Hello all, recently gas provider has been changed and water heater didn't work.
I tried to re-light pilot light but I couldn't find where it is. My property agent called plumber to re-light the pilot flame and charged $154. Is it fair amount? I googled it but I couldn't find any realistic information. Can someone share any similar experience?
Thanks
But your landlord should cover this.
Yeah nah…. If you can't follow the simple relighting directions then you're paying that!
Plus changing gas provider, doesn't cut your gas off! There is more to the story.
Op is the landlord - possibly.
Wording unclear.
Recently gas provider has been changed
Did you not pay your bills and get the gas disconnected? Changing gas retailer has nothing to do with the hot water system.
Is it fair amount? I googled it but I couldn't find any realistic information.
Yes. You could have googled how to relight the pilot light for your brand and model hot water system.
I was thinking of becoming an influencer in 2025 but I'm going to become a gas plumber instead.
Weekend side hustle…
Just weekend work. I've heard Sunday rates are great. Make enough to take Monday to Friday off and work on hobbies.
Plumbers crack/Only fans hobby site…
Make sure you work Sundays for the ching ching
$420 for 30 minutes work and let the client do all of my cleanup work. Too easy.
$420/28
Ironically, both new jobs involve a lot of gaslighting…
That's probably about right. Did you get them to show you how to do it?
Easy enough to re-light the pilot light. Once you remove the bottom cover, you can see if it successfully lights. There are videos if the instruction manual isn't sufficient.
My property agent called plumber to re-light the pilot flame and charged $154. Is it fair amount?
$154 is basically the call out fee for them to set foot on the property. So a bargain!
the call out fee
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#jvlied
and charged $154. Is it fair amount?
Matches are expensive these days…
Tinder platinum?Āæ
2 cents for the match. $149.98 to know where to put it.
You own an investment property worth presumably over a million dollars and you are worrying about the callout fee for a plumber? You could have gone yourself and done it if your time is worth less than that of a plumber.
LOL is OP the Landlord and not the tenant? Even funnier
I assumed so. Why would the tenant pay to fix the hot water system? Reading it closer, OP must be the "landlord" and did show up to the property and just didn't know how to relight it. And had to pay a plumber to do it for them.
Property investment is a sickness. It's a cancer on society.
Property investment is a sickness. It's a cancer on society.
Tell me you're a renter without telling me you're a renter…
If that's the case then the tenant was probably inside using the cooktop to heat up bricks to keep the place warm.
the tenant was probably chilling inside to use the cooktop to heat up bricks to keep the place warm
YouThe bank owns an investment property worth presumably over a million dollars
FTFY
In the short term being a landlord is expensive and often a loss making activity when you consider that many people have a substantial mortgage on their investment property. So whilst at some point they can sell and profit, landlords still worry about the cost of things just like those paying off their PPOR or renting.
but I couldn't find where it is.
Well did you at least figure it out for next time?
Are you the tenant or the landlord?
The rate isn't based on how simple it was to fix, it's based on how much time it took to fix it.
$154 is pretty clearly a $90 callout fee and $50 per hour with 10% GST on top. Nowadays this is bloody cheap.
You can't compare this fee to a hourly wage in an employment situation where your employer provides all the tools you need for you to do your job.
The fee you are charged has to cover the realistic wages of a qualified tradesperson in a high demand profession, all tool and equipment (including the vehicle), petrol, liability and workers compensation insurance, licensing and accreditation fees, tax, time paying for and doing your tax and bookkeeping, informal conversations and quotes that never end up going anywhere, annual leave, superannuation (or at least, putting something aside for retirement), the cost of returning to fix something if you've accidentally made a mistake, days where there's no work coming in at all and you're effectively waiting on standby… and 10% GST.
Frankly, the fee should be double what you were charged.
Usual practice is to charge for the first hour regardless of whether it's a 5 minute job or a 60 minute job, because by the time you've fuffed around, got something out of the car, exchanged small talk with the resident or agent, double checked that you didn't miss anything, etc. it's not an hour you're working anywhere else.
The callout fee is a flat figure because you might either end up traveling half way across the city in the car and spend 45 minutes sitting in traffic each way, or it might be around the corner, but you never know. Either way it's time spent sitting in the car that you're not otherwise getting paid for and can't do anything else with, and nobody wants you to charge the actual minutes spent sitting in the car, least of all the client, because just calculating that each time is far more trouble than it's worth and it just results in arguments about whether you should have driven up X street instead of Y street and why you're driving there from another job instead of from your registered "office".
Also, you need to break off whatever else it was you were doing at the time to get in the car just because someone doesn't know how to light their own pilot light.
$154 is pretty clearly a $90 callout fee and $50 per hour
I reckon it's just the call out fee. Plumbers don't charge $50 per hour.
Break it up however you like. Either way they spent time on site, and by your reckoning they gave that time away for free? Which is ultimately the same thing.
Mostly, in my experience, the travel and hourly rate are broken up as described.
Also, I double checked my last couple of plumbing invoices. 2020 and 2021 rates, but I was charged $50 an hour with a $85 callout at the time, although no doubt it's gone up since then.
Agree, I see this in my line of work as well, where people think they should pay less (or mothing) because something was an "easy" fix, or is some cases there was nothing wrong and it is user error
It still takes the same amount of time to schedule the job, travel to site etc. etc. no matter how hard or easy the job is, hence the minimum charge that is made clear before the job
Reminds me of the time some of my tenants demanded an electrician ASAP to replace a "faulty" light fitting as they couldn't remove the bulb to replace it.
Turns out it was bayonet fitting and they were trying to unscrew it
Put an ad. in āAirtaskerā. You will be surprised for the offers you get. Try it.
I had the same issue. Wasn't obvious what to do so I looked it up online. Had to remove a panel with one screw, turn a knob and press a button. So simple.
Yet another forum post with no sign of the poster ā¦ š
QLD govt employee visiting a property averages to $895 for the taxpayer.
For a plumber doing it for $154 means he chooses to live well under the poverty line.
Good deal.
Thanks everyone! I am the owner, just started to rent and found there are a lot to learn about.
Don't worry. You're in good company. Many clueless landlords on this forum.
A bit late to google 'fair prices for relighting pilot light' when you could have googled 'brandX gas heater pilot light manual' and did it yourself. You had the potential to save that $154 since it's not often that tenants let owners in to DIY repairs, even if it's a 5 min fix
$154 is cheap.
Guess I was lucky once, only once. Plumber showed up, checked something, gave an assessment then left. Said he was on the way to another job and didnāt do anything so didnāt charge. He knew heād be back though, old property.
For a tradie to set foot on your property? Bargain!
But your landlord should cover this.