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I’m not quite sure how this affects people in other areas, but in Preston there are loads of ads with free estimates advertised. I point blank won’t do this as to me more than half the job, sometimes (especially on integrated), is diagnosing the fault. Surely, to have somebody then follow up my diagnosis cheaper is just shooting yourself in the foot. I also won’t give customers the time of day if they ring up trying to undercut one of the guys who has given them an estimate.
What I tend to do is if I get a “I’m not sure if it’s worth fixing, its ten years old” or a “can someone come out to let me know the price….” I let them know for an est. I charge £12-£20 depending on circumstances (i.e distance or integrated) and give them a written est., if they want the repair carrying out it’s included in the call charge otherwise it just covers our expenses.
Most customers will understand the reasoning as they realise we don’t work for free, some give you the “I’ll call you back” (why don’t they just say get st***ed, I’d prefer that). Others argue the “it says no call out charge” I argue that how would you like to travel somewhere, work for half to an hour then drive back, and not get paid a few times a day.
Phew…..I’m relieved to get that off my chest.
What do you guys do, or is it the same everywhere?
Nooooooooo!
It costs you £20+ to turn up – for nothing? Get the options clear on the phone beforehand and make it clear you’re going to turn up to WORK!There’s no such thing as a free lunch……
Regards,
Penguin.I’ve (personally) never done free estimates and I never will.
As Penguin rightly points out it costs to get to the door, then there’s the time involved and the diagnosis which, let’s face it, is 90{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} of actually repairing the machine. Why should anyone be asked to do that for free?
K.
Re: Free Estimates
Cornwell40,
This is a nationwide problem in our trade. I do not do free estimates or advertise ‘no call out charge’. Several times a day I get the same question…”how much do you charge to………..?”
Most towns are full of small ads from one man bands willing to do it for b****r all just to get their foot in the door, there’s no way of competing with that I’m afraid. Just appeal to a wider clientell by advertising “Fixed Rate” charges and possibly “Same day service”….it works for me 😉
No way will I turn up to a job ‘cap in hand’ like a bloody double glazing salesman in the hope of possibly earning a bob or two. My time is needed elsewhere by those that will I know will pay me 😆
Martin
kwatt wrote:I’ve (personally) never done free estimates and I never will.
We used to, but i saw the light about 5 years ago, mainly for the reasons above, topped with the fact that we sell spares to the public and were finding they were using us as a diagnostic tool then cheekily coming in here and buying the spares themselves.
I’ve never looked back since 😉
TBH the type of customer who tries to get you to undercut others and get something done for nothing are the type of customers I can well do without, they are generally more trouble than they are worth.
If they’re not willing to pay to have the job done properly and a correct diagnosis made and more often than not a first time fix (carrying spares costs money), then, sorry I am not interested in your custom.
Sounds a little harsh, but hey, years of knowledge, carrying large spares stocks etc, it’s worth a lot more than a free estimate.
Dave.
Re: Free Estimates
I have a simple response to the lady(usually) on the phone…I ask her if her husband goes to work for nothing?. It always stops the arguement.
Re: Free Estimates
Hi all
Im sorry to say I have to give free quotes & I hate it
Some days you go out do several jobs & get no money at all
You get some who call you out get your estimate then do it themselves & have the cheek to call you again for the same appliance 2 or 3 times in that year & do the same thing again.
The problem is when I was made redundant 7 years ago there was and still is 2 other guys covering the same villages as myself, they both give free estimates.
I must admit I only do a 5 mile radius of my house and am busy enough.
Mostly the only estimates not accepted are the expensive ones around £130 for wm £150 for cookers.
With new appliance prices dropping like flys, I forsee problems.
(I no longer call to people who p**s me about.)paul
Re: Free Estimates
streetlighter wrote:The problem is when I was made redundant 7 years ago there was and still is 2 other guys covering the same villages as myself, they both give free estimates
On that, may I make a suggestion.
