Thursday 16 May 2013

Corals justification for stupid electrical installation charges


I've mentioned the light installation issue before, but having raised the question with Coral and received their answer, I'm going to comment on this again, and then get shot of the issue, its just not worth the time it will waste fighting it!

The background is this, when initially quoted the electrical system was pretty basic and there was an understanding that during the Clipsal meeting we would detail it and select the actual fittings etc that we wanted to use. between the quotation and Clipspec meeting I actually did some research and found some energy efficient lighting.

At the clipspec meeting it was found that the specified lighting was basic baton fittings supplied and installed at $52 each, however, if I supply lighting it would cost $68 per fitting for their electrician to install....

So, I've questioned how can it cost more to install a light I supply than for them to supply and install a light.

Basically the answer boiled down to these three points...

  • Electricians know what they are doing with baton fittings, and customer supplied fittings are an unknown quantity.
  • they have to locate the fittings.
  • they have to drill holes for recessed fittings.
Now, I can sympathize a little with the fact that as a customer I could select any stupidly fiddly light fitting and it could be strange and the electrician would need to take a little time to work out what to do with it, I could also select a completely different fitting with a completely different set of complications for each and every fitting... but I didn't every light fitting I'm supplying is the same make and model from a reputable local supplier with simple connections, and frankly a domestic electrician working today probably installs many more recessed ceiling lights than they do baton light fittings.

As for the rest of the justification then I call BS, the charges are independent of number or style of fitting, and surely an electrician would have to locate a baton light fitting, and is using a hole saw really that hard?, when it comes to hole sawing a hole in a ceiling or screw fitting a baton fitting and then making a hole for wires I know what Id prefer to do!

So there you go, BS reasons for BS charges, the only good thing I can say about the process is the light fittings I'm using cost $42 each and including their $68 charge that comes to $110 per light, which is cheaper than the $160 odd that they would have charged if I used their fittings!

I strongly recommend that anyone reading this give consideration to using their own electricians from the outset, for my wife and myself this project is very much a learning exercise, and we have already made some considerable savings by deciding from the outset to have work done by third parties, but next time (if there is one) I'm sure we will be using a lot more third party contractors!

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