You get a call…Emergency!
You pick up your tools, make apologies to the customer who’s job you are on, and drive fifteen minutes to the emergency.
The place is locked up. (you would think they would be waiting) You call the shop for a number, call the customer, and they tell you, “Oh, never mind. We figured it out and we don’t need you now.”
Do you bill them?
If it is a regular customer?
My answer is that they get the minimum one hour charge. Unless it took me away from my other job for more than that. Then for the time I was away.
If you haven’t drawn blood today, you haven’t done anything.
Replies
agreed ... but I have a minimum 4 hrs.
used to be 3 ... but realized just starting the truck and driving somewhere wastes half a day ... so full 4 it is.
then again ... I don't do plumbing or roofing ... so I pretty much don't have "emergencies" ...
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
You bill them double, to cover the old lady you didn't bill.
LOL
I do a two hour minimum charge
and on this one, it would be worth it - take that long for me to re-balance after I got back to the job
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
Depends on the particulars of the situation.
If this is a regular customer and someone you consider a friend I wouldn't bill this time, assuming you didn't tune them in as to cost, but I would make sure to tell them, and from now on anyone calling in an emergency, that emergency calls will be billed at a higher rate, may include a service fee, and also include travel time one way. You might consider this a learning experience for both sides.
With this understanding laid out up front they can then evaluate the situation and decide if it really is enough of an emergency to justify your pulling off a job and their paying extra for you immediate attention. Often a customer, looking at a substantial bill, will decide that the situation is not critical and the service call can be scheduled in the normal manner.
Getting the terms and cost clearly laid out avoids a lot of trouble. Conflicts on billing and expectations, IMHO, are almost always centered around a failure to communicate effectively and define terms in a meaningful way. Too often I hear people talking past each other because neither party defines their terms.
Yes, Because a regular customer, one that I liked, would have the decency to phone my cell. If they don't they get charged.
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People are entitled to their own opinions; People are not entitled to their own truth.
Jacob
As for the first Do I bill them I would say "NO" to a service call handled in the course of a day---
But I have to agree with Piffen--If they call and you answer with a travel over then time spent in transit, and regrouping to finish your day is justly billed.
Had a call last winter--HO were having a floor put in their bath--installer shows they day before the job starts to stock mat.etc and tells them the sub floor is unacceptable--
His schedule is not open for 6 weeks and if they can have it fixed by morning then all is well--
So I get home on a snowy night around 6 and get a call from her--totally freaking out cause she want a floor and her hubby is making a bigger mess than what he started with---I asked her if she was sure her hubby couldn't handle it? Yes and was insistant that I consider helping her (and him) Set my rate right there and then--She agreed--told her to take the tools away from him and I'll be there in 45 min. They got their subfloor--she got her new bath floor and I got my rate---
the lesson I learned from this good experience is set the board right before you start the van.
the lesson I learned from walking away without a paycheck is a warm heart and "What goes around, comes around"
Mike
" I reject your reality and substitute my own"
Adam Savage---Mythbusters
Let us know their reaction and if they do pay you.
I think most people would give you a hard time if they didnt know you were charging them upfront. Some people really are clueless (on purpose).
Appliance guys get $100 for a 10 min house call even when all they do is look at the problem and dont physically do anything other than drive to the job. Go figure...that they understand but carps?
Wheres Lykos when you need him?
Be Free estimates
andy
The secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!
When we meet, we say, Namaste'..it means..
Yes. Just because they are a regular customer does not imply you should work for free. If it was only 2 hours out of your day-- charge that rather than the 4 hour minimum.
You serviced their needs and there is no way on earth you should be out of pocket because of it.
With a 20 percent profit margin... how long will it take to make up for the time you lost?
L
GardenStructure.com~Build for the Art of it!
They get billed for a three hour minimum service calls. If it's outside of normal working hours, rates are higher (time & ½ or 2x).
There are occasions where it's difficult to charge that--you get there and the job takes 5 miutes--but for someone to call in an emergency and then disappear without even calling back is inexcusable and such behaviour should be discouraged in the future. Best discouragement I know of is a swift kick in the wallet....
Dinosaur
A day may come when the courage of men fails,when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship...
But it is not this day.
There is also a middle ground between having the lady pay for pushing in a button and getting a service charge and having the person your working for pay you for unbillable time.
I have worked a bit of service and the usual is a one hour charge to cover the first half hour or one way trip time and service call with a total minimum of one hour. About the same either way.
Once your there your theirs for the time allocated in the minimum charge. One service that is handy to keep in mind in inspections and preventative maintenance.
Easiest of these is the panel inspection. Drop the panel cover, take voltage drop readings inspect the connections, feel for hot spots and tighten all the lugs. Anything that looks questionable gets relanded. All the breakers get exercised. Usually takes half an hour and it provides a useful and valuable service to the customer. One that can increase the safety and reliability of the breakers and the panel.
Another possible course is the walk around inspection. Look for damaged or loose receptacles, sagging switches and cracked or broken plates. Replace as needed. GFIs older than a decade or so, even if still functional, are often due for replacement but the material costs have to be agreed to.
Overloaded receptacles can often be remedied by cutting in a box a foot or so away and adding a receptacle. This is something that can be done inside a half hour if your help is on the ball.
You likely wont be able to do much more than replace a few plated and a couple of devices. Any non-critical problems that can't be corrected in the allotted time can be put onto a list and a service call scheduled for the slower part of the year. More critical repairs and tweaks can be scheduled for later in the week. As time permits.
I have never had a customer who wasn't interested in having such services performed to fill out the time they were committed to. Most seem overjoyed to have someone looking out for them and interested in their getting value for their money. In my experience treating the house as a whole and suggesting needed repairs, 'I noticed quite a few of the receptacles seem pretty loose would you like to schedule a service call so we can replace them?', tends to cement relationships between the contractor and the customer. The boss usually likes such selling when it is both justified and workable in the schedule.
Some of this depends on the sort of day your in. If you have twenty hours of work scheduled for the day backing out quickly and not billing may be the best thing to do. You build loyalty and it only costs the company fifteen minutes or so. Spending the half or whole hour to fill the minimum billing requirement serves to make the day longer without adding much to the bottom line. Particularly if the other jobs are higher profile and time sensitive.
On slow days consider filling the minimum time with value added tasks that way both the customer and the boss end the day happy.
This particular situation happened to me yesterday. The emergency call. I called the shop to tell them what had happened, and the shop foreman said, "Yeah, their getting a bill." Will it get paid? I expect it will. We do most of the service work in the shopping center that it is in. If it doesn't get paid, the amount will somehow get added to another job for that customer...like charging them full retail for a part that we would normally only mark up 15 percent. The boss has been in business for 27 years and we are one of the largest shops in Omaha. He knows what he is doing.
As for the hour minimum...We have one old lady who has us change her light bulbs in her living room cans every year just before Christmas whether they are burned out or not. It takes fifteen minutes. She knows the drill and has other stuff for the electrician to do...move boxes, hang pictures, move furniture. Most customers wouldn't get such latitude, but she does; long time customer.If you haven't drawn blood today, you haven't done anything.
Yours was the best post so far 4lorn1!
Thanks for some advice that will really build customer loyalty!
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