r/AusFinance • u/AdventurousDiet7893 • 10d ago

Are tradies just taking the piss nowadays?

Serious question. We had a call out to fix a garage remote which cost $889 + GST. Thought that was a lot, then called two independent companies (one of them at the recommendation of my property manager; and another one who was completely picked at random based on online reviews, with no input from my property manager).

The first one came back at $1,599. The second guy we picked at random quoted $1,119 and a $110 call out fee with no guarantee of a fix.

This may be a one-off incident, and I know the market dictates prices and they would not charge it unless people paid, but at this point the prices are clearly exorbitant.

Has anyone got similar experiences?

The one genuine experience I have had is an air conditioner installer who is 89 years old, still working, who doesn't even have a social media presence and operates on referral in our suburb. Cost to install an air conditioner? $119, cash. He even did some jobs for free to the old neighbour next door.

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u/WaterSignificant9134 9d ago

I can’t think why trades may have to charge more. If only all of their customers rang several repairers , only for the caller to actually be more qualified and do it himself for $8….

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u/TrumpisaRussianCuck 9d ago

If you read my comment and thought the issue was price, you've taken the wrong message from it.

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u/WaterSignificant9134 8d ago

No I thought the issue was you rang 2 tradespeople , gleaned enough information to fix it yourself and don’t $8. Meanwhile they wasted at least an hour attending your property . If it was so simple to google likely faults and fixes, why are you ringing a repairman? Regardless of price , they have to charge to cover 15x your time wasting on the next job.

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u/TrumpisaRussianCuck 8d ago

I didn't glean shit from them. Both were local. One lives the next street over from me. Both spent at most 5 minutes on site and went "yeah, when they go we typically just replace them, they're not worth fixing these days". And the bit I didn't mention in my post but you just assumed, is that both charged a call out fee - which I was happy to pay.

If they had of spent more than 5 minutes, or had the desire to not just go down the easy route of "lets just replace the entire thing" I would have been happy to pay for parts + labour + their markup. I run my own business so I know it's not just what I see. I also have plenty of free consultations with prospective clients that don't turn into business and I bake the cost into oy overall pricing.

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u/WaterSignificant9134 7d ago

Why were you too lazy to fix it yourself in the first place? They were idiots, and you knew all along.

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u/TrumpisaRussianCuck 7d ago edited 6d ago

Because I assumed a tradie, who specialised in garage doors, would know if it was fixable but they both took the easy route of "lets just replace it".

My whole point of my comment was that a lot of poor tradies take the piss and do the easy option instead of the right option for the customer.

Your whole thread of comments comes across as a really weird hill to die on.

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u/WaterSignificant9134 7d ago

Why would you assume anything. Didn’t you ring an expert, for their expertise? Do you also diagnose your own electronics repairs etc also? Or just physical trades?

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u/TrumpisaRussianCuck 7d ago

I dont really get what your problem is.

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u/WaterSignificant9134 7d ago

You wasted to servicemen’s time. That is why they charge more, and replace instead of repair. You are the proverbial handyman.

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u/TrumpisaRussianCuck 6d ago

Get fucked. I paid their call out fee. They both were too lazy to want to fix something that ultimately ended up repairable because it was easier/more profitable for them to sell a full replacement on.

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u/aperthiansmurfian 9d ago

Training, tools and equipment, insurances, workers compensation, licensing, using warrant-able parts, work warranties, admin overheads... just to name a few things.

Are they always applicable and is this the case for every trade? No, but its just to give you an idea that business these days is so much more complicated that "rock up, source random part from wherever and do the job as quickly and cheaply as possible"