Rip off? Your verdict wanted

[Trevethan]

SWMBO dropped off a couple of davit mounting pads at local metal shop for drilling.

Four holes in total 3/8 of an inch diameter, countersunk, in half inch stainless plate.

Cost was £50.

Now I know stainless is a bugger to work, and this is pretty heavy stuff, but £12.50 a hole seems a bit steep.

Any views?

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[snowleopard]

bet she told them it was for a boat!

and yes, it does seem steep.

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[Jools_of_Top_Cat]

My crosstree bracket had been cracked by the yard. I took it to be welded by a SS shop and they charged me a wopping £5.00

So yes, I would say you were charged a little highly.



<hr width=100% size=1>Julian

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.topcatsail.co.uk/TC_minicruise_2003_01.html>Cardigan Bay Cruise</A>

 

[tony_brighton]

Might be a minimum charge of an hour's labour.

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[Trevethan]

SWMBO picked them up today - I told her to wear a short skirt and flirt outrageously...obviously skirt wasn't short enough as they only knocked £10 off...

Still feel was very expensive and will be taking stanchion, pushpit and pulpit order elsewhere.

rgds

Nick

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[richardandtracy]

Is it a rip-off. Let's estimate it pedantically..

Take job from customer: 10 minutes
Setup time: 10 minutes.
10mm dia hole x 12mm deep on pillar drill: 8 minutes each (SS is awful to drill)
Setup drill with countersink: 5 minutes
Countersink: 4 minutes each
Deburr: 4 minutes total
Give back to customer: 10 minutes
Hourly rate: £20 per hour (this isn't a solicitor's after all!)
Bank charge on cheque £0.50

Total £28 - call £30.

Yes £50 is expensive. So's £40.

My suggestion: shorter skirt or buy a £40 pillar drill from Argos & do it yourself next time. The pillar drill'll pay for itself on its first job at that rate. Also it'll still be working long after the short skirt stops having its effect.

Regards

Richard.


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[david_e]

If it was heavy stuff, maybe broke the odd drill or whatever, an hours work + administration, VAT(?) not unreasonable perhaps.

It seems to me that whenever we don't get a fixed price for work, whether it is a boat or car etc then the costs always seem high. I now try and pin down a firm price whenever I can.

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[andyball]

How many garages charge only £20 per hr ? Main dealers are £50+. But a machine shop should be only £20 because.....

Only moral is get a price first.

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[richardandtracy]

I work in an engineering firm that makes fancy boxes for expensive bits of kit. The hourly rate we charge is £17.95 for shop floor staff, because we can't get work charging any higher.

Regards

Richard


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[DeeGee]

Buy COBALT drills from your good tool merchant, possy working up to 3/8, cos that is a big hole. They go through s/s like butter. I have drilled 1/4 bore in 1/4 thick in one go.

<hr width=100% size=1>Black Sugar - the sweetest of all

 

[graham]

It does sound a bit steep ,but they are not running a charity after all.

The comment"This isnt a solicitor after all" is interesting. This chap has much higher overheads than any solicitor .His apprenticeship was probably as long as a solicitors training and yet you seem to think he should charge less,why??

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[LORDNELSON]

I agree, cobalt drills work really well in stainless steel but are expensive, you would need to use two drills a pilot of say 4 mm (£2.02) and a 10mm (£7.81) plus a countersink (about £3.00). If you already have an electric drill much cheaper than the workshop though!

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[jon_bailey]

So you got it for £40 and I suppose that included VAT so actual cost £34.04.

Drilling stainless is not difficult if you know what you are doing so cost may be slightly high but not that much and certainly not a rip-off.

As someone else mentioned solicitors, earlier this week we were paying £150 per hour for advice. We have an engineering shop that could certainly do the work you want and only charge £25 per hour. Now where is the justice in that?

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[Trevethan]

I doubt VAT entered into the equation anywhere along the line!

But lesson learned - usually I show up all oily and in overalls

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[andyball]

overalls help greatly : are esp good at getting trade prices from suppliers (not so good by 'phone)

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[Peppermint]

I'd of thought £20 per hour a bit light for an engineering shop. What about overhead and margin. Were living in a time when garages charge £70-£100 per hour for labour/overhead and mechanics earn £25-30k with a company car.

It's also possible that the company has a minimum charge.

Small business insurances and other costs have gone through the roof.

Not a rip off if the jobs OK!

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[andrewbarker]

Look in B&Q Warehouse. Complete set cobalt from 2.5 up to about 13 mm £19 for about 15 drills. Do the business in SS.

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[Hushinish]

There is nothing in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and he who considers price only is that man's lawful prey

John Ruskin


.............yep sounds expensive!!!!

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[Chris771]

This is probably not the answer you wanted Nick, but you have made me feel a lot better about a hole I drilled last week. I was fitting Eberspacher Heating and needed to drill a 67mm hole into engine compartment and back out on other side.
Because of soundproofing considerations it needed to be 67mm, no more, no less.

My cheapie Taiwanese holesaw set stopped at 63mm.

So nothing for it but to buy a proper professional holesaw in 67mm at £12. However this required an arbour with a pilot drill - cost £16. This did not look particularly good value. However the engineering merchant had a high quality professional electricians set in a box with 6 holesaws (15 - 63mm) and 2 pilot/arbours on a special at £28. But I still needed to buy the 67mm cutter. So, total outlay £40 for a pair of holes which took about 30 seconds each to drill.

Compared to the cost of my holes I think yours, with administrative and setting up charges sound quite reasonable, however I am starting from a rather jaundiced viewpoint, though I do have two tightly fitting holes around the ducting with no noise leakage.


Chris

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[ccscott49]

You were ripped off! But why didn't you ask for a price first?

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