A warning to others...

[enandess]

Thank you for everyones comments... I have refrained from replying as I wanted to give time for any 'other side' contributions to be made.

 

There have been many points that I wanted to add a comment to but rather than go over things adfinitum I thought I would add a quick round up... 

We left the boat thinking that the bill would be around the £90 estimate. We already had the machine onboard and in place. 

When we rang the yard to enquire about progress we were told that it was going to be a bigger job than they thought. No explicit mention of revised costs were made and we didn't ask - we thought maybe the bill will double in price but as we wanted to have the machine we thought it would be worth it. If a figure of over £500 had been quoted we would definitely have said stop, please do not proceed. 

The main aim of my post wasn't to point a finger at any particular yard - indeed from the comments and experiences of others it seems to happen in other yards too - but to highlight how important communication is in situations like this. We should have tied Rose Narrowboats down to indicate a revised cost in our phone call but never thought in a million years that the bill would go to 500... we relied to much on our assumption that things would be reasonable.

As a newcomer to the boating world we haven't had the experience that seasoned old hands have to draw on. That said we are learning fast! 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, enandess said:

Thank you for everyones comments... I have refrained from replying as I wanted to give time for any 'other side' contributions to be made.

 

There have been many points that I wanted to add a comment to but rather than go over things adfinitum I thought I would add a quick round up... 

We left the boat thinking that the bill would be around the £90 estimate. We already had the machine onboard and in place. 

When we rang the yard to enquire about progress we were told that it was going to be a bigger job than they thought. No explicit mention of revised costs were made and we didn't ask - we thought maybe the bill will double in price but as we wanted to have the machine we thought it would be worth it. If a figure of over £500 had been quoted we would definitely have said stop, please do not proceed. 

The main aim of my post wasn't to point a finger at any particular yard - indeed from the comments and experiences of others it seems to happen in other yards too - but to highlight how important communication is in situations like this. We should have tied Rose Narrowboats down to indicate a revised cost in our phone call but never thought in a million years that the bill would go to 500... we relied to much on our assumption that things would be reasonable.

As a newcomer to the boating world we haven't had the experience that seasoned old hands have to draw on. That said we are learning fast! 

Your experience as a boater is irrelavent I'm afraid.

 

The point about checking revised costs applies in all walks of life.

[Cheshire cat]

Perhaps the moral of the story is quote or estimate one price but if it is going to cost X above this let me know so I can reconsider my options.

 

I've got a guy coming to fit me a new Valiant boiler on Tuesday as recommended by Mike the Boilerman. Imagine my suprise if it ends up costing £10K.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Cheshire cat said:

Perhaps the moral of the story is quote or estimate one price but if it is going to cost X above this let me know so I can reconsider my options.

 

I've got a guy coming to fit me a new Valiant boiler on Tuesday as recommended by Mike the Boilerman. Imagine my suprise if it ends up costing £10K.

A plumber that turns up?

 

Well that will be a novelty.

[MtB]

2 hours ago, Cheshire cat said:

I've got a guy coming to fit me a new Valiant boiler on Tuesday as recommended by Mike the Boilerman.

 

Really?!!!! Where did you get that from?!!

 

The only boilers I ever get even close to recommending are a brand called "Vaillant". Similar spelling perhaps, but different.

 

 

[MoominPapa]

21 hours ago, Bee said:

In a nutshell, if you have a load of stuff you can't fix then you are always at risk of big bills and that is just a fact of life. 

Very troo, that.

 

MP.

 

[Nightwatch]

11 hours ago, Cheshire cat said:

Perhaps the moral of the story is quote or estimate one price but if it is going to cost X above this let me know so I can reconsider my options.

 

I've got a guy coming to fit me a new Valiant boiler on Tuesday as recommended by Mike the Boilerman. Imagine my suprise if it ends up costing £10K.

You mean, it's not going to be 10k?

[Alan de Enfield]

Just now, Nightwatch said:

You mean, it's not going to be 10k?

No, its someone recommended by MtB, not MtB himself.

 

(Although its not clear if its the boiler, or the fitter, that's MtB recommended)

[TheBiscuits]

2 minutes ago, Nightwatch said:

You mean, it's not going to be 10k?

£9950.

