Mates Rates

[Holohana]

when starting out charge what your happy to get however once established then its got to be the going rate.

I did two last week for friends/family and both a pain in the erse!

One booked me in for the job weeks ago and then it was delayed and i had to squeeze in to fit round everyone else. Once finished he didnt have the cash to pay me, cheers pal.

Next day, on another friends job, i turned up at 8.00am as agreed to work on kitchen splashback only to find kids still eating breakfast and pots and crap everywhere.

I ended up shifting everything once they had gone to work, microwave and everything. Sink full of bloody coco pops and yes they had even turned the water brown! All for £150 which you guessed it, i aint got yet!

He'd taken the tiles off apart from the ones he couldnt be botherd to do as they were behind the microwave

I also did my brothers house with materials and tiles at cost and labour FOC, yes FOC. Didnt even get a beer out of it!

If they expect cheaper rates do they expect cheaper work?

Real mates would insist on paying the going rate in my book as i would if they did any work for me otherwise the incentive to do a good job may be lacking.

Keep business business and social social i say.

 

[DHTiling]

If it was your brother or sister then fair enough..but mates they always want it for nowt..just charge them more then they won't ask again will they...:lol:

 

[Holohana]

on the last one they had a old knacked boiler thermostat control which turned all the wall and worktop etc live when the boiler timer came on!

Think his earth was a bit dodgy too!

Good job he was there to take a look cos neither of us could see what had gone wrong as all connections good, clear of screws etc and clean.

Felt guilty as hell which was odd as it wasnt actually anything to do whith what id done. I'd just found a problem that was waiting to happen!

 

[etc.tiling]

If it comes to pay day and the customer doesn't want to pay then out comes the chisel and it's time to take the tiles off so I can get my adhesive and grout back. It's amazing how fast their hands go in their pockets to get the money!!

 

[versatilene]

I got my 'Mate' all the adhesive, grout and tiles at my trade prices (and was going to do the job real cheap for him) only to be told a few days later that he had got a builder down the road to do the tiling because he would work for a lot less than £100 a day. The cheeky s-d only rings me when the bloke started to say he didn't have any cutters or trowels so could he borrow mine!!! and what do you think I said???

 

[penno]

I got my 'Mate' all the adhesive, grout and tiles at my trade prices (and was going to do the job real cheap for him) only to be told a few days later that he had got a builder down the road to do the tiling because he would work for a lot less than £100 a day. The cheeky s-d only rings me when the bloke started to say he didn't have any cutters or trowels so could he borrow mine!!! and what do you think I said???

"O YEAH ofc he can use my cutters and trowels, hang on im not busy today so i will come around and do some mixing and cuts for him if you like"

Is that what you said? 🙂

 

[Perry]

thats one good thing about having no friends :huh2:

 

[john0612]

i'm a painter & dec and when this happens with me, i get them to get a quote from another company before i qoute it so they know what to expect and then ask to see what they charge.

Having your price allready worked out in your head see if you can knock a couple of quid of it, if not just say that's a great price i'd go for it. More than likely they'll ask what you'll do it for and if your cheper knock a few quid of their original estimate and you've made more money on it.

harsh but business is business. lol

 

[versatilene]

"O YEAH ofc he can use my cutters and trowels, hang on im not busy today so i will come around and do some mixing and cuts for him if you like"

Is that what you said? 🙂

Spot on, in fact I'm there now making tea for the lad as he's had a hard day

 

[IvegotsTILE]

I did 24 square metres of 30 by 30s on a diamond set in the kitchenfor my best mate,got the materials at cost which were £65.
I asked for £265 including the price of the materials and his girlfriend thought I was taking the ****.After 2 months got £100 back.
I won't do any big jobs for friends again.