How do you charge a service call.

[bgelectric]

I understand it this way. Please tell me if you charge differently.

Bill any service call a minimum of 2 hrs. After the first hour start your clock and bill at your regularly rate.

 

[bgelectric]

The reason I ask this is because a customer doesnt feel that they owe me this charge even though I have time invested in travel and picking up parts.
The customer called and asked to do some installations with no mention of cost. So I figured it was not an issue.
Do you guys straight up tell them what it will cost in this situation or do you go ahead and perform the work? Then bill as you always do.
I have already told the customer ill waive the 1st hr because I had not mentioned up front the first hr is billed for 2 hrs in hopes to keep the relationship.

 

[buzzbar]

I have a minimum service call rate of $139.00 plus any parts for the first hour. After the first hour, I charge normal rates.

My regular customers know my rates, and I ALWAYS tell my rates BEFORE any work is done to first time customers. I've learned the hard way not to surprise people after the job is done. If they balk at your prices, you don't want to work for them anyway.

 

[Fulthrotl]

The customer called and asked to do some installations with no mention of cost.
So I figured it was not an issue.

my experience has been that when someone doesn't ask the price, it's 'cause
they don't intend to pay what you are asking.

so, it's not an issue.
for all the wrong reasons.

and we all have our hot spots on what we spend money on, and we have a
cow on stuff we don't want to spend money on.

9 months ago, i did a bunch of stuff for a condo in newport beach.
the call was to remove two phone jacks so that the painter could
faux paint the walls to look like venetian plaster.

the walls WERE venetian plaster. she wanted beige.

your invoice didn't match the customers hot spots. bummer.

 

[hbiss]

Bill any service call a minimum of 2 hrs. After the first hour start your clock and bill at your regularly rate.

I don't understand that. If you are going to bill for a minimum of 2 hours why are you starting the clock after the first hour? If I can't figure it out how do you expect the customer to?

-Hal

 

[bgelectric]

I don't understand that. If you are going to bill for a minimum of 2 hours why are you starting the clock after the first hour? If I can't figure it out how do you expect the customer to?

What's there to figure out? It's no different than billing your first hour at a higher rate than your normal hourly rate to cover travel expenses etc. Then bill at your regular rate after the first hr.

What if you get a service call that lasts 30 min? Was it worth your while to go out there perform the task and bill for 30min...

From reading up on the forum this is a pretty standard practice. Bill 1st hr at a higher rate, after that regular rate.

 

[petersonra]

we have a minimum 4 hour charge. all the time spent on the call is billable, including travel, and writing reports and other administrative tasks after the fact. expenses are extra - mileage, tolls, meals, whatever.

 

[growler]

I understand it this way. Please tell me if you charge differently.

Bill any service call a minimum of 2 hrs. After the first hour start your clock and bill at your regularly rate.

You can bill any way that you want. But it's a good idea to have the customer sign a work order that states they understand how they are being billed and giving you permission to do the work.

Other than that I think flat rate is the best. Up-front price to do the job.



If a person understands what they are being charged for up front it's easier for them to accept. And it's a lot easier to argue price before you do any work.

 

[goldstar]

Unlike plumbers, we all don't stick together when it comes to pricing. You can't get a plumber to come to your house and change a washer for less than $125.00/hr. Yet, for some strange reason us electricians seem to cut each others' throats with pricing.

Having said that, a lot depends on the types of customers you're talking about, the type of service call you're on and if it's a std. call or an emergency call. If it's a commercial customer and you're there to trouble-shoot a specific problem chances are you'll get the price you're looking for. On the other hand, if you're just there to change bulbs and ballasts your chances start to get slim, especially in this economy. There are a lot of guys out there hungry for work and trying to feed their families. If it's a residential customer you can be rest assured that they will call every # in the yellow pages to get the RIGHT price. The only way you'll get a high dollar figure is if you specialize in an area (like generator repair).

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[Greg1707]

Minimum call

Minimum call

Everyone has their own scheme to deal with the need to recover the costs associated with showing up at a customers house whether the time to resolve the issue is four minutes or four hours.

I deal with this by telling the customer over the phone in advance that I charge $90 for the first thirty minutes and $100 per hour thereafter. Most of my service calls can be resolved in less than one hour. That is, switch, light, receptacle, fan etc. does not work. In this case I am able to bill $140 for one hour. If within the first thirty minutes I diagnose a problem that is more involved, I will give the customer an estimate or proposal for resolving the problem.


As I mentioned, there are lots of ways to deal with this but it all comes down to recouping costs associated with just showing up.

 

[Rewire]

I have a 79.00 service fee that we collect before dispatch this gets the van and tech to the door if a troubleshoot is required it is 198.00 flat rate. This is up front to the customer once the repair is found we quote the price from our pricing guide. If we are doing a specific task with no trouble shoot we quote the price from the manual our average ticket is 325.00. We also get payment at POS. I found this worked best for me over a minimum hour charge because the majority of our service calls are less than an hour and a two hour minimum always met with resisitance.

 

[Little Bill]

I have a 79.00 service fee that we collect before dispatch this gets the van and tech to the door if a troubleshoot is required it is 198.00 flat rate. This is up front to the customer once the repair is found we quote the price from our pricing guide. If we are doing a specific task with no trouble shoot we quote the price from the manual our average ticket is 325.00. We also get payment at POS. I found this worked best for me over a minimum hour charge because the majority of our service calls are less than an hour and a two hour minimum always met with resisitance.

