Efficiency of troubleshooting

[ritelec]

I can't tell. Do you get that we will not be charging the customer a full charge, but that I am asking how you do handle it? We are thinking of setting a 45 minute limit on intitial troubleshooting and then a call to the office where we can evaluate further efforts, and inform the customer of the possible impact.

Yeah..........I got it...........(and it looks like it's cramping you up a bit, which I understand).

How do I handle it? I stay away from that kind of work.

(or, through word of mouth, if someone who knows someone has a problem, I'll check it out and with some skill and luck find the problem relatively quick)

Good Luck.

 

[renosteinke]

A friend of mine grew up in an old-style 'service station,' and he had absolutely no problem with charging customers full rate for work he did, in error, as he groped around trying to solve a problem.

Personally, I do not think it is right to charge the customer for your mistakes. Sure, your time is valuable ... but the customer has faith in your competence, probably more than you do, and it's wrong to abuse that trust.

The simple fact is you're not going to make money on every service call. Sometimes, especially when you're new to the customer, you're going to lose money. That's why repeat business is so important.

 

[PetrosA]

...

Personally, I do not think it is right to charge the customer for your mistakes. Sure, your time is valuable ... but the customer has faith in your competence, probably more than you do, and it's wrong to abuse that trust.

The simple fact is you're not going to make money on every service call. Sometimes, especially when you're new to the customer, you're going to lose money. That's why repeat business is so important.

This is true but you also need some kind of of system in place to deal with it. If it's a one-man shop, the owner makes the decision he feels best about. When you have employees it gets more complicated. You need protocols in place (like calling back to the shop after some prearranged time for assistance) so that you can justify charges when needed.

Sometimes it's not the tech's fault, and you need some way to deal with that as well. From my recent experience:

A commercial customer (so higher priority than a residential one) has a concession business 35 miles (55 minute drive) away from me. I get a call to check the receptacle that a warming shelf is plugged into. On site it's discovered that the issue is the warming shelf on/off switch, not the receptacle. Since the employees can't work without this equipment I spend the next 1.5 hours driving from customer to supply house, to Grainger, to 2nd supply house in search of replacement switch. A similar switch is found and installed temporarily until proper switch can be found and ordered. Co-owner is informed that I will order replacement and return. Four days later the other co-owner calls to inform me that she has a supplier and the part has already been delivered. I return to install but incorrect switch has been sent. The switch I ordered arrives at my shop via UPS while I'm away at the customer. After the third trip the proper switch is installed and unit is working.

So here's what I have to decide how to bill:

Driving time total - 6 hours for three trips
Original service call (one hour) - did not result in permanent fix
1st trip - 1.5 hours labor beyond limit for service call
2nd trip - 0.5 hours from truck to customer and back in vain
3rd trip - 1 hour making final repairs to unit and reinstalling

Assuming I bill for everything, here's what the customer would pay:

Service call - $150
Labor (combined) - $225
Parts - $65
Travel time (one-way for two non-service call trips) - $150

Total - $590 - This is more than the cost of the warming shelf (and my rates are VERY fair).

None of the outrageous amount of time needed to make this repair was my fault. I got the unit working again on the first trip in spite of proprietary parts and the part I ordered was correct. I would be completely justified in charging the $590, but I'm pretty sure I'd lose my customer.

If an employee had been there instead of me, it would even strengthen the argument to charge the customer the full amount but I would still lower the bill to keep the customer. How you lower it depends on what system you use.

 

[stevenje]

Our policy is a 2 man truck for safety reasons.

I find this interesting. Do you bill out for both men even on a simple service call that could have been handled by one man?

 

[ritelec]

I find this interesting. Do you bill out for both men even on a simple service call that could have been handled by one man?

I work alone, always have and still do.

However, for a period of time there was a job that I was working with someone else.......and no matter how straight forward or simple it was, we did not go it alone and always
did the buddy system.
No kidding, I actually saved is ars on a couple of occasions (would have been bad).


That said............buddy system is a good system!

 

[Strathead]

I find this interesting. Do you bill out for both men even on a simple service call that could have been handled by one man?

Yes. Our billing rate is quite reasonable though. Basically a ratio of 1 journeyman, one apprentice. I would like to point out that a "simple service call that could have been handled by one man" is not really that simple in the litigious society that we live in! Being electricians, we are supposed to be suited up or at least have fire proof clothing and protection every time we use a volt meter nowadays. Customers are informed of this before we respond and most jobs are quicker with 2 people.Our company has a big OSHA fine on its record because a 300 amp breaker fell apartduring removal, shorted out a bus and burned the electrician. We can not afford another incident. This incident I refer to is a situation I would have done, and have done several times in my career without thinking twice. It was not negligence on the Electrician's part. Just bad karma. You should think about it before you refer to any situation that you put an employee in today. I wouldn't be surprised for someone to sue because they were riding in the truck eating and choked nowadays. They might very well win!