I make $95.00 and hour!! Yippee!!

[satcom]

I don't totaly disagree. But I have had just as many arguments when I just hand over a bill for a thousand bucks with no real explanation.

This work was basically come do this...oh and while your here.....and from a couple hours it goes to all day, with the "meter" running.

I am comfortable billing jobs like this this way. I don't mind explaining where the money is going. It's better than them asking why $1000.00? and me answering 'cause I said so. Which actually would be way more fun. :grin: Or maybe "Shut up and look at my new truck..."

We would not hand over a bill for a thousand bucks, with no real explanation, they would have aggreed to the written scope of work, before we started the job.

When they add to the agreeded scope, you just write up the additional work and have them agree to it in writing, and every time they find another task, you put it in writing and have them approve it.

An appliance tech may ask a homeowner for a pile of approvals, they doo this to avoid problems at billing time.

 

[Minuteman]

This work was basically come do this...oh and while your here.....and from a couple hours it goes to all day, with the "meter" running.

Single mom with 2 kids and still fighting with her ex. We met her through an A/C Contractor who was adding an upstairs unit and we upgraded her service to 200-amps. She has fans and fixtures to change out, changes all he appliances, and adds under counter lights. Also, does the "while you are here" stuff.

The guy I sent over there was taking forever to finish. So I went to check on him. Lady talks about everything under the sun. Politics to the fights with her ex. I reminded her that since we finished the panel upgrade and A/C circuits, that we are charging her by the hour as agreed. Okay with her... till she got the bill. Seems electricians are WAY to costly to double as counselors. :roll:

 

[Rewire]

I don,t put an hourly rate on tickets because of the clock watchers,when you get calls complaining that the electrician was only there 2 hours and 37 minutes and they were charged for three hours you start to rethink how much info to put on the bill.

 

[iwire]

We would not hand over a bill for a thousand bucks, with no real explanation, they would have aggreed to the written scope of work, before we started the job.

Scott got his money.

 

[e57]

Seems electricians are WAY to costly to double as counselors. :roll:

Some aren't, depends on what money is to person. I would routinely change bulbs and do this and that for a woman who just wanted someone to talk to. Happily paid her bill to all the trades and ask for each by name, and was happy to wait for openings in the schedule for the right one.

 

[aline]

Wether you do a job T&M or give a fixed price up front you can still have problems when it's time to collect.

I avoid doing jobs on a T&M basis as much as possible, but when I do, I have them sign a form agreeing to the hourly rate. When I give a fixed price upfront I have them sign agreeing to this price before I start and sign again after I'm finished.

Giving a price upfront and having them sign off on it doesn't guarantee they're not going to argue with you over the bill at the end of the job.
If the job involves little or no material and is mostly or all labor it's not to hard for them to figure out how much per hour they were charged.

They know when you arrived. You installed customer supplied light fixtures and customer supplied ceiling fans and all you used was some wirenuts. They look at the bill for $600, then look at the time and see you've been there 3 hours. They can easily see they've been charged $200 per hour. Unless you charge an awful lot for wirenuts.

Then they argue that they're not paying you that much for 3 hours of work.
Upfront pricing has fewer problems than T&M in my opinion, but it's not perfect either. Customers can still be just upset with the price after they see how long it took even if they knew upfront how much it was going to be.

It's easier for the Auto Repair Shops because customers generally don't hang around waiting for their car to be repaired. They drop it off in the morning and pick it up at the end of the day. They don't know if the repair took 1 hour or if it took 8 hours.

 

[aline]

So I spend the day doing some miscellaneous work for this woman. It's one of those...while your here.....and can you just look at this....and This light stays on all the time since I replaced the "sockets"...etc.

I wrap up and hand her the bill for about a grand with my time and material broken out.

X hours @ $95.00
Materials $xxxx

Her respose...WOW you make $95.00 an hour!!

Of course I said no I don't which was met with a look of huh? it says $95.00 an hour.

I say yes it does say that, but I do not make that and then proceeded to list all the places that money goes. She got the point and wrote the check and I went on my merry filthy rich way.

Did you mention to her about all the free estimates everyone thinks they're getting and how the expenses for giving these free estimates are covered in the hourly rate. She's paying for time spent giving free estimates for jobs that you never got.

Do people really think estimates are free?
Don't they realize in the end they pay for these free estimates?
There's a lot of time and money spent running around giving free estimates.
The expense of free estimates has to be made up somewhere.
Guess who pays for it?

I gave a free estimate to a guy one time and he looked at it and asked me about how long I thought it would take. When I told him it would take about two days he looked at me and said "Wow you make a $1,000 per day". I didn't get the job.

I asked him how much I was charging him that day for the time I've spent looking at the job and giving him a free estimate. People don't consider that some days you don't make anything if you've spent the whole day running around giving free estimates. They only look at the time actually spent at the job site doing the work.

 

[LawnGuyLandSparky]

Estimates have no value because every contractor is now giving them away for free. You did this to get your foot in the door. It was a valuable sales and marketing tool before everyone started doing it, but now you've all raced yourselves right to the bottom, and this is the result.

