Warning to handymen/women

[appleby]

I often do handyman type jobs for forum users and have always had a positive experience but today I have had a very unpleasant one. I built a flat pack double wardrobe with a mirror and drawer. The job took two hours and forty minutes. I charge ?35 an hour (as I clearly agreed with the clients beforehand)...my standard rate. Anyway to cut a long story short, the clients paid me ?35 when I finished as they hadn't got any more money on them and said I should call back for it later. Well, they subsequently decided the job should have taken me an hour and a half and therefore weren't willing to pay me any more money....at all! After a horrible phone call where both clients were screaming at me they put the phone down. Gutted and feel ripped off. I don't know their forum names but tradesmen should avoid a woman called Val from Glengarry Rd.

[pps]

you should of quoted a fixed price of ?70 for a job like that i always do they know then that the cost to them would be ?70 that way theres no oh it should of took an hour then.

[root]

Unforuntate situation but had you given any indication how long the job was expected to take?

When I hire people I always negotiate a fixed price. If it's estimated at 90 minutes but just takes 30 then fine, if it takes 3 hours then the tradesman will probably make it up on jobs that take less then estimated.

Same with dentists, lawyers, etc. And I hate dentists and lawyers!!!