Customers

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A1cbr said:
Well I guess I need to show on all bills the warranty.
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Yes indeed communicate will all your customers, the electrical work is the easy part of the business, customer commmunicatiom is the hard part.
 
R Bob said:
Always COD if the customer is one of the "4Rs":
-Residential
-Restaurant
-Real estate
-Rug people
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Alot of my work is resturaunts, I always bill them and have no problems. what are Rug people?
 
ultramegabob said:
the only thing you need to learn is to collect the bill at the end of residential service calls, once the work is done and you are gone, they have all the time in the world to convince themselves your a crook for charging them money to come to thier house, supply materials, labor, and knowledge to fix their problem. Im sure whoever she talked to (if thats true) would have happily came over and done it for free.....
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I agree. COD for this kind of work.

Although, I have had service guys out to the house several times recently, and every time they billed me instead of asking for payment. maybe that is some kind of trend.
 
petersonra said:
I agree. COD for this kind of work.

Although, I have had service guys out to the house several times recently, and every time they billed me instead of asking for payment. maybe that is some kind of trend.
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In our area of the northeast, it would be rare to find anyone billing a customer, they usually want the payment on a credit card before they even come to the call, no valid credit card no service.
 
IrishRugger said:
What are Rug People?
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I'm referring to "fly by night" carpet and rug shops.
Sam's Carpet Warehouse, Bill's Carpet Warehouse, King of Carpet, etc.
Not a Sam or a Bill in sight!
They are all over the Wash., D.C. area.
By the time the invoice arives in the mail, they have switched hands.
Sam and Bill probably switch with each other.

I got the 4Rs from a HVACR company I used to do work for many years ago. It was an actual company policy.
 
satcom said:
In our area of the northeast, it would be rare to find anyone billing a customer, they usually want the payment on a credit card before they even come to the call, no valid credit card no service.
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WOW! How times change....
 
R Bob said:
I'm referring to "fly by night" carpet and rug shops.
Sam's Carpet Warehouse, Bill's Carpet Warehouse, King of Carpet, etc.
Not a Sam or a Bill in sight!
They are all over the Wash., D.C. area.
By the time the invoice arives in the mail, they have switched hands.
Sam and Bill probably switch with each other.

I got the 4Rs from a HVACR company I used to do work for many years ago. It was an actual company policy.
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we have furniture stores like that in my area, several store locations that are always having grand openings and then a few weeks later its a final closeout everything must go, store signs are always just banners, never make it to a permanent signage. I think its probably a family that is abusing some kind of bankruptcy laws....
 
SEO said:
I had a call one time after a storm form a lady saying that she didn't have any power. I told her that it was probably the power companys problem. She asked if I would come and check it anyway. I told her that there would be a service call charge. She asked if it was a utility problem would she have to pay my service call. I said yes and she declined to have me come.
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Under similar circumstances, I explain I would have to charge a service fee, and recommend they call the POCO first, and that they would not charge if the caller is told to call one of us.

I do, of course, also explain that, if there's been a storm or other wide-area problem, that they likely won't get rapid response. They must decide whether they want now or free.

They're usually so grateful for the free advice about the free POCO service (and the honesty and integrity it shows, I've been told), that they do call me back if they need me instead.
 
Anybody had an excessively hard time getting money out of a VFW or an American Legion?

I kicked some work over to my buddy awhile back that was offered to me, and he's had a heck of a time getting paid for the work. I was wondering if it was just VFWs in general, or if it was a personal thing against me they were taking out on him. The commander would have his reasons.
 
A1cbr said:
Ok I have a question pertaining to customers.
Last year I did a job for a lady and well she was happy with everything that was done. Well 13 months later I received a phone call about a GFI was not working. I went out there and the replaced the GFI and checked another circuit that they said was not working. Well there was nothing wrong with the other cirecuit just needed to GFI to be reset.
I send her a bill for only $55 over month ago. I called a couple of times and left messages with her to find out what was going on.
Well today I received a letter saying that I was way off for charging and that I have alot to learn. She sayed that spoke with other proffessionals in the same trade and none of them would have charged her.
So I thought I would ask you all what you think.
Thanks.
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Take the high road. I would reply in writing that even though the repair in question was to an item built with internal electronics, that you have no control over their reliability or manufacturing that this device was not covered by your one year warranty of work done. Please be advise that the work was done on ??-??-???? to your property and any warranty on the work done expired on ??-??-????. However as a gesture of professionalism I have voided the invoice for the service call on this one item. If any other work is needed be advised it will be charged as a standard service call or feel free to use the other professionals your are in contact with.
Eat the service call and block her number or tell her you are to tied up if she calls for more work.
I see you are from Georgia, be a Southern Gentlemen. (That means being able to tell some one to go to hell and make them look forward to the trip)
 
ceb58 said:
I see you are from Georgia, be a Southern Gentlemen. (That means being able to tell some one to go to hell and make them look forward to the trip)
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I always thought it meant you wear overalls and like to eat moon pies
 
A good size EC in this area who does a lot of res. service work advertises that his work is warranted for as long a they own the home.

I talked to him about this awhile back and he said it was worth the occassional bath fan or GFI for the additonal buisness he percieved he got because of the guarantee.
 
George Stolz said:
Anybody had an excessively hard time getting money out of a VFW or an American Legion?

I kicked some work over to my buddy awhile back that was offered to me, and he's had a heck of a time getting paid for the work. I was wondering if it was just VFWs in general, or if it was a personal thing against me they were taking out on him. The commander would have his reasons.
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I had a similar problem about 10 years ago. What I found out was that have several boards that have to approve the funds. Some American Legions have womens auxilliarys and they are involved in dispersing the funds as well. This summer we did the electrical work for an extensive remodle and the check was approved and signed upon completion. Make sure that the work you do is approved by all the boards prior to job and the funding is available. Did your buddy have a contract or P.O?
 
Rich R said:
I always thought it meant you wear overalls and like to eat moon pies
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Suspenders and a string tie! :grin:

Always make sure your customers know how long their warranty is for, and what, if anything is not covered.

I'm guessing she told the "pros" she talked to something along the lines of "I had an EC install a GFCI, and it went bad, and he charged me to replace it! Would you charge?"
 
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