Machinery maintenance

[GardenKit]

I think it is wrong to assume that a guy charging only £12 per hour will not return a first class job, or vice versa, that a £50 man will not make a complete mess.

 

But the proof of the pudding is in the eating and the return business will only go to the guy with the best results.

 

The £12 guy however, is unlikely to still be trading when the return business turns up at his door, even if he was good.

 

Various posters on this thread have criticised my hourly rate, but after 14 years of steady growth I guess we are not too far out.

 

If I am honest though, I do very little work at the hourly rate, most is done on a rate for the job, which on average works out higher than the hourly rate anyway (same as in all dealers)

[Steve Bullman]

Hourly rates mean little to me. They guy charging £40 an hour might work twice as quick as the guy charging £20 an hour. Add to that, the guy charging £20 an hour might not even do the job properly(nor the guy charging £40 for that matter). I have used countless saw mechanics over the years, several I have had to take the same saws back to as they hadn't fixed the issues. As a result i'm pretty fussy who I take my saws to.

 

I think it is wrong to assume that a guy charging only £12 per hour will not return a first class job, or vice versa, that a £50 man will not make a complete mess.

 

Not assuming that for a second, hence the bold comment in brackets Barry. My point was that focussing on hourly rates really doesn't show the whole picture.

[GardenKit]

Sorry Steve, my post was not directed at you, hence no quote.

It was rather just my thoughts on the matter, actually in accordance with your thoughts it seems.

[Steve Bullman]

It was rather just my thoughts on the matter, actually in accordance with your thoughts it seems.

 

I would expect no less

[Richard 1234]

I look for value for money if I have to take stuff to be fixed. (Which is not that often as with a bit of help on here and from other places I can fix most things) but I use a guy who charges £35 an hour plus VAT. Which is cheap I think as he gets me going again within a couple of hours if he has the bits. And if he does not we can normally bodge something or borrow bits from another machine to get it going and sort properly once parts are in. That's more important than the headline rate in£s to me.

[Neil-R]

So having established that dealerships will be charging around £40 - £45 plus vat for each hour then that can become the norm that people expect to pay.

 

Assuming that the OP and others like him have similar skills to myself and other dealers technicians, there is no real reason why they cannot charge similar rates if the job is finished to the same standard. Of course, they will probably want to give themselves an 'edge' by being a bit cheaper than the local dealer. Thats fair enough, but they will still have that 'edge' if they charged, say £30 an hour. So come on guys, value yourselves and earn a decent living.

 

 

 

Sounds like I need to put mine up LOL we are £35 plus vat an hour , went up a fiver last year , probably should put it up another fiver this year, all costs are rising , insurance , staffing costs inc the new workplace pension etc all got to be taken into account before I can pay myself wages . We are no different to motor trade garages in many respects , I think average price round our way is at least £50.00 an hour .

I started off @ £25 per hour no vat part time in 2008 , once I moved to a proper unit in 2010 then eventually full time £30 per hour vat registration soon followed .

[tree-fancier123]

I think £12 per hour is an admission you don't know the trade. As long as you know enough and are keen to learn there will be plenty of pensioners looking to save a bit on the annual mower service, sharpening hedgcutter blades etc. Just advertise it, at £15 or even £17 free collection, delivery. I appreciate you want to undercut to get going, but I wouldn't take a £1500 Honda mower to someone who said £12 per hour. I'd think they had been on the Youtube vids and got a socket set for xmas.