Australia Day Part Two

After my exhilarating walk in the morning I took Lib breakfast in bed. She asked who was I talking to on the phone earlier. "Nobody, I was out walking though, it may have been the answering machine you heard."
I checked the machine and sure enough a plumber had rang to suggest he came that morning to install a new gas cooktop we'd bought on December 1, and which had been sitting since then in our hall still in its cardboard box, along with an electric oven and rangehood. We'd bought these items at Clive Peeters in Dandenong and paid $408* up front for installation by contracting tradesmen. Allowing two weeks wait on the list we were told they would be installed before Christmas. It didn't happen. When I followed up with Clive Peeters they told me the tradies were busy putting in air conditioning because of the hot weather and our job would be done between Xmas and New Year. It didn't happen. We were then given a firm date, Jan 9. They didn't show. I asked for my for my installation money to be returned and the cheque came last Friday Jan 25.

*($408 was the base price I was told, the tradesmen on the day would want another $50 cash for going all the way to Gembrook and more cash if there was any complication in our particular job. This I could understand)

In the meantime I'd found an electrician from Emerald and a gas fitter plumber from Silvan who said they would be happy to install the items in the next week or so. I was pleased the plumber had rang, even though it was Saturday and I'd planned other things, so I rang him back and said "Good on you mate". He was in our kitchen within an hour.
He was a pleasant fellow. Said he thought he'd get this job out of the way before driving down to Lorne to join his wife and kids who were there on holiday. He was packing up two and half hours later when I asked him how much I owed him. He said he hadn't worked it out yet and took his bucket of tools out to his van. I told him I'd got my money back from Clive Peeters and had made sure I had cash at home, knowing he and the electrician were coming soon.
I don't know what it was he had to work out as he gave me no invoice stating labour or parts but he said when handing me the compliance certificate that the charge for today was $260. I don't think he heard me suck my breath in through clenched teeth as I counted out 5x$50 notes and a $10. It was a lot more than the $140 that Clive Peeters had allowed for the cooktop component of the installation but the plumber had explained he had to move the regulator to the next cupboard as the regulations had changed. Frankly I was relieved to have at least one part of the job done and didn't want to think further about the high price. I gave him a jar of honey and a bottle of cold cordial to take with him.
Last night in the bath I rang an old football team mate, a plumber in Wangaratta, and we magged away about life in general. I ran through the drama I'd had over the kitchen appliances including the Australia Day cook top job. My mate said $260 was a days work for him, he'd have charged $100, the going rate in Wang., if it was a straight forward changeover. I explained the regulator had to be moved and he said "So what? That takes 5 minutes. You were ripped off Gunna." All the old footy people know me as Gunna.
This agitated me, getting ripped off that is, so when I hopped out of the bath I rang the plumber and said I wasn't happy with the job- I was overcharged, I want $100 back. The remainder of the conversation became heated and he jabbered on about the plumbers association. "Stick the plumbers association", I said, "I want $100 back." He rang me back later to say he'd have me blackballed so no plumber would come near me in future.
I don't like my chances that the $100 will come, although I did tell him I knew where he lived. At least I can say I got ripped off on Australia Day.