Installation Price Gouging

14 years ago

Has anyone come across these people who are factory trained and certified appliance installers? I have found with the new Viking DW I can get an additional 2 year warranty so I feel obligated to do it. This may or may not go along with the SZ refrigerator. My issue is their pricing to do the work. They know they are a rare breed with little or no competition. Having them also put on the panels is expensive as well. Oh well I guess it's just part of the reno. We are near the end at this point.

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Comments (5)

User
14 years ago
What is your issue, that they charge more than you feel is warranted to do whatever particular task they are going to do -

or that the "certified" guys are charging double or triple the price a non-certified installer would to do the same work?
mississippirose
Original Author
14 years ago
"Certified" guys apparently know they are few and far between and charging a premium for their services. These guys are "trained" to install appliances and they certainly use this certification to their advantage. Let's just say they make a really good living.
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Yeah, definitely an old discussion. I think it pretty much got torn to shreds by the rather eloquent opposition. But the real question is: how much markup is acceptable, and when should one attempt to bargain with one's mechanic for a slightly lower price when the parts are known to be more than 100% marked up? Of course, the immediate answer to the bargaining question (as discussed above) is to simply find another mechanic who will charge a total amount which is acceptable. However, what if I have come to appreciate a particular mechanic / business to a point where I want to do business with said mech/business as opposed to supporting their competitors? In other words - let's say I am quoted $300 for parts plus $145 for labor (about 1.5 hrs) for a repair. I do the research, and find that a typical supplier will charge $100 for the parts. If I pay the quoted price, the business gets $445 for the ---- In defense of the repair industry: I am a skilled PC (computer) technician, and have worked as such before - both employed and freelance. I, too, had to deal with the issue of mark-up. Doing freelance work, I felt bad about marking-up goods that I did nothing but diagnose the need for and order. As such, I did some research on what is fair in terms of mark-up. The conclusion I reached in the end was that 100% mark-up is typical and thus, fair. Ergo, I would judge that markup in excess of 110% is "gouging" unless some manner of extra effort was required to obtain the parts. However, for a business to be efficient, the employees don't have time to shop around. Therefore, they will most likely use their standard parts dealer, at whatever cost the dealer quotes (they don't care - the customer pays for it). So the only way to really know if mark-up is exceeding a fair amount is to contact the dealer yourself (perhaps under the guise of an employee of the shop you're a patron of ;) ). So, don't expect that your shop always gets parts at the lowest price themselves - they can get gouged as well. --- And to Dr. Farrell, I enjoyed your humorous anecdote about offering independent business to the mechanics. I know _I_ would much rather give my money directly to these people than to give the shop say, $65 an hour just to have the shop pay the mech $8 an hour - I've been on both sides of this situation before. On the other hand, don't get all high-and-mighty because you can put "Dr." in front of your name - even sodas can do that. Agreeably, I doubt pharmacists really work all that hard. However,lawyers DO do a lot of hard work, and are doctors as well - most of them just don't get such big heads about it that they have to _title_ themselves. Furthermore, intelligence isn't measured my how much schooling one has managed to progress through - the mere cost of schooling, for one, has seen to that. That being said, there are some of us who work in certain lower-paying fields because we are, for the time being, happier here. There is a big difference between enjoying one's work and simply enjoying one's paycheck. Which is one reason which we will always have plumbers, mechanics, et al. - I, for one, fully support doing one's own work - when such action is an option, of course - but we can't each do ALL the work which could be done by others. Sure, I can learn how to fix parts in my own vehicle, or I can pay somebody else to do it for me; but paying for it doesn't make me less intelligent. In fact, this do-it-yourself fallacy of logic quickly spirals out of control. Did you mine, refine, form, etc. your own glass, metals, and plastics to use as raw materials for your truck? Did you create each part yourself from these materials, then assemble them into a functioning vehicle, etc., etc.? In our all-too-short lives, we have to pick and choose our battles. For you, education and minor vehicle part replacement seem to be central to your enjoyment of life; but we all find value in different things, sirrah. By the way, what does a physician need a utility truck for? I can only assume it's for "squander[ing] away [your] earnings" as mentioned earlier in the case of the half-hearted mechanic. The enlightened find drinking more rewarding than trying to out-do their neighbors in a worldly possessions contest. (Hey, I can make uneducated assumptions and generalize too, can't I?) Knowledge does not grant education Education does not grant intelligence Intelligence does not grant wisdom
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User
14 years ago
You didn't really answer the question and/or didn't pay attention in freshman economics.

