Is it just me or?

[bizzard]

You can also be too cheap which can make folk think your just a messer. I've been self employed for virtually all my working life, apart from my apprenticeship and always had loads of work and rubbed my hands every time a recession arose at which time I became inundated with work because my charges were always reasonable and I never ever had to advertise. There are a lot of chancers out there so be careful including those who operate from boats that overcharge tremendously for often rubbish workmanship,''the botch it and scarper brigade''. These characters try to make quick killings by charging silly money to earn enough in a few hours, a day or two and only need one gullable customer once in a while to see them through for a couple of weeks or more while they lay about boozing and all often complaining that there's no work out there.

[Paul's Nulife4-2]

When I was Cruising down from Hull to Ramsgate about 5 years ago, 'Ray' (my Auto Pilot) went on strike, So after a few Phone calls the nearest Engineer that was 'on the approved list' Was in Rochester Kent,,So I diverted and foun a mooring about 1mile away from there office,Brilliant.

Although I knew and accepted there Labour Rate Then was £67 p hr, They came out next day, Unplugged and Popped a replacement Reconditioned display in,fired it up and all was well. It literally was finished by the time the Kettle had boiled,

They had the forsite to even bring with them an invoice !.

Labour £67.00

Parts £107.00

Traveling £75.00 even though I was only 1 mile away from the office.

Total £249.00

Quite literally for 3 minutes work.

When I questioned the bill, they said Well there is a minimum charge for the Labour of 1hr,

There is a minimum charge for Traveling and the Labour while traveling of 1 hr.

Then the cost reconditiond display,

 

I bet it was just an internal fuse or similar,as they seemed to know,and come prepared for the quick fix.

Had they of told me that is all they was required, i could have took it out,walked to there

office,Swapped the part,and installed it myself.

Edited April 8, 2014 by Paul's Nulife4-2

[Mrs Tawny Owl]

 

I was thinking of a mechanical engineer (usually shortened to mechanic)

 

I will get back to my domestic engineering and shut up!

Actually I have to take issue with this.

 

I am a mechanical engineer, I have a degree to prove it. I am not a mechanic in that I don't work on cars etc. (I used to, my Dad taught me that's probably how I got interested, but now I have Richard or my sons to do it for me.)

 

Richard is also a qualified Mechanical engineer.

 

A trained mechanic will be able to fix the cars / machinery he's been trained to fix. In my experience present them with a problem a bit out of the ordinary and they'll be stumped.

 

An engineer can design things or come up with answers to problems they haven't seen before. For instance Richard had just installed an engine in a boat which had a different type of engine before. A mechanic could have put back an engine that he took out, connected everything back up and got it running. It needed an engineer to look at the space round the engine, and design and produce the exhaust system, diesel pipes and cooling pipes and wiring.

 

I'm not saying you have to have a degree to do that, but you have to be able to think problems through, rather than just follow instructions.

There are lots of god engineers on this forum, and you can tell by the type of answers they give.

 

That's why I get cross about the misuse of the term engineer, and engineers not getting the respect as a profession they deserve. I'm sue you'd get a lot of trouble if you called a "housewife" a domestic lawyer, but domestic engineer seems to be an acceptable term.

 

I had problems with a BT "engineer" who was trying to install something for a customer of mine. Because we weren't using a BT router they couldn't do the job. They couldn't tell me how to set the parameters on the router we had as they'd only been told to plug wire a into port a etc, and if there was no port a they were stuck. That's not an engineer that's a technician.

 

Sorry about the rant, it's one of my hobby horses.

 

Sue

[cheshire~rose]

I did say "usually" Sue. I did not mean to suggest that the terminolgy was correct.

I also apologise for using the term domestic engineer.

 

I wll go and crawl under a stone with my grade 1 CSE Rural Science qualification and leave the rest of you who who spent your time getting proper qualifications to do what you do best and bow out of the conversation

[Kwacker]

If you meet another liveaboard, have a chinwag, find out that they earn their living from doing work on other boats on the canal. E.g. electrics, or whatever. Then they tell you that they charge £35 an hour or thereabouts. Car servicing in a garage paying rates etc. with lots of machinery doesn't cost much more. And yet the rusty boat with multimeter and a few screwdrivers charges near enough the same.

 

£35.00 an hour is top money. Are they having a laugh?

 

My Marina charges £35.40 / hour, for skilled fitters, welders etc. in a fully fitted, covered workshop .... your man is indeed "having a laugh", and won't be working for me.

[Proper Job]

Greenie for Sue

[Ricco1]

I guess I posted this having compared what I get on the water to what I get on land.

 

My electrician for my rental houses charges £25 an hour. He needs to run a van on this and spend quite a considerable sum updating his skills profile regularly, as required by law. He has to live somewhere as well. And he has travelling time, which is not charged for separately.