If there are three of you covering the same patch, then it is fair to say there is probably enough work there for all three of you. Why not try and talk to the other two guys and sort something out regards free estimates etc. I bet they don’t like it any more than you do 😉
Please don’t think I am talking about price fixing, but why can’t you all make a decent living and agree on certain areas that you will cover. We all know, as you have discovered that operating a tight area is far more profitable than running around all over the place.
With the risk of repeating sentiments all over the site in various places, can anyone name any other service industry that carries out free estimates, house visits and quotes etc ?
When I say service I mean service, not the building trade which already has massive profits built in to allow such practice. Whereas ours is a very low profit industry, mainly fuelled by the the “sheds” and the manufacturers pushing product prices down.
Dave.
Good post from Dave. Is it still early days for your business SL? I found after a couple of years the referral method of getting work gradually took over, which generated better quality customers (Isn’t that a terrible thing to say?). The main points which make it happen are:
1) Good telephone service – somebody who knows even a little bit will weed out the rubbish.
2) Carry plenty of basic stock
3) Smile! Actually far more important than most people realise !!
4) Try and do it right and stand your guarantees. All repairs go wrong occasionally and experience says just sorting it with no fuss or bother gets you more referrals!
5) Get rid of the Thompson advert! Everybody gets a copy of Thompson’s, regardless of whether they have a house phone or not. People who do not have home phones in certain areas round here don’t have any money (Another terrible thing to say).
6) Use positive negative tactics. Got someone wanting a free estimate? Won’t believe what you tell on the phone? Refer them to the local idiot who DOES do free estimates. If it all goes to the proper plan, you get to go along later and sort out the mess (for more than the original quote!) Also, you’re wasting you’re competion’s time, instead of your own! Personally, I tell these type of customers that Mick’s a nice guy (he is) and he won’t rip them off (he won’t – he can’t do the job if it’s not a blockage or a pair of carbons). The bit you don’t mention is that he’s an idiot! I used to feel guilty about this, but Hey, he brings me all the dishwashers to fix and anything else he hasn’t got his head round. It’s cash and I don’t have to drive, so I give him a preferential rate and try and teach him a bit. Forehead’s sore from banging it on the workshop wall.I think I must have a nasty and devious mind. However, I’ve been a sole trader for 11 years, I enjoy it, I make a living and with UKW I now feel that I belong to a community. I may never be a millionaire, but quite honetly, I wouldn’t change a thing – apart from a lot of the machines!
Regards,
Penguin.Re: Free Estimates
These clowns that offer free estimates, where do you think their living comes from? They wack it on the parts, fit bojack bits at hell of a mark up or make up for it on another call later in the week. Someone somewhere pays, and yet the customer is ignorant enough to believe that they are getting a freebie.
For the last 2 years we have had a company saturate our yellow pages, they come from the other side of Southampton, must be over 100 miles away, yet the advert has ghost phone numbers for all the decent towns in our area. They advertise no call out on completed work. How it works is, if they don’t complete the work or sell you a new product, you have to pay. Therefore, if you say no, then get your cheque book out, as it will cost £40. Have a repair there & then and you avoid that fee, but of course you now pay labour. There isn’t a determined labour charge, it all depends on the nature of the job, if you find it is too expensive, which it usually seems to be, they sell a new machine. Is there anything free in that?
We get customers phone us all the time and are quick in telling us that such & such company doesn’t charge a call out, they refuse to listen to any sense; such as, “If you call a taxi to your house do you expect them to come for free”? Then a few months later the same customer phones us up, they have been sold a bottom of the range Tricity Bendix 1000 spin machine from this company & it has gone wrong under the guarantee. Invariably this is a customer who was on our sysyem from the past and they had a fairly up to date Zanussi 1200 spin product. Our engineers tells me that some customers have told them the “engineer” from this lot turned up on the doorstep with a sales brochure instead of a tool box. Wev’e even known them write of Ariston or Hotpoint products which carry a 5 year parts warranty.
I just hope that trading standards drive them out one day, but the point I’m making is, the competition under those terms are rather unbalanced.
Re: Free Estimates
Penguin wrote
