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[Rog]

Plumbers, electricians, gas engineers, painters, decorators etc

Just moved main home from North London to West Wales.

In London we hesitated to get anyone in even to look at something, you just know it would be fifty quid or so just for turning up.

The other day in Wales I whacked an outside gas pipe on the wall of the house while reversing, not broken but very bent. small local gas engineer came same day, came back next day. Fixed pipe, serviced boiler, checked out a gas fire. How much £140 !    That is amazing. In London it would have been double that at the very least.

So, are London tradespeople greedy so-and-sos who overcharge, or are the ones down there very damned cheap ?

 

[05omegav6]

Supply and demand in action...

London plumber would swing by on the way past to give a guesstimate, then book you in in a months time, whereas your Welsh plumber, again swings by on the way past, issues guesstimate which you accept. They then go and get bits ready and come back in the morning because they can

[Stemo]

London plumber has to pay London mortgage/rent.

[tunnie]

Everything is just so much more, so probably earn same. Congestion charges, insurance etc, so have to charge more.

[chrisgixer]

It takes 5 times as long to drive anywhere in London.

[Rog]

London plumber has to pay London mortgage/rent.

The plumber that we used in London had a much bigger house, in a much posher area than me  , and ours wasn't exactly crap

[Stemo]

London plumber has to pay London mortgage/rent.

The plumber that we used in London had a much bigger house, in a much posher area than me  , and ours wasn't exactly crap

So..bigger mortgage? 

[Rog]

London plumber has to pay London mortgage/rent.

The plumber that we used in London had a much bigger house, in a much posher area than me  , and ours wasn't exactly crap

So..bigger mortgage? 

Maybe, but that's his choice. He doesn't have to buy a really expensive house.

[05omegav6]

Better contacts/accountant?

Trouble with the Joneses is that they tend to be full of shit, and keeping up with them or at least trying is a self fulfilling prophecy...

Ironically there are less Joneses in Snowdonia than London...

Ergo, your new plumber is available at short notice and doesn't charge the earth because he knows that he doesn't need to. This is because he has no one to keep up with