 

On the other hand the boat based tradesperson (who does not need expensive qualifications- by law) walks 10 yards to my boat and charges me £10 an hour more.

 

See where I'm coming from?

 

I know a mechanical engineer (retired) who charges me £10 an hour as long as I come to him. That's more like it.

[RLWP]

I guess I posted this having compared what I get on the water to what I get on land.

 

My electrician for my rental houses charges £25 an hour. He needs to run a van on this and spend quite a considerable sum updating his skills profile regularly, as required by law. He has to live somewhere as well. And he has travelling time, which is not charged for separately.

 

On the other hand the boat based tradesperson (who does not need expensive qualifications- by law) walks 10 yards to my boat and charges me £10 an hour more.

 

See where I'm coming from?

 

I know a mechanical engineer (retired) who charges me £10 an hour as long as I come to him. That's more like it.

 

Your electrician is either a mate, or is going bust

 

Your mechanical engineer is making pocket money. Best of luck when he gets bored

 

Richard

[Phil Ambrose]

Actually I have to take issue with this.

 

I am a mechanical engineer, I have a degree to prove it. I am not a mechanic in that I don't work on cars etc. (I used to, my Dad taught me that's probably how I got interested, but now I have Richard or my sons to do it for me.)

 

Richard is also a qualified Mechanical engineer.

 

A trained mechanic will be able to fix the cars / machinery he's been trained to fix. In my experience present them with a problem a bit out of the ordinary and they'll be stumped.

 

An engineer can design things or come up with answers to problems they haven't seen before. For instance Richard had just installed an engine in a boat which had a different type of engine before. A mechanic could have put back an engine that he took out, connected everything back up and got it running. It needed an engineer to look at the space round the engine, and design and produce the exhaust system, diesel pipes and cooling pipes and wiring.

 

I'm not saying you have to have a degree to do that, but you have to be able to think problems through, rather than just follow instructions.

There are lots of god engineers on this forum, and you can tell by the type of answers they give.

 

That's why I get cross about the misuse of the term engineer, and engineers not getting the respect as a profession they deserve. I'm sue you'd get a lot of trouble if you called a "housewife" a domestic lawyer, but domestic engineer seems to be an acceptable term.

 

I had problems with a BT "engineer" who was trying to install something for a customer of mine. Because we weren't using a BT router they couldn't do the job. They couldn't tell me how to set the parameters on the router we had as they'd only been told to plug wire a into port a etc, and if there was no port a they were stuck. That's not an engineer that's a technician.

 

Sorry about the rant, it's one of my hobby horses.

 

Sue

I fully support your rant.

Phil

[b0atman]

ask yourself what you would want paying for painting his boat

[Ricco1]

ask yourself what you would want paying for painting his boat

 

£15 an hour would make me very happy. That's what my painter friend (City&Guilds qualified, 35 years experience) charges.

[MtB]

If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.

Red Adair

 

£15 an hour would make me very happy. That's what my painter friend (City&Guilds qualified, 35 years experience) charges.

 

 

There's nothing stopping YOU learning to paint and charge £15 an hour too.

 

Or to to be an electrician and charge £35, or £50 an hour, if you turn out to be smart enough to hack it out there in the real world of self-employment.

 

 

MtB

[Paul's Nulife4-2]

Actually I have to take issue with this.

 

I am a mechanical engineer, I have a degree to prove it. I am not a mechanic in that I don't work on cars etc. (I used to, my Dad taught me that's probably how I got interested, but now I have Richard or my sons to do it for me.)

 

Richard is also a qualified Mechanical engineer.

 

A trained mechanic will be able to fix the cars / machinery he's been trained to fix. In my experience present them with a problem a bit out of the ordinary and they'll be stumped.

 

An engineer can design things or come up with answers to problems they haven't seen before. For instance Richard had just installed an engine in a boat which had a different type of engine before. A mechanic could have put back an engine that he took out, connected everything back up and got it running. It needed an engineer to look at the space round the engine, and design and produce the exhaust system, diesel pipes and cooling pipes and wiring.

 

I'm not saying you have to have a degree to do that, but you have to be able to think problems through, rather than just follow instructions.

There are lots of god engineers on this forum, and you can tell by the type of answers they give.

 

That's why I get cross about the misuse of the term engineer, and engineers not getting the respect as a profession they deserve. I'm sue you'd get a lot of trouble if you called a "housewife" a domestic lawyer, but domestic engineer seems to be an acceptable term.

 

I had problems with a BT "engineer" who was trying to install something for a customer of mine. Because we weren't using a BT router they couldn't do the job. They couldn't tell me how to set the parameters on the router we had as they'd only been told to plug wire a into port a etc, and if there was no port a they were stuck. That's not an engineer that's a technician.

