This sequence of 3 letters was prompted by my first encounter
with tradesmen’s fees in my first basement flat.
The faded tissue-paper carbon copies of the correspondence
were at the back of a very old file.
… And the hourly rate mentioned has its own tale to tell…
Dear Mr Xxxxxx,
I have received your account dated October 31st, 1979, relating to work carried out at the above premises on October 16th, 1979, and feel sure that there must be some simple explanation for the extraordinarily high figure it contains.
The work took less than two hours to do, and even allowing for labour costs as high as £5.00 per hour, it would be hard to imagine how a basic figure as excessive as £20.00 could be arrived at. Perhaps there was a typing error and the figure was intended to be £10.00 – still considerable, but rather more reasonable as a price.
I look forward to having clarification from you about this, and thank you in anticipation.
Yours faithfully, ………… Continue reading
Rosie McAndrew - Writing 