 

That's £1450 for the installation and £8500 kickback to @Mike the Boilerman

[Nightwatch]

I would recconmend MTB. Nice bloke. I'm sure I've met him, he does ring a bell.

[Alan de Enfield]

5 minutes ago, Nightwatch said:

I would recconmend MTB. Nice bloke. I'm sure I've met him, he does ring a bell.

Nah - that's the Avon lady you are thinking of.

[MtB]

I’m reasonably certain I’ve never recommended either a boiler or an installer. 

 

Where boilers are concerned when pressed for a recommendation I usually say if I had to fit one in my house I’d fit a Vaillant, this being the best available of a very poor bunch. This is NOT me ‘recommending’ Vaillant although most people translate it into such. 

 

Where installers are concerned, similar applies. There is one chap whose name I put forward saying he has installled a number of boilers for people I know and i’ve not heard any adverse feedback, and he’s a likeable chap, people like having him around (despite being Australian!). But be clear I am NOT recommending him. Recommending creates a responsibility on me for the quality of his work. Nor do I ever get any reward for suggesting him. 

[bizzard]

18 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Nah - that's the Avon lady you are thinking of.

Mike's really a Rag and Bone man not a plumber, gives away goldfish too.

[Laurie Booth]

14 hours ago, cuthound said:

 

LadyG was trying to point out that a quote is a fixed price where an estimate is, well just that.

 

No contractor will quote for a job which is an unknown quantity. Most work on boats is almost always an unknown quantty. 

 

I often had this situation when I was working, and could only resolve it satisfactorily by agreeing an hourly labour rate for each skill required, plus parts at a fixed percentage above what the contractor could get them for, along with periodic reviews on how the work was going.

 

However the boatyard should still have contacted the customer each time the cost was going to rise substantially.

I'm quoting your quote

[Alan de Enfield]

1 minute ago, bizzard said:

Mike's really a Rag and Bone man not a plumber, gives away goldfish too.

That takes me back - horse and old brewery drey - old style horn with a rubber bulb and shouts of "Raaaggy-Bon, Raaaggy-Bon, Raaaggy-Bon"

[Ssscrudddy]

33 minutes ago, Nightwatch said:

I would recconmend MTB. Nice bloke. I'm sure I've met him, he does ring a bell.

Just don't let him sort your batteries out...

[Ray T]

1 hour ago, Nightwatch said:

I would recconmend MTB. Nice bloke. I'm sure I've met him, he does ring a bell.

 

53 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Nah - that's the Avon lady you are thinking of.

Knock knock,

Who's there?

Avon calling your bells bust.

Edited September 20, 2018 by Ray T

[bizzard]

17 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

That takes me back - horse and old brewery drey - old style horn with a rubber bulb and shouts of "Raaaggy-Bon, Raaaggy-Bon, Raaaggy-Bon"

The one I remember rang a handbell and shouted LUMBER repeatedly.

Edited September 20, 2018 by bizzard

[Gareth E]

27 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

I’m reasonably certain I’ve never recommended either a boiler or an installer. 

 

Where boilers are concerned when pressed for a recommendation I usually say if I had to fit one in my house I’d fit a Vaillant, this being the best available of a very poor bunch. This is NOT me ‘recommending’ Vaillant although most people translate it into such. 

 

Where installers are concerned, similar applies. There is one chap whose name I put forward saying he has installled a number of boilers for people I know and i’ve not heard any adverse feedback, and he’s a likeable chap, people like having him around (despite being Australian!). But be clear I am NOT recommending him. Recommending creates a responsibility on me for the quality of his work. Nor do I ever get any reward for suggesting him. 

I'm confused. You're a boiler man but you put others forward to fit them rather than fit them yourself. What am I missing?

[MtB]

Just now, Gareth E said:

I'm confused. You're a boiler man but you put others forward to fit them rather than fit them yourself. What am I missing?

 

I mend the boilers others say can’t be fixed. Generally quite interesting work. 

 

Fitting them is boring as mud and I don’t do it. 

[bizzard]

I don't think the Vailant  Instaneous gas water heater that was  used on boats and burger vans is vailable anymore, the Morco D61 ireplaced it instead.

[NB Esk]

3 minutes ago, bizzard said:

I don't think the Vailant  Instaneous gas water heater that was  used on boats and burger vans is vailable anymore, the Morco D61 ireplaced it instead.

See what he did there? ?