Accepting credit cards

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tmbrk

tmbrk

Senior Member
Location
Illinois
I have had more than a few requests by customers for me to start accepting credit cards for payment on service work. Can anyone give me a good company that a small (3 man) service contractor could use to set up a merchant account? I would not need a POS machine, I'm thinking of just calling them in and at least saving that much. I have looked into a company called Accept-by-Phone and they seem to look good. Any info would be greatly appreciated.:)
 
A couple of years ago I had a customer ask me if I took a credit card, I didn't. Still got the job said he would give me a check. I haven't seen it yet. I sure wish I had taken the card now.
 
My partner fought accepting cards and still complains about the percentage the banks take..But we deal with the government and payment use to take 60-90 days no it is as fast as we can process the paper. We also have commercial customers are moving this way.
 
brian john said:
My partner fought accepting cards and still complains about the percentage the banks take..But we deal with the government and payment use to take 60-90 days no it is as fast as we can process the paper. We also have commercial customers are moving this way.
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and your partner is the business brains of the operation? doesn't he realize the cost of A/R? hell, 1.5% is nothing in order to have the cash flow...put the remainder of the money in a 4% account and only transfer the money needed to a checking account. You'll get back your 1.5% in no time, and have the cash available if needed.
 
I have been in business 23 years, and have done exceedingly well to date, putting my trust and faith in this man. I have no complaints, but do feel Credit Cards are the wave of the future, he is a bit more conservative and treads lightly when it comes to change.
 
emahler said:
and your partner is the business brains of the operation? doesn't he realize the cost of A/R? hell, 1.5% is nothing in order to have the cash flow...put the remainder of the money in a 4% account and only transfer the money needed to a checking account. You'll get back your 1.5% in no time, and have the cash available if needed.
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Accepting credit cards cuts way down on the A/R costs, and attracts the paying customers, that service fee more then pays for itself, plus we get the card info before making the call, and have the dispatch fee paid before we get there, no more driving to no shows, or no payment, calls, If they don't have a credit card, that is a big red flag waving, customers will have work done on credit, that they would not do, if were checks or cash only.
 
So you charge the customer for the call before going. As the job progresses when do you stop and get another payment, if its a large job?

Do you prequalify the cc for the amount the job will be before you do it? I'm worried about the credit card being over the limit or denied. Knowing that the customer don't have cash, that being the reason for the cc.
 
SmithBuilt said:
So you charge the customer for the call before going. As the job progresses when do you stop and get another payment, if its a large job?

Do you prequalify the cc for the amount the job will be before you do it? I'm worried about the credit card being over the limit or denied. Knowing that the customer don't have cash, that being the reason for the cc.
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Well, I really don't know of any other service companies, in the area that don't pre qualify before making a call, and charge the account before reaponding.

"As the job progresses when do you stop and get another payment, if its a large job?"

There is no progress past the dispatch fee, until they have agreed to the contract to do the work.
 
bradleyelectric said:
How much do you charge for a dispatch fee? What do they get for the dispatch fee?
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It will depend what zone they are in, 5 miles 10 miles 15 miles 20 miles, will determine the fee, it gets me to the door to look at the job.
 
bradleyelectric said:
I understand charging different per zone. How much for zone 1,2,3,4?
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We don't have a hard fast fixed price, for dispatch, how is your volume, what is the general market like, are we busy, are we slow, Is one zone being worked more then another.
 
Credit Cards...

Credit Cards...

I have been holding off accepting them for as long as I can.

However, I had a customer recently that really wants to use one. Since the job was over $1,000 I let him do it.

I use quickbooks for my invoicing and proposals. If you give an invoice, all you have to do is add the card to the customer's account. Make a few clicks, tell quickbooks what invoice you are billing, and it charges the correct amount to the correct card. I didn't have any problems.
They charge $10 a month + 2.3% per transaction + $0.50 per transaction. So, for an $1100 bill, it cost me roughly $25. I just threw that price into the bill somewhere... Customer never knew he was paying extra to use the card.

I even delayed billing by 6 hours, because I could not get an unscrambled wireless signal from my laptop. I went to my nearest area, computer sent the signal out, and it was processed. Took about 2 days to get the cash.


Someone mentioned that Sams Club does these services. Yes they do, and they also do payroll services too. One of my clients uses the Sams Club service.
 
Large Job

Large Job

satcom said:
"As the job progresses when do you stop and get another payment, if its a large job?"
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If a job is large, I ususally try to get a percentage down before starting.
I like 25%, but sometimes that does not work out very well.
Large jobs usually take more than a month, so I bill monthly based on a percentage of work I have completed. Some jobs I have billed 3 or 4 times before getting everything.
For example: I bill for May somewhere around the 25th of the month, and expect to get a check by somehwere around the 1st - 2nd week of June. That's just the way it works for many contractors. I tell them that I completed xx% this month in these areas and bill accordingly.

Greg :cool:
 
Has anyone tried to open a paypal account? Just a thought. no remote machines for your guys to break. you just tell the customer to pay $X to the paypal account. I have heard of people doing this I just never investigated it. I'm sure the process fees are higher.

You can send me a PM my buddy can set up machines for you. He tells me all the time about the great deals he is given companies. He usually does not work with small companies. He tells me there is no money for him.
 
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