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Just had a plumber quote me $450 for a 15 minute job | Local Services - Free To Speak

Just had a plumber quote me $450 for a 15 minute job

Called a local guy last Thursday for a clogged kitchen sink. He came out, snaked it for maybe 15 minutes, and handed me a bill for $450. I asked why it was so much and he just shrugged and said 'that's the service call rate plus materials.' Should have asked for the price upfront before he started. Has anyone else dealt with plumbers who don't give you a number first?

3 comments

3 Comments

gibson.morgan2mo ago

You said "the guy still has to drive to your place" but don't plumbers build that into their normal rates already... So are we paying double for the drive time plus a higher hourly rate because they know we're in a bind? Seems like the whole pricing model lets them get paid for travel twice.

jamie_webb672mo ago

Yeah, you're right that he should have told you a price upfront. But I gotta push back a little on the '15 minute job' thing. In my experience, that 15 minutes of snaking is just what you see. The guy still has to drive to your place, deal with traffic, haul his equipment in, and then the time it takes to get the snake down there and back. Plus he's got overhead for his truck, insurance, and that snake machine ain't cheap to maintain. I've had a plumber quote me $300 for a clog that took him maybe 10 minutes, but the drive from his shop to my house was 45 minutes each way. So it's not really a 15 minute job when you look at the whole picture. Take it with a grain of salt though, I'm just a homeowner who's been burned a few times too.

the_sam2mo ago

Nah, I gotta push back on this a little... $450 for a snake is wild even with drive time and overhead. I get that he's got expenses and a long drive, but that's still like $90 for the snake work and $360 for the privilege of him showing up. If I order a pizza for delivery, they don't charge me $300 for the driver's gas and insurance. Plumbers know people are desperate when their sink is clogged and they take advantage of it... feels like that guy saw you coming.