So much for going down the plumbing route

[DodgyAgent]

Why a lot of local people work for a lot less money, I mean just above minimum salary? Why young solicitors get their time charged for £100-120 per hour, while they actually earn no more than that in a day? Where do the money go?

How is it possible that such profitable businesses (difference between main cost - humans and selling price) don't get high competition? In most competitive markets people fight over 2-5% margine points, yet here we can see situation with 80-90% margins, I mean FFS, what is it - gold mine or something?

Legal market is certainly not competitive - this is due to artificial laws that allow those who are in the game (partners of legal firms) to maintain their position unchallenged.

I don't know, perhaps there is something similar that helps plumbers get away with ridiculous rates.

Here is another example - couple of years ago shower heating thing broke and our landlord paid for it to be replaced (good side of renting), it was done and work took no more than 40 mins - I asked out of interest for cost to the landlord and the guy said it was £230, of which parts were £60 quid --- £170 profit for an hour of work? FFS!

As my friend Arthur would say:

"It's not the parts mate, its the labour"

You just cannot get your head round anything that does not fit simply into a little box of rules can you AtW? The lovely thing about communism is that everyone earns the same no matter what they do. Oh how simple life would be if only we could have that here (sooner )

[DodgyAgent]

My advice to you, AtW, is to retrain as a plumber and fill yer boots. You may as well be a part of the International Plumbers' Conspiracy rather than a victim of it.

I get my plumbing done for next to nothing as well, as my father-in-law is one.

Or alternatively get out, meet people, you never know you may make some friends who will like you (or more likely feel sorry for you) and do you some favours. Just tell them to load the gun first though

[The Master]

I can't afford to buy a Roller. The price is ridiculous. It's clearly because there is a conspiracy to maintain a monopoly over their supply. I mean Rollers were invented years ago. Surely anybody should be able to churn them out now for £2.50 a pop.

[Fungus]

Why a lot of local people work for a lot less money, I mean just above minimum salary? Why young solicitors get their time charged for £100-120 per hour, while they actually earn no more than that in a day? Where do the money go?

How is it possible that such profitable businesses (difference between main cost - humans and selling price) don't get high competition? In most competitive markets people fight over 2-5% margine points, yet here we can see situation with 80-90% margins, I mean FFS, what is it - gold mine or something?

Legal market is certainly not competitive - this is due to artificial laws that allow those who are in the game (partners of legal firms) to maintain their position unchallenged.

I don't know, perhaps there is something similar that helps plumbers get away with ridiculous rates.

Here is another example - couple of years ago shower heating thing broke and our landlord paid for it to be replaced (good side of renting), it was done and work took no more than 40 mins - I asked out of interest for cost to the landlord and the guy said it was £230, of which parts were £60 quid --- £170 profit for an hour of work? FFS!

ATW: Your mate did get three quotes didn't he? Quite often a workman with lots of work, and no real need to do a job will quote over the odds. As he doesn't need the work, he can afford to try it on and make a packet if the sucker - sorry, prospective client - accepts the silly offer. From my experience of plumbers etc your mate was ripped off.

Regarding Poles, just cos someones distant relative flew a Spitfore doesn't mean we owe them a job. Luton is crawling with Poles and I'm getting sick of seeing them all over the bleedin' shop. There's such a thing as having too much of a not particularly good thing.

Yes the legal market is rigged to maintain high fees. I hired several solicitors when my mother died, one to handle the estate and one to handle a legal dispute when the sods next door tried to bully me into giving them some land: "you won't be able to sell your late mother's house while a dispute is on so you'd better give us some land". Some people are gits. The solicitors charged about £200 per hour. I was completely gobsmacked that someone could charge so much for what was mostly straightforward work, though well worth having an independent person handle the accounts and hence put me above suspicion from my grasping half brother and half sister (that's two people, not one).

Fungus

[DodgyAgent]

ATW:

Regarding Poles, just cos someones distant relative flew a Spitfore doesn't mean we owe them a job. Luton is crawling with Poles and I'm getting sick of seeing them all over the bleedin' shop. There's such a thing as having too much of a not particularly good thing.


Fungus

And their dress sense is so appalling. (Or am I mistaking them for contractors?

[The Master]

And their dress sense is so appalling. (Or am I mistaking them for contractors?

Hey, there's nowt wrong a shiny C&A suit.

[AtW]

The lovely thing about communism is that everyone earns the same no matter what they do.

This is yet another of your wrong opinion on many matters, particularly about what USSR was. Unlike you I actually lived there and know what was the score.

Pay was not equal among all people, however it was equal within given level in a given industry - no different to grade based pay commonly used in companies here in the UK - any big company has grades with min/max salary for given grade.

Specifically in the USSR they paid well scientists - the better the qualifications the higher the pay, unlike here USSR had 3 more levels on top of normal PhD - all with increased pays. Anybody who was one level higher than normal PhD would make the kind of money no plumber dreamed of. This encouraged people to study and learn, despite opressive system scientific research was actually at a very high level.

Now lets look what's here - plumbers make sh1tload of money while teachers, nurses are like 2nd class citizens. What's good in that? Is it what makes you proud about UK? The fact that local monopolist - plumber - can make as much as he wants?

[DodgyAgent]

This is yet another of your wrong opinion on many matters, particularly about what USSR was. Unlike you I actually lived there and know what was the score.

Pay was not equal among all people, however it was equal within given level in a given industry - no different to grade based pay commonly used in companies here in the UK - any big company has grades with min/max salary for given grade.

Specifically in the USSR they paid well scientists - the better the qualifications the higher the pay, unlike here USSR had 3 more levels on top of normal PhD - all with increased pays. Anybody who was one level higher than normal PhD would make the kind of money no plumber dreamed of. This encouraged people to study and learn, despite opressive system scientific research was actually at a very high level.

Now lets look what's here - plumbers make sh1tload of money while teachers, nurses are like 2nd class citizens. What's good in that? Is it what makes you proud about UK? The fact that local monopolist - plumber - can make as much as he wants?

I am with you, the sooner we adopt the wonderful egalitarian system of the USSR the better. I also think that scientists who build nuclear bombs are very important to society.

[AtW]

I am with you, the sooner we adopt the wonderful egalitarian system of the USSR the better.

This system of pay is adopted in this country's Civil Service as well as any big company - they all have "grades" of pay, thus effectively using the same mechanism as in USSR.

The difference is that here it is plumbers who will drive flashy Merc, not PhD who works on cancer research - this is not something to be proud of.

[OrangeHopper]

Economies of scale.

Building trade recession.