do i charge for second visit

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staticcontrol said:
Hello,

I installed 2 ceiling fans with light kits last week. Tested them and it worked fine. FYI: one of the light bulbs in the box was broke.

Customer called two days later and said one of the fans stopped working but lights still do. I came back and tested fan and switch. Determined its a bad fan. She knew of bad bulb broken in box during day of install. I said perhaps the fan was dropped and now it just kicked. Took fan down and she returned it to store and got new one.

Should I charge to install new fan as it was defective?

Thanks.
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absolutely.

but try to be sympathetic and explain why you have to charge, give them a discount if possible.

no don't do it for free hoping for future work, rather than that you'd be better off mailing them a check right now and let them hire another electrician.
 
In the future, handle the situation as follows;


When you talk to the customer, inform them that you will absolutely warranty your labor, but if its a problem with their equipment you will be charging for the diagnosis and the return trip to hang.

Before the tools come out, have them sign the contract agreeing to pay if it is not your fault. If they won't sign or argue, you leave.

I've yet to have a problem using this policy. Leave it to the customer to try and recoup some of their extra expenses incurred from whoever supplied the faulty equipment.
 
Customer should also respect the fact that unless you did something wrong to cause the fan to fail and you are not the one that sold it to them that it is not your problem to repair it for free. This is like an as - is warranty on a used car.
 
brantmacga said:
In the future, handle the situation as follows;


When you talk to the customer, inform them that you will absolutely warranty your labor, but if its a problem with their equipment you will be charging for the diagnosis and the return trip to hang.

Before the tools come out, have them sign the contract agreeing to pay if it is not your fault. If they won't sign or argue, you leave.

I've yet to have a problem using this policy. Leave it to the customer to try and recoup some of their extra expenses incurred from whoever supplied the faulty equipment.
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Why not just have it in your proposal and invoices like I posted in post 2? and they should be reading it before they sign, or you could put a space next to it for them to initial it so it will show they did read it?
 
I've had a few similar situations. Freebie if a good customer. $25 or so if not as regular. Most customers will remember the favor and call you back again. They usually understand a small fee to cover going out to them.
 
jmellc said:
I've had a few similar situations. Freebie if a good customer. $25 or so if not as regular. Most customers will remember the favor and call you back again. They usually understand a small fee to cover going out to them.
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If that works for you fine but in my view it is crazy. Again, ask the customer how often they go to work for free. While you are there working for free, another paying job is going un-done.
 
I took my car into the dealer to have some work done. Part of the work was to turn the front rotors. I had reported a small vibration that got worse when braking. They finished all the work and test drove it, fine.

I picked it up and it was ok, at first. Then when I got on the highway and ran it up to 80, there it was again.

I took it back the next day saying we missed something. They took it in, turned the front (again) and rear rotors. Drives great...... No charge! Well, I would have paid them because I knew they didn't perform the rear rotor service the 1st visit. I may or may not have been willing to go back to them later since I told them the symptoms and I expected them to fix the problem. Since they did not charge for the 2nd visit, I fully intend to return to them even though I believe I could get a lower priced service elsewhere.

Sometimes it's good to give in.
 
hurk27 said:
Why not just have it in your proposal and invoices like I posted in post 2? and they should be reading it before they sign, or you could put a space next to it for them to initial it so it will show they did read it?
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our invoice/quote sheets state that we will warranty anything we install or repair that is provided by us;


what i was trying to explain is that we have them sign another copy stating they will pay for any repairs on equipment we didn't provide. the reason for this is so that all parties are perfectly clear on who is resposible for what, and a technician usually will not have a copy of the original invoice when making a return trip.

the first invoice will hold them responsible; the second is to make sure they are fully aware. it only takes a minute and saves the time of dealing with potential problems that may arise out of the situation, such as "i didn't know i had to pay you again". Yes, its stated in their original contract but you know how some customers are.
 
IMHO, eating a call like that every now & then will pay you back in spades over the long run! I'd much rather have a happy customer telling all his/her friends about this wonderful electrician that helped him/her out of a jam than a mad customer who will never call me again or refer me! So you get your service call fee for an hour! Is it really going to kill your business to bend a little? I would replace it, thank them for their business and maybe ask for a cold drink for the road or something! Without happy customers, we are nothing!:)

Also, when they provide their own stuff, (especially fans) before you even go to their home, tell them to check the boxes for double tape. If it has been re-taped, somebody fried it, took it back to the big box store and it was put back on the shelf! This happens ALL THE TIME!!! I check BEFORE opening the box and point that out, that way they can run to exchange it while I'm up in the attic running the cable of whatever else has to be done.

