In the past couple of weeks I've received calls like the following:
Lady calls and says her dryer isn't working. The appliance guys came out and replaced the dryer element but it still didn't work. They told her that she now doesn't have the correct voltage at the outlet and would need to call an electrician. She said they still charged her for replacing the dryer element. I suspect there wasn't anything wrong with the dryer to begin with.
I tell her there will be a service call fee for us to come out and look at it and then we will give her a price for the repairs.
Don't you give free estimates; she asks?
I tell her there's a service call fee to come out and then we'll give an estimate for the repairs.
She tells me nevermind she's allready got some other contractors coming out to give her a free estimate and they're not charging her anything to come out.
The next call I get the guy tells me he plugged something into his dining room outlet and now it doesn't work.
I go through the same routine as the previous call and tell him we can be there in about an hour.
He tells me he already has someone else coming out later that afternoon to look at it.
I ask him who it is and find out it's a typical ESI type company, with the fully stocked box van fully wrapped. So I ask him how much their dispatch fee is to come out. He tells me they're not charging him anything to come out and when they get there they'll give him a price upfront before doing any work and the price won't change.
I know this company used to charge dispatch fees of $49 to $59. Now it seems they're not charging anything. I dread the thought of running out and giving a free estimate to compete against several other contractors just to fix one outlet but it makes me wonder if even the ESI type companies are doing this if I'm going to have to do it as well.
Lately it's been getting more difficult charging a dispatch fee to come out and provide an estimate. We've had people tells us we're crazy and hang up on the call taker when she mentions a dispatch fee. Now it seems that many contractors are not charging anything to go out and give an estimate to fix one outlet. I'm getting more and more of these type of calls. People are getting several estimates to repair one outlet that's not working. That seems crazy to me.
Contractors must be getting pretty desperate around here.
Lady calls and says her dryer isn't working. The appliance guys came out and replaced the dryer element but it still didn't work. They told her that she now doesn't have the correct voltage at the outlet and would need to call an electrician. She said they still charged her for replacing the dryer element. I suspect there wasn't anything wrong with the dryer to begin with.
I tell her there will be a service call fee for us to come out and look at it and then we will give her a price for the repairs.
Don't you give free estimates; she asks?
I tell her there's a service call fee to come out and then we'll give an estimate for the repairs.
She tells me nevermind she's allready got some other contractors coming out to give her a free estimate and they're not charging her anything to come out.
The next call I get the guy tells me he plugged something into his dining room outlet and now it doesn't work.
I go through the same routine as the previous call and tell him we can be there in about an hour.
He tells me he already has someone else coming out later that afternoon to look at it.
I ask him who it is and find out it's a typical ESI type company, with the fully stocked box van fully wrapped. So I ask him how much their dispatch fee is to come out. He tells me they're not charging him anything to come out and when they get there they'll give him a price upfront before doing any work and the price won't change.
I know this company used to charge dispatch fees of $49 to $59. Now it seems they're not charging anything. I dread the thought of running out and giving a free estimate to compete against several other contractors just to fix one outlet but it makes me wonder if even the ESI type companies are doing this if I'm going to have to do it as well.
Lately it's been getting more difficult charging a dispatch fee to come out and provide an estimate. We've had people tells us we're crazy and hang up on the call taker when she mentions a dispatch fee. Now it seems that many contractors are not charging anything to go out and give an estimate to fix one outlet. I'm getting more and more of these type of calls. People are getting several estimates to repair one outlet that's not working. That seems crazy to me.
Contractors must be getting pretty desperate around here.
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