Trade Prices

The current situation with online suppliers is causing the industry a problem in my opinion, the problem is that the public can purchase, boilers, fittings, heating controls etc at the same price as the installer, this is not right

Plumbers, electricians bricklayers etc are all in business to make a profit, how is this possible with this current situation with online suppliers, it prevents me from making money and providing the service I like to give, let me explain, if I buy a boiler, I will put a markup on the price to the customer, this is not just to give my business profit, it is also to allow for the inevitable call backs, where the end user has messed around with the boiler controls (Although they always swear they never touched it), also if there is a problem with the boiler, which is covered under the warranty, I will try and sort it and if need be, make arrangements for the manufacturer to send an engineer, this is all provided free of charge using the profit made on the boiler to cover my time, if however the customer wants the boiler at the price they have found on the internet, or they have supplied the boiler themselves, as they feel my price for the boiler is too high, I can not then provide the service I normally would had I supplied the boiler, if the customer messes around with the controls and I have to go out to sort them, this will be chargeable, if there is a warranty issue with the boiler, if the customer supplied their own boiler, they will have to deal with it themselves, contacting the supplier or the manufacturer and arranging an engineers visit, this is not great customer service in my opinion, but we can't be expected to work for free, sometimes progress does not always improve things, we should go back to how things were, retail price for public and trade prices for trade customers.