Look at the big picture, not just your hour of replacing a fan!:cool:
 
Another thing I've run into 3 times in the past is wireless remote codes in town houses. The day after installation, you get a call from the client saying the fan/light go on or off by themselves. Turns out the code is set the same as their neighbor's RC. In all 3 cases, I went out to fix it FOC! I don't know about everybody else's clients, but mine are well worth it!
 
Split Bolt said:
Another thing I've run into 3 times in the past is wireless remote codes in town houses. The day after installation, you get a call from the client saying the fan/light go on or off by themselves. Turns out the code is set the same as their neighbor's RC. In all 3 cases, I went out to fix it FOC! I don't know about everybody else's clients, but mine are well worth it!
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how long did it take you to figure that out? i am too embarrassed to say how long it took me...
 
Surprisingly, the first time it happened, it came to mind while I was on the phone. I asked him to call his neighbors to see if they were having the same problem and one was! I have also had people with existing RC fans call me to say that their fans are going crazy. I ask if their neighbors have had any fans put up and they say there was a truck there yesterday or something. I tell them to call the neighbor. I think that the new fan installer has the responsibility to fix it, not the existing fan owner!
 
Split Bolt said:
IMHO, eating a call like that every now & then will pay you back in spades over the long run! I'd much rather have a happy customer telling all his/her friends about this wonderful electrician that helped him/her out of a jam than a mad customer who will never call me again or refer me!
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we get a lot of referall business, but its usually from a few select customers. for the most part, people never rave to their friends about great service unless asked.









Split Bolt said:
So you get your service call fee for an hour! Is it really going to kill your business to bend a little?
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and its been my experience that if you do something for free, they expect it next time, and some even get upset when you refuse to do it at no cost.





Split Bolt said:
Look at the big picture, not just your hour of replacing a fan!:cool:
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I can't agree with this line of thinking. Time is money and someone has to be paying for it. There are rare circumstances, but to routinely give free service in these situations is setting yourself up for eventually pissing them off.
 
brantmacga said:
we get a lot of referall business, but its usually from a few select customers. for the most part, people never rave to their friends about great service unless asked.

and its been my experience that if you do something for free, they expect it next time, and some even get upset when you refuse to do it at no cost.

I can't agree with this line of thinking. Time is money and someone has to be paying for it. There are rare circumstances, but to routinely give free service in these situations is setting yourself up for eventually pissing them off.
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Yes, it would be rare for a customer to rave to their friends about great service, and if you do something for free, they will expect it all the time, and if you refuse to do free work, they will then scream to everyone about you.
Time is money and those of us supporting a family, and paying the cost of operating a business, can not afford to think of customers as friends, or someone we have to provide social services for.
 
hardworkingstiff said:
I took my car into the dealer to have some work done. Part of the work was to turn the front rotors. I had reported a small vibration that got worse when braking. They finished all the work and test drove it, fine.

I picked it up and it was ok, at first. Then when I got on the highway and ran it up to 80, there it was again.

I took it back the next day saying we missed something. They took it in, turned the front (again) and rear rotors. Drives great...... No charge! Well, I would have paid them because I knew they didn't perform the rear rotor service the 1st visit. I may or may not have been willing to go back to them later since I told them the symptoms and I expected them to fix the problem. Since they did not charge for the 2nd visit, I fully intend to return to them even though I believe I could get a lower priced service elsewhere.

Sometimes it's good to give in.
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I understand your point about good will but your example doesn't apply since you did not furnish the parts.
 
Split Bolt said:
Another thing I've run into 3 times in the past is wireless remote codes in town houses. The day after installation, you get a call from the client saying the fan/light go on or off by themselves. Turns out the code is set the same as their neighbor's RC. In all 3 cases, I went out to fix it FOC! I don't know about everybody else's clients, but mine are well worth it!
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I would have fun with it for a while. If the neighbor can control yours you can control theirs. Turn lights on/off at bad times, you will know when they turned them back because yours did the same:grin:
 
Hi brantmacga, I have to respectively disagree with you. My clients DO rave about me to their friends/neighbors/relatives! Maybe the whole "Southern Hospitality" thing is a myth. Or maybe you are attracting the wrong customers! Customer service with a smile might be old fashioned, but it works for me. It's not like I go around doing things for free all the time, but every once in a while taking an hour to make someone happy really pays off! Reasonable people would not "expect" free service every time as a result. I have, on occasion, in cases like that, gone out to my van to get 6 or 8 business cards. I hand them to the customer and say "here is your bill, give these cards to your neighbors and friends." They actually do it! Customers are not your enemy, they are the SOLE reason your company exists!:)
 
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