And to think you all complain about sidejobbers...

 

[480sparky]

Do people really think estimates are free?

Yes!

Don't they realize in the end they pay for these free estimates?

No.....

There's a lot of time and money spent running around giving free estimates.

And you think the average customer will understand that?

The expense of free estimates has to be made up somewhere.

Of course, but Joe & Jane Sixpack don't comprehend that concept.

Guess who pays for it?

Joe & Jane Sixpack. They just don't know it.

 

[ceknight]

Seems electricians are WAY to costly to double as counselors. :roll:

I do a lot of "counseling" in the course of my normal work week, and I get paid well for it -- either that day or a year down the road, it doesn't matter to me when. Like Mark, I have a few customers for whom I change light bulbs when I know I was really called just to have a chat about whatever. That afternoon cup of tea or coffee with a customer, giving qualified advice about things they want done about the house; listening to stories about family or the neighbors; discussing politics, philosophy, divorces, fishing, or classical composers; playing with their dogs, you name it. I've gotten so much business as a result of listening to customers and drinking their tea that I've never had to advertise.

As a side benefit, getting paid for that "counseling" is a great way to keep stress levels down. A good afternoon break and a little stimulating conversation can go a long way towards keeping you happy. It's not all about pulling cables and diagnosing circuit problems, you know.

 

[480sparky]

I do a lot of "counseling" in the course of my normal work week, and I get paid well for it -- either that day or a year down the road, it doesn't matter to me when. Like Mark, I have a few customers for whom I change light bulbs when I know I was really called just to have a chat about whatever. That afternoon cup of tea or coffee with a customer, giving qualified advice about things they want done about the house; listening to stories about family or the neighbors; discussing politics, philosophy, divorces, fishing, or classical composers; playing with their dogs, you name it. I've gotten so much business as a result of listening to customers and drinking their tea that I've never had to advertise.

As a side benefit, getting paid for that "counseling" is a great way to keep stress levels down. A good afternoon break and a little stimulating conversation can go a long way towards keeping you happy. It's not all about pulling cables and diagnosing circuit problems, you know.

You should moonlight as a bartender!

 

[ceknight]

You should moonlight as a bartender!

I do! One of my customers comes around for a scotch every month or so. I guess sometimes I'm paying for the counseling.

 

[growler]

Estimates have no value because every contractor is now giving them away for free. You did this to get your foot in the door. It was a valuable sales and marketing tool before everyone started doing it, but now you've all raced yourselves right to the bottom, and this is the result.
And to think you all complain about sidejobbers...

And why shouldn't contractors complain about side jobbers?

Having a boil on your bum may not be your biggest health problem but that doesn't make it any more comfortable.

And I do think the analogy is apt. :grin:

 

[480sparky]

I do! One of my customers comes around for a scotch every month or so. I guess sometimes I'm paying for the counseling.

Neat, or on the rocks? :smile:

 

[jrannis]

You live in a rule heavy state, but you already know that.:grin:

In this area very few people do contracts for small jobs, and lets face it $500 is a small job at this point.

A roofer I hired had a contract with a value around $6,000, The mason I hired for $1900 was a handshake.

I thought you couldnt talk about the secret handshake

 

[cadpoint]

She like it!

She like it!

cadpoint, i thought we discussed trying to have your posts make sense to someone besides you...

LOL, I know...

I told her that story/post this afternoon as we were all smiles rocking down the highway to pick up her wheels, priceless and all paid for! :smile:

She like it! Bell Curve and all.

 

[bigjohn67]

Getting rich off an hour

Getting rich off an hour

Employee's wage :$20.00
Worker's Comp: $11.00
Fuel: $7:00
Cell phone: $3:00
Support salary: $15.00
Truck insurance: $11.50
Business Insurance: $6.50
Office overhead: $5.00
Profit: Wonder why I am in business for $6.00 per hour
Making a 7% profit: Priceless

 

[360Youth]

I've shared this before, but one of our most recent was a customer that we quoted $1000.00 for the job and on the day in question I wrapped up around lunch. When we sent him the invoice he called back irate and nobody was worth $250/hr. Once we explained that there were material costs, fuel costs, we came by to veiw the job to see what was necessary, etc, there was far more than 4 hours in the job, he was more like, "Oh, I never thought about that. Good work. Thanks. Check is in the mail." I still say I'm worth the $250 an hour, but I can't get the boss to put the decimals in the right spots come payday. :grin:

 

[LarryFine]

Once we explained that there were material costs, fuel costs, we came by to veiw the job to see what was necessary, etc, there was far more than 4 hours in the job . . . I still say I'm worth the $250 an hour, but I can't get the boss to put the decimals in the right spots come payday. :grin:

How much of those "material costs, fuel costs, we came by to veiw the job to see what was necessary, etc" did you write a check for?

 

[quogueelectric]

4 billion dollars federal money

4 billion dollars federal money

It's just a matter of time, I really cant afford to stay...

Moving into the Bridgeport Steel Point project alone You might meet me coming off the ferry soon. Can you smell the money??