So, this pricing guide you speak of, is that something you came up with? Or are you a "Mr Sparky" type franchise?
How can a pricing guide cover all possible repairs or installs that you might run into in a residential setting. You can run into a hornets nest in an old house sometimes. Does the book know of all the pitfalls you might encounter?

 

[Rewire]

So, this pricing guide you speak of, is that something you came up with? Or are you a "Mr Sparky" type franchise?
How can a pricing guide cover all possible repairs or installs that you might run into in a residential setting. You can run into a hornets nest in an old house sometimes. Does the book know of all the pitfalls you might encounter?

It's our straight forward pricing guide from oue ESI membership (clockwork home services) . This guide was developed over ten years of working with the Mr Sparky franchises. I have not found anything that is not covered in the diferent levels. We are still in the process of fully converting to it I bill at our hourly on some and use the guide on others then we do comparisons we find the guide gives ud a better overall ticket.

 

[mtfallsmikey]

Musings fron the house plumber..

Musings fron the house plumber..

Unlike plumbers, we all don't stick together when it comes to pricing. You can't get a plumber to come to your house and change a washer for less than $125.00/hr. Yet, for some strange reason us electricians seem to cut each others' throats with pricing.

Having said that, a lot depends on the types of customers you're talking about, the type of service call you're on and if it's a std. call or an emergency call. If it's a commercial customer and you're there to trouble-shoot a specific problem chances are you'll get the price you're looking for. On the other hand, if you're just there to change bulbs and ballasts your chances start to get slim, especially in this economy. There are a lot of guys out there hungry for work and trying to feed their families. If it's a residential customer you can be rest assured that they will call every # in the yellow pages to get the RIGHT price. The only way you'll get a high dollar figure is if you specialize in an area (like generator repair).

Just my 2 cents worth.

Well, plumbers don't stick together, they learn...the hard way. It took forward-looking flat-rate folks like Frank Blau to show the way. In my area, (D.C. Metro) most ALL contractors, regardless of trade, charge a 4-hr. min., hourly rate, less if you carry a service/PM contract. And, if you don't have a contract, you will wait a long time for service. I'm very loyal to the good contactors who service my buildings, and rarely price shop, too much bee-ess involved. If anyone thinks that that is a rip-off, tell them to take a dog/cat to an emergency vet....ask me how I know.

 

[KVA]

I'm at $119 for residential service calls to DIAGNOSE the problem. No matter how long it takes me to diagnose the problem 15mins or 2 hours the cost is $119. I can diagnose most problems in under a half hour.

After I diagnose the problem I give them a price to fix it. If they want me to do the work i tell them I will knock half off the diagnosis charge. IF they decline then they get charged $119.

 

[rt66electric]

tell folks over the phone xxx.xx to show up for the first hour and XX.xx for

tell folks over the phone xxx.xx to show up for the first hour and XX.xx for

tell folks over the phone xxx.xx to show up for the first hour and XX.xx for each hour after that.

If I put-in more than 6hr at a job on a day , then, I will negotiate a discount.

The folk that hangup after that will spend a lotta time to save a buck.

 

[Rewire]

I'm at $119 for residential service calls to DIAGNOSE the problem. No matter how long it takes me to diagnose the problem 15mins or 2 hours the cost is $119. I can diagnose most problems in under a half hour.

After I diagnose the problem I give them a price to fix it. If they want me to do the work i tell them I will knock half off the diagnosis charge. IF they decline then they get charged $119.

why do you give back 1/2 your diagnostic fee? When someone offers to knock off a part of a fee the first thing I think is why were they charging me that much in the first place.

 

[Ponchik]

$69 service call fee, I charge flat rate for troubleshooting (if takes 10 Minutes or 2 hours) then give them a fixed price for repair. So the service call + troubleshooting + cost of the repair = total bill. I do offer military and senior discount but that is it. We in business to make money not to work for free. I have signed up with ES2 Precision pricing and can't be any happier.

 

[KVA]

why do you give back 1/2 your diagnostic fee? When someone offers to knock off a part of a fee the first thing I think is why were they charging me that much in the first place.

You would wonder why a professional electrician would charge you a fee to diagnose a problem? I never had one person say or bring up what you just said:blink:

 

[PetrosA]

I'm also still in the process of working out pricing schemes for things like service calls. I've been using a 1st hour@higher rate scheme for now and it seems to be working. I cover a large area (from local to 70 miles away) so that first hour charge depends on distance from me. In my experience, when you successfully fix peoples problems on a service call, you have a good shot at becoming their electrician for good, so I try not to gouge them.

You can offer all kinds of customer satisfaction perks, but there comes a moment when service call fees may cost more than a replacement to what your servicing. I had a situation like that a few months back where a $20 on/off rocker in a $400 commercial warming tray went bad and it wasn't locally available. It had to be ordered and a second trip was needed and a compatible replacement was installed in the meantime. If I had charged the original service call fee PLUS all my travel and office time, materials, UPS charges from suppliers etc. the charge would have been a few hundred dollars more than a new warming tray. I scheduled the return for when I'd be in the area and ate travel and office time and got the bill down to an acceptable amount. I also did basic maintenance on the warmer so that, in effect, they had a new warming tray for the costs of the service.

As far as picky, PITA customers go, the way one of my previous employers dealt with that was that we counted and wrote down every item we installed down to wirenuts, nails, screws, oil, grease, paint, etc. for any service call or job that wasn't bid.