$900 water heater?

DanHolohan

like you, the man is a guest on my website. He may ask his question and you may choose not to answer him.

How about if we all treat each other with respect while here on the Wall. I've found that we learn more that way.

Thanks.

jim_14

Was reading another topic where water heater pricing was being discussed and wanted to pose my question:

My neighbor, back around 1995 needed her hot water heater replaced.she used a well known local company with who she had a contract with.

What they did is replace the broken HWH with the new one and charged her $900 (these are 1995 dollars), no major repiping, just slip out old slip in new, solder a new elbow here and there and turn the gas back on. Not a big job. it was a 50 gal ao smith I believe...has that dip tube problem too.

Do you guys think she was over charged? what do you think would be a fair 1995 price? I only posted this b/c the other discussion had an 800 install quoted (i think) and thats todays dollars. what would you charge???

Heatermon

I'm not going.........

to touch that question with a ten foot pole. If she wants to compare services, have her give a reputable tradesman in her area a call. Without knowing the specifics of the job, it would be irresponsible to comment on pricing. Do I think $900 is expensive for a water heater? - Yes. But so is the 5 bucks I paid for a cup of coffee at Starbucks, but it was worth every penny to me or I wouldn't have gotten it. I hope she doesn't have the "dip tube" problem, but if she does, I hope the company who sold her the unit will stand behind it and take care of the problem.

I om the Heatermon

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Mike Kraft

Value is

in the eye of the beholder!Heatermon makes a great anology.Ultimately the decision is in the consumers hands.

It is unfortunate however that a "tradesman" would replace a H2O heater that wasnt leaking and had a problem with a dip tube.This is what turns trusting clients into interrigating ones.I had two replacements of recent.The one was a possible dip tube which I checked first.The water heater is electric and the teenage daughter is taking 30 minute showers:)More storage was needed.The second I quoted the client a price which he accepted.Upon getting to the home I saw the WH was not very old.I called and checked.The water heater was warrenteed..........so I credited him the WH.I dont do this for any reason other than its honest.Honest is what I want when I spend my money.

cheese

ScottMP

Mike

I think you misunderstood what he said. I Think he refered to the problems that we as an industry had with the dip tubes. I don't think he meant this Co. installed a defective water heater.

That being said, I agree with both of you. If the customer was satisfied with the job and it was done in a good time frame, then she recieved a fair value.

Scott

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Mike Kraft

Mr Scott

Yep I did misread.heres the beef...........



"What they did is replace the broken HWH with the new one and charged her $900 (these are 1995 dollars), no major repiping, just slip out old slip in new, solder a new elbow here and there and turn the gas back on. Not a big job. it was a 50 gal ao smith I believe...has that dip tube problem too."


I thought he was refering to the dip tube as the problem and the cure was a new WH.

Thanks Mr Scott............I think you should get the badge and send the Murphster packing.:)

cheese

jim_14

TO clarify, the NEW hot water heater has the dip tube problem ,but nobody is blaming the company that installed it, although it would have been nice for them to have called her and let her know about the problem rather than find out later after the recall settlement had expired..I believe the old HWH was leaking..

In any case, a couple of people (a retired plumber, a handyman) have said that was way over priced. $300 tops for the HWH , but 500 for labor?? Less than an hour and they dont even take the old HWH away..Like I said it was almost an exact replacement ,50gal for 50gal, same location, an easy job for a pro, I think they sent over a couple of kids (junior guys-no offense) to do it.

Another time they came to repair 2 holes in a section on copper that a carpet installer had nailed into. They soldered two 1/2 inch unions in one section in close proximity (it was a two foot section that dipped into the floor under a doorway) and charged $150 for the job (again 1995 dollars). Now Im sure she understands that $150 is alot for a quick fix up job ,but with overhead and such nobody comes out for less that $100 even if its for $2.oo in copper...

Steve Paul

Water heater pricing

Why do the professionals on this list even reply to such an inquiry? This guy has the gall to qoute second hand information from a handyman and a retired Plumber given to him from some irate customer with a severe case of the after the deal boo hoos. I imagine the esteemed experts that said the customer was ripped off could have done the job for a hell of a lot less than the legitimate contractor. After all they don't have to fool around with the piddly crap like overhead, licensing, insurances, permits, training, salaries,uniforms, telephone, advertising, taxes, accountants, lawyers, professional organisation dues, continuing education, (just stop me when you get the picture) and on and on. While $900.00 is a lot of money, it might be exactly the value of the job the contractor gave the customer. If she was quoted the job up front she could have said NO! But she didn't. When will we stop having to defend ourselves and devote our energies towards more productive areas like giving the customer full value for their dollar?

Mark Hunt

The guy


asked a simple question. I don't think it required gall.

I do understand your feelings about having to defend our pricing. It does get tiresome.

If other contractors post pricing, real or imagined, on this site folks are going to ask questions.

IMHO, this was a fair question and the others who replied handled it just fine.

