One of the more common questions clients ask us over the phone at Whywait Plumbing is “what’s your hourly rate for plumbers?”
Hourly rates are utterly subjective to the point of being meaningless. Unfortunately, the majority of Gold Coast plumbers focus on hourly rates for pricing rather than the cost of the job in its entirety because they are frequently not competent enough to calculate out the value of the job in advance.
Hourly rates were abandoned as a method of pricing by most industries over 20 years ago. Ultimately all a client cares about is the total price of having a plumbing job undertaken not the component prices of which labour is only a proportion of the cost of undertaking the job.
Using hourly rates for plumbers as a comparison tool is meaningless as clients do not want the price to vary. It’s an unfortunate fact that too many Gold Coast plumbers use ridiculously low hourly rates for plumbers as a means of getting you to invite them into your home to do the job. Invariably this leads to bill shock as it’s akin to turning on a taxi meter except you had no idea when it was turned on and when it will be turned off.
There is nothing worse than the stress and aggravation of getting a more massive than expected bill once a job is completed. That is why, in reality, there is no such thing as a free plumbing quote.
At Whywait Plumbing, we have guaranteed upfront pricing. This means every job is priced in advance and approved by you before we commence work after an on-site diagnostic evaluation of the work required.
Imagine the confusion and shock if every business had to charge for their service by the hour that their clients pay for every day without a second thought. Imagine if you to pay hourly rates for a cup of coffee or a haircut.
Using a coffee purchased from Zarraffa’s as an example lets calculate their hourly rate for you to buy a Masai size (20oz) Americano coffee:
| Time in seconds to make an Americano | 60 |
| How much does an Americano coffee cost | $5.45 |
| Size of an Americano | 20oz |
| cost of coffee beans, water and cup for Americano | $0.93 |
| Hourly Rate for making a Zarraffa’s Americano Coffee | $322.35 |
Now let us calculate the value of a haircut at Toni&Guy where you would have a cut and blow dry at their Broadbeach salon from a stylist:
| Time in minutes for a cut and blow dry | 15 |
| How much does a cut and blow dry by a stylist cost | $89.00 |
| Total material costs for gel, shampoo, water etc. at retail price levels | $2.50 |
| Hourly Rate for a Cut and Blow Dry at Toni&Guy | $346.00 |
As can be seen by the examples of hourly rates above for the cost of labour, they are a meaningless component of the overall price of providing a business service.
As a bonus when you call us at Whywait Plumbing, we come to your home or business with service available 24/7. In contrast, if you have to go to a Zarraffa’s coffee shop to purchase your coffee or to Toni&Guy’s salon in Broadbeach to get a cut and blow dry you can only go at times they choose to be open.
Ultimately the only cost you should ever focus on when getting plumbing services is the total price, not an hourly rate for plumbers.
