrum doing small domestic jobs because they are unemployable on bigger projects. Unfortunately this is where you are all experiencing shit service. The other tip, if they have an accent there is a higher chance they will do a better job for you, if they sound like a bogan and rock up in an SS ute then you are literally up shit creek.

  • hetzjagd on 09/08/2016 - 15:29
    +1

    I don't know if this is really of any value but I am in north ACT and we have found a good plumber that we have used on occaision over the years. He charges cheaply and he is reliable and contactable. I'm not sure what any others are like in my area, perhaps more stories like the other commenters or maybe not.

    Of course I have no way of proving I'm not the plumber or that he isn't a family member or friend but your best bet is try him out and see. PM for details if interested, I'm not sure if it would be appropriate to post them in this thread.

  • dhawaldamania on 10/08/2016 - 11:51
    +1

    Hey don't arrive as quickly as they show in porn

  • eatwell365 on 11/08/2016 - 07:24

    Plumbers are hot and always willing to help the stay at home housewives.

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