More skillful workers command more money. This is the entire reason for certification , licencesure, cont. ed, and education in the first place. If anybody could do it - they would.

Less competition equals higher prices.

You have cheerfully paid more for a "better" dishwasher and fridge when there are plenty of models from companies that don't gouge their customers like Viking and SZero do , so why the issue for a service professional that is commensurate with the materials you bought?

I'll be willing to bet non of the certified guys in your area are making a really good living this year or last - the volume just isn't there. I also think you are not accounting for all the overhead that goes into running a service company. A tech that is charging you $100 an hour is not taking home 200 grand a year, if he's really savy he might do a quarter of that.

Besides, what's wrong with your appliance tech, tile setter, contractor, plumber making a really good living? If they are trained, seasoned, polite, and do a good job why are they any different than any other professional? You don't begrudge your doctor, accountant, lawyer, or computer programmer a beach vacation or a BMW do you?
cali_wendy
14 years ago
We got a bid for $1000 to install the following:

SubZero 36'' integrated refrigerator/freezer
GE Monogram oven
GE Monogram Advantium
Dacor cooktop
Dacor downdraft
Miele integrated dishwasher

This bid didn't include the duct work for the remote blower for the downdraft or the installation of the cabinetry panels.

We thought it was a bit steep and decided to give it a try on our own just to see if we could do it. I use the term "we" loosely...I mean my husband. :)

Hubby and our neighbor got the refrigerator installed. It was tricky getting the feet adjusted into the right position because they were a little stuck in the beginning, but they managed.

Hubby installed the Advantium on his own.

I helped Hubby install the oven. The electrician made sure he had the correct wiring.

Hubby installed the cooktop and downdraft. The electrician did the wiring and the plumber hooked up the gas line. He got help from the electrician on installing the remote blower on the outside of the house because the electrician had a tool that would do the big bolts through stucco. The electrician was excited to get to use his new "toy."

We had our HVAC guy do the ducting for the remote blower.

Our plumber installed the dishwasher when he was hooking it up...he preferred it this way.

The cabinet guy (we had custom cabinetry) did the installation of all of the appliance panels.

So, we did lose out on the extra year warranty for the Miele, but we saved $1000.

Let me add that my husband is not the most handy guy in the world. He read the installation instructions and checked with the electrician on a few things.

It actually helped that he was hands on in the installation because he caught a mistake with the cabinetry for the cooktop and oven that was fixable before our cabinets were finished.

We have no problem paying for quality work. Trust me, we spent plenty. Frankly, our budget was tight and so we tried to do the appliances on our own. Just wanted to let you know that depending on your "team" (i.e. electrician, plumber, GC if applicable, cabinet person), you may be able to do some or all of the installation on your own.

Of course, you need to decide if you think the warranty is worth it or not.

Hope this info helps. Good luck! :)
lip2000
14 years ago
The only reason not to install stuff yourself outside of warranty considerations(you can often get a warranty addition of 5 years for all the appliances for less money than what you were quoted for the installation) would be if you cannot lift some of the items and have no one to help you.
The delivery people will usually move the appliances into position and make basic adjustments.

I installed my dishwasher(re-wired, plumbing and custom panel), oven(built in), over range MW. I'm far from handy. This is the reason they have instruction manuals. I don't begrudge people making a good living but charging a hundred dollars to install a dishwasher is crazy when that 100 dollars does not include any plumbing work or electrical work or a custom panel...

LIP2000

Installation Price Gouging

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mississippirose
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Installation Price Gouging

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mississippiroseOriginal Author

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mississippirose
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