My kitchen sink had a drain issue, the plumbers we know were busy so I called another one and he came quickly.

The whole process took around 30~40 min, and in the end the plumber said the price is 776Fr, which surprised me. I'd done this before and the price is usually between 150~250Fr, and sometimes it took longer (e.g. 90~120min) than this time.

What's the regular price of unclogging a kitchen sink in Switzerland?

Depends, was it during the weekend? Did he come from far and charged you for that? Did you ask for a price beforehand?

Thats really a terrible price for the work. I wish swiss tradespeople wouldnt do this, it gives them a bad name. does the bill have a breakdown of costs ?

Maybe a stupid question, but have you tried a pipe cleaner such as Rorax?

Depends on the circumstances:
-was it an emergency? (you really couldn't wait)
-does the fee include a callout rate?
-are they charging additional fees for the journey, use of the van, and spare parts used during the work
-is there a supplemental charge if it was also during evenings/weekends on top of the above (in other words if it's not an emergency, don't get charged for emergency rates)
-are they charging a particularly high hourly rate?

All should be detailed on the invoice.

In conclusion if you asked for an emergency unclogging of a kitchen sink rate comparison, then that's not really comparable to a "regular" unclogging where waiting was an option.

(As posted, you chose not to wait for your regular plumber to become available).

I see you re in SZ...

Was a 'same day call out' fee charged? This is becoming more common around here.

The same day fee is usually beween CHF 100-200, though, which still makes your charges high.

Also, if the guy wasn't local, or ended up traveling to you from a job farther away, there could be high mileage charges.

So do ask for a detailed bill.

Probably not much you can do about it after the fact, though, other than to make sure you do not use this guy again.


A plunger, plumber's snake, and if the first two fail then Rorax can work wonders. On both clogged pipes and bank accounts.

Always always always always always ask how much things will cost (and ask if it will cost to ask how much it will cost) otherwise they will try to charge you whatever they like. One guy I had come said "you called us - we can charge you whatever we want" as he hid his list of prices from me.



You can, and probably should, dispute the high charge as not being in any way commensurate with the work done or time spent. I usually have to do this every couple of years when the chimney sweep comes. I also now video all work done and refuse to sign any documents.

Also consider leaving negative feedback on google reviews or similar.

Our chimney sweep charged us f28.90 for about 15 minutes work this year, including a little vacuuming.

We don’t use the chimney but they still need to check it, ECA (insurance) requires it.

Surely you have a full breakdown on the invoice and therefore know why it is this amount?

One hour work (assuming rounding up)
Maybe call out charge
Maybe travel charge
Maybe double it all for Sunday

I called a local plumber at Lachen SZ but then the plumber told me he's from a different company (Lacomech AG, 8048 Zurich) in Zurich. He said he's around so his company sent him here to help.

Before calling plumber I tried everything I could: soda powder + vinegar, druckpumpe, I also tried my "Spirale" but mine is only 3 meter long and it didn't work. I also tried (almost a bottle of) Rorax yesterday and waited it overnight before the efforts above.

The breakdown is attached and listed below

Einsatzpauschale inkl 1 Stunde jede weitere Stunde 145Fr
An- und Abfahrt 40Fr
Fahrzeugkostenpauschale 20Fr
Betriebskostenpauschale 40Fr
Fräsmaschineneinsatz 50Fr
Spirale je Meter 27Fr x 8 = 216Fr
Abfluss - Rohrfrei (1L Flasche) 100Fr
Hochdruckpumpe 75Fr

Totally 777.1Fr

It was done at 1pm this afternoon, in the invoice it mentioned there will be 50% surcharge between 6am-8am, 4pm-10pm, and 100% between (10pm -6am). My 777Fr at 1pm invoice doesn't contain those surcharge.

Attached Images

Screenshot 2020-10-30 at 19.55.55.jpg (61.6 KB, 44 views)

I'm not a plumber, but I can't understand why you're being charged for tools like "spirale" and "hockdruckpumpe" (or did they replace a pump somewhere)

And 100 CHF for a bottle of drain cleaner is outrageous, in a DIY store it's 10 CHF.

A bottle of Rohrfrei 100chf

Plus VAT !!! 108 CHF for a bottle of cleaner.

Even the 220 CHF + VAT for the first hour is high when they also charge travel, I've only even paid a higher first hour OR travel.

I assume you now at least have a nice 8m Spirale and Hockdruckpumpe for next time (since you paid for it) ??

Those items should be included in the per-hour costing and not as an extra.

Who the hell does the plumber think he is?

Yes, but the one in the DIY store is not the special Schweizer qualität one which is well worth 100 CHF a litre.

I assume his taps are now gold plated - you can buy a bottle of that for about the same amount:

https://www.goldplating.com/products...ating-solution

(although a litre costs even more than this plumber )

No, the plumber didn't leave anything to me.

This is the one that I called
Sanitär Lachen (https://sanitar24h.ch), 5 Stars on Google Maps, plus that I live in the same town

The plumber said he's from this company (in Zurich 8848)
Lachmech AG (https://lacomech.ch/)

Not sure how they are connected.

Nope, it is a special high power machine they use to blast push the blocked debris. And they definitely do not give it to you- expensive equipement they somehow want to make pay for itself. As for the chemical- obviously the normal stuff at 10 chuffs didn't work- so they used something a bit more potent. Not excusing the cost - but ... this is Switzerland. But this is when having a good working relationship with the local plumber truly pays dividends. Even if very busy, they will somehow find the time and charge minimum amount for personal service.

It seems that Lacomech is the main company
https://sanitar24h.ch/impressum

Seems like a total rip off to me..

As a bit context .. I was changing a shower mixer tap and I broke the pipe joint.. It was a Sunday afternoon, the water was turned off at the mains and I couldn't turn it on again or the water would flood out of the broken joint. I called a plumber who came from Geneva to Vaud in just over an hour. He temporary made good the broken part to let us use the water again .. He came back next morning and fixed it properly ..

Total bill was 320.-