Perhaps our industry needs to do a better job of explaining to our customers WHY our price is what it is.

Like you said, Insurance, fuel, lisences, permits, etc.. etc.. all contribute to what it costs to have a business. And they all go into what we HAVE to charge.

The sticking point would be what the customer considers OUR value to be. How much am I worth?

Regards!

Mark H

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[Deleted User]

its all about overhead

no two companies will or even should charge the same. if one company pays 15000 dollars a year in yellow page advertising and another doesn't, well who ultimatly pays this. one cannot say 900 bucks was a rippoff...cant say that...its not even close to a rip off. it may very well be what that company has to charge to recover costs...costs most people dont even think of..price a replacement truck engine latley? i worked for one company once who actually factored in an engine replacement every year to the overhead. you know what...he was usually right about that too. bottom line is noone, and i mean noone, can determine if that company overcharged because we are not privy to their tax returns.

Bill_14

Good call Dan !! (nm)

Bill NTSG

1995 vs. Now ?

Has anyones pay gone up all that much? I know mine hasn't. Now vs. 1965 and you may have a point but ..... I would not have charged $900 then or now. Maybe that is why I am broke , or not. The thing is it is buyer beware out there. I would recommend anyone that is purchasing something to get a second opinion and shop a little. Unless you have a contractor you trust and even then you have to know what you are buying. In this day of information overload it should not be that hard to shop.

jim_14

Well to shed more light on my neighbors tale, it wasnt like she was boo hoo crying after the fact. The fact was she was in the hospital battling cancer when the HWH broke and really didnt have a say in the matter, on top of that it was january or february when it broke (dont they all go in winter ). It was when she got around to sorting out bills and such that it sounded like a lot of money for the job. Also keep in mind this same neighbor as lived in her house for over 30 years and has had many professional jobs done as well as a few HWH's.

So naturally it came up once or twice ,its not like she dwelled on it. And they never bothered to call and tell her there was a dip tube problem. It took a few years of always having little white chips stuck in the showerhead and faucet areators before we figured it out, too late to have it replaced for free by the manufacturer after that class action suit settlement.

For the record, Im not in the business nor am I trying to feel out prices from the Pro's on the wall.

jim_14

After recieving a few postive emails from several of you guys on here (thanks!) Ive decided to go over to my neighbors home tomorrow and take a few pics of the $900 HWH and put them up on a new thread.

Since a pic speaks a thousand words, I will await your opinions..

rick in Alaska

Mark H.

Mark: I think you hit the nail on the head with what you said. We need to be educating the consumers about our cost of doing business instead of complaing about other contractors pricing. Most people don't mind paying for quality products and services when you show them why you have to charge what you are charging. I don't believe it's necessary to break down your price into specific dollar amounts, just show them what all is involved in how you arrived at your price: permi
ts,labor,material cost,etc.,etc..
Education is the key!!

joe_2

calm

down man,any body with an ounce of common sense knows 900 dollars is a rip off.you should be more frustrated with the contractors who are dishonest and give us a bad name.there are those contractors who are always taking advantage of the old lady down the street or the uniformed.true every consumer should get educated ,having said that his question was totally appropriate.

Online Sheriff \"Murph\"

PACKIN' CHEESE !!

> Yep I did misread.heres the

> beef...........

>

>

>

> "What they did is replace

> the broken HWH with the new one and charged her

> $900 (these are 1995 dollars), no major repiping,

> just slip out old slip in new, solder a new elbow

> here and there and turn the gas back on. Not a

> big job. it was a 50 gal ao smith I believe...has

> that dip tube problem too."

>

> I thought he was

> refering to the dip tube as the problem and the

> cure was a new WH.

>

> Thanks Mr

> Scott............I think you should get the badge

> and send the Murphster packing.:)

>

> cheese

Online Sheriff \"Murph\"

PACKIN' CHEESE !!

DID ANYONE ASK THE INSTALLER ??What did this job involve, did it need a flush on the system,was the gas piping up to code,did the flue meet all codes. these post are all made on ASSUMPTIONS. I do not know of another trade out there that is so fast to be bashing ones collegues as this one, but this here is a fine example !!! We simply need more evidence (not a couple of pics) before we hang someone, there is many variables to consider here like what area was this install made, is there other issues to this install that we are unaware of, sorry but a handy-man and retired plumber are barely enough experts to consider pricing issues here, no offence jim, but i cannot see what justification you are looking for !! as far as the one hour chop and swap, there is much more to it then that. Earl Shibe paints cars at $199 dollars ,whenever i ask local shops to match that price ,I get a blank kinda stare!!


sheriff (unbanding the wagon) murph'

jim_14

I understand your point, not every job is the same or cut and dry. Im not looking for any justification, just thought Id add on to previous thread on pricing water heaters.

I'll upload a few pics and you decide if it was reasonable, or out of hand.

I live next door and I remember it didnt take too long, seemed to be relatively easy (for those who have the skills to do so) and they were younger newer craftsman at the time.