Topps it all!!!

[Fred]

I got a call from my local Topps manager this morning. A couple ( South African) had come into the shop and needed a recommended tiler to lay 20m2 of natural stone in two adjoining rooms, both plyed out with UFH wires in place yesterday by an elecrician, not covered with SLC etc.

So, I was asked how much per m2 I would charge, all materials already bought via the place on the net they got the stone, I said £35 m2.............he told them, I couldn't get over it, they were ranting and raving.......£35.we can get it done for £20 m2 0r even £120 a day.........

Then I was asked how long.......three days I said.........what three days, we want it done by thursday evening..............

Then I was asked, if you just lay them and they do all the sealing and grouting etc would you do it all in for £150............

I told the manager that he should know better to ring ANY tiler with prices like that..................:mad2:

 

[CBTC]

Well done Penno - hope you made your feelings clear!

 

[sWe]

I'd laugh 'til it hurt if someone wanted me to work that cheap...

 

[Rob Z]

Fred, if it makes you feel any better, in some of the cheaper markets here in the US, guys are setting tile and stone for ~1 or so per sq ft*, and supplying the thinset and grout for that as well. :yikes::yikes: They are buying thinset for ~$5 a bag, and using the smallest notch possible to extend the coverage of the bag. What does the customer know about the contact with the back of the tile? Do they know or understand that $5 a bag thinset has about one ounce of portland cement in it, and really is only good to use as backfill because it is almost all sand? The typical customer doesn't understand that some guy that comes in with a crew of 4 and sets all the floor tile in a 2000 sq ft house CAN'T POSSIBLY be doing a good job if it's done in a day. What do they know? Substrate prep? Who cares? If it gets swept off then that is good enough! It has become the norm so the average customer thinks that is the right way and our way is obviously a ripoff. :incazzato:

For some time now, I've said that the typical customer has what I call a binary mentality about this....meaning, like a computer, it's all 1's or 0's......The door/tile/cabinet/shower valve/ceiling fan/etc is either installed or it's not. Any door/tile/cabinet/plumbing fixture is just as easy to install as the next one, and the idea that a flat rate will cover it all is what is expected by many members of the buying public.

Some people just don't get it and think all this stuff just flies out of the box and installs itself, and we are just there to set all the product approximately in the correct spot and to cut the boxes open to allow the tiles to set themselves. (here is where I need a sarcasm smilie)

*the currency convertor says today that $1 is equal to about 0.7 British pounds, and there are about 10.5 sq ft in a sq meter.....so in FLorida you might see the rate of less than 10 British pounds paid per sq meter. :yikes:

 

[Verona]

I got a call from a bloke last week to price up a bathroom for him. Went down to take alook, before i could even say anything he told me he basically buys property to rent or sell. :

"yeah i am from a building background, i have got houses in Florida, spain, 12 around this area and 2 in Italy"
~~~~~
He then proceeded to show me all the wooden floors that have been laid in the house, "got the lot laid for £70 off some foreign lad".

His next comment just pushed me too much:
"no wonder us builders are using foreign labour when you charge prices like that"

Good to hear that you didn't give in, Penno! :hurray:

Had a customer like that a year ago - was recommended by a plumber friend of ours so went to do it. An hours drive in the countryside (no street name!) and the brother in law of the customer had done a long 2 smaller walls of the bathroom with no spacers... leaving the gaps like between 2-8 mm!! Sure I could see why she wanted a proff to finish 1,5 walls off. When nearly done she even said that the £150 was including grouting of ALL the walls, including the disasters ones left behind. I told her that she must be joking as it would take me another day with all those gaps. She then went on about that she was into building jobs herself and knew the going rate and that £150 was a fair price for everything done - mind that I had to drive there 4 times as going back the day after to grout the bad walls...

As for the foreign lads coming in I just can't stand it as they give foreign people a bad name when the rest of us are trying to do a decent jobs with proper prices, invoice and tax all jobs and everything. Just like the guys who quotes jobs for £15 per m2 mat incl! Makes life difficult for everyone, right!:mad2:

 

[Verona]

I got a call from my local Topps manager this morning. A couple ( South African) had come into the shop and needed a recommended tiler to lay 20m2 of natural stone in two adjoining rooms, both plyed out with UFH wires in place yesterday by an elecrician, not covered with SLC etc.

So, I was asked how much per m2 I would charge, all materials already bought via the place on the net they got the stone, I said £35 m2.............he told them, I couldn't get over it, they were ranting and raving.......£35.we can get it done for £20 m2 0r even £120 a day.........

Then I was asked how long.......three days I said.........what three days, we want it done by thursday evening..............

Then I was asked, if you just lay them and they do all the sealing and grouting etc would you do it all in for £150............

I told the manager that he should know better to ring ANY tiler with prices like that..................:mad2:

Sorry to hear about that trouble even quoting the job! It is incredible how people think that things just got cheaper because they don't have any money. It isn't like that with the sirloin steaks in the supermarked I have noticed... perhaps I should go and tell them! :drool5:

I watched Grand Design the other night and heard the builders saying that the building materials had gone up by somewhat 50% or so, then the fuel etc... why would customer then think that tiling can be done to half price all of a sudden?! I do not get it but hope that the customer would get it sooner rather than later as I fell it is wasted not getting any nice jobs done - by that I mean someone who has the passion about the outcome rather than the peanuts they can find in the deep pockets.

 

[CBTC]

Re post 13; haha yes Rob, its true. Not much anyone can do sometimes, although I try making a case (where it seems to be worth it) trying to compare completely different items or scenarios in typical lives where they might relate it to tile work / quality / value etc. Sometimes the penny drops with them...(or cent even)
And Verona, as for the 'I know about building and costs' ones... yes - its then that the warning bell goes off!

 

[White Room]

Or I used be an engineer so the joints should be in thousands of an inch:yikes: