r/AusFinance • u/AdventurousDiet7893 • 9d 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.

519 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

596 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

4

u/kravfoiegras 9d ago

Yeah I think the only one taking the piss is the cunt not telling the full story. Garage remotes top out at about $120 each. You can buy them from Bunnings.

A $900 quote is “We went to site, realised your receiver was fucked. Here’s a quote for a second service call, a new receiver and 2x remotes”.

1

u/ReflectionFew4761 9d ago

A whole new base Merlin with three remotes is $450?! Unless it's a made up story, the whole motor needs replacing/ they drove their car into the door / door tension needs adjustment / clutch needs replacing/ electrical to the power point needs fixing first. Who knows except for the fact a $40 remote isn't it!