 

Sorry about the rant, it's one of my hobby horses.

 

Sue

Actually,,taking the above into account,it makes sense,

I thought that one of the guys who came to my boat was a Trainee, but maybe it was very much a case of One guy to Unplug old, and Plug in Reconditioned Unit,,and One guy to tell him How, Leaving the Driver in the Van !.

[mayalld]

I guess I posted this having compared what I get on the water to what I get on land.

 

My electrician for my rental houses charges £25 an hour. He needs to run a van on this and spend quite a considerable sum updating his skills profile regularly, as required by law. He has to live somewhere as well. And he has travelling time, which is not charged for separately.

 

On the other hand the boat based tradesperson (who does not need expensive qualifications- by law) walks 10 yards to my boat and charges me £10 an hour more.

 

See where I'm coming from?

 

To be honest, no.

 

If the guy in the rusty boat is charging over the odds, don't use him. Use somebody cheaper.

 

If you can't find anybody cheaper, or if the person who is cheaper is going to come in 3 weeks time, then you make your choices.

 

The guy is worth what people will pay for his services.

 

I'll come and do the job for £25 an hour, but it might be a month before I have the time. Also, I only dabble, so it will probably take me twice as long as it takes the £35 an hour guy.

 

On the plus side, my paintwork is in good order, and I have a multimeter, screwdriver and a box of electrical connectors.

[MtB]

On the plus side, my paintwork is in good order, and I have a multimeter, screwdriver and a box of electrical connectors.

 

Ah but are they the right electrical connectors, and if not will you expect to charge your £25 an hour to go to the electrical merchant and buy the right connectors?

 

And will your punter be prepared to pay for your trip?

 

So what price does the OP place on the guy doing the work turning up with all the right parts?

 

 

MtB

[Lady Muck]

My engineer charges £50 an hour but I'm always happy with the work he's done and he's really quick too, so he often ends up being a lot cheaper than the chancers.

I hear some horror stories - it's not uncommon for an engineer to start a job, go on holiday/go awol in the middle of a job, for months and lose half of the important parts.

I'd rather pay £50 an hour and get the job done the same week, rather than pay £25 an hour, still to be waiting for the job to be finished the same year.

 

And people say I'm an idiot for paying too much!

[Tuscan]

I give work to people I trust or who come recommended by people I trust this normally results in a competent job at a fair price. A skilled person may charge more but works quicker in my experience

[Rizzo]

As a qualified Electrician and gas safe engineer my overheads are £1200 a month before actually get to earn any money for myself. This does not include time out for training and exams every five years. £50 an hour makes me a good living but I am no millionaire. (Unfortunately)

[Paul's Nulife4-2]

As a qualified Electrician and gas safe engineer my overheads are £1200 a month before actually get to earn any money for myself. This does not include time out for training and exams every five years. £50 an hour makes me a good living but I am no millionaire. (Unfortunately)

Yep, absolutely.

Fairs fair. And a very good rate in my opinion for such services.

 

(By the way,welcome to the Forum Rizzo)

Edited April 8, 2014 by Paul's Nulife4-2

[Jim Batty]

... they tell you that they charge £35 an hour or thereabouts. ... yet the rusty boat with multimeter and a few screwdrivers charges near enough the same.

 

£35.00 an hour is top money. Are they having a laugh?

 

 

Many self-employed people will eye up a potential client and charge accordingly. If you happen to have a nice shiny boat and look well-heeled there's every possibility your hired work will come at a premium rate. If you can intelligently argue the case you might be able to reduce this a bit. I don't think anybody should be offended by an offer or bargaining. If not, business must be good!

[RLWP]

 

Many self-employed people will eye up a potential client and charge accordingly.

 

What cynical, grasping bastards us self-employed people are

 

Richard

[Proper Job]

 

What cynical, grasping bastards us self-employed people are

 

Richard

 

No more than us cynical, grasping employed people

[Paul's Nulife4-2]

Well,I'm self employed, but my rate is my rate, regardless.

It would get all very confusing ,for me anyway ,if I was to start assessing the income or wealth of any potential cliant before divulging my Labour rates to them.

Edited April 8, 2014 by Paul's Nulife4-2

[RLWP]

Well,I'm self employed, but my rate is my rate, regardless.

It would get very confusing ,for me anyway ,if I was to assess the income or wealth of a potential cliant before giving my Labour rates.

 

What about Tory rates?

 

And likewise on rates - I can't see the boat through the 'phone

 

Richard

[Laurie Booth]

How many computer programmers does it take to change a light bulb?

 

 

None it's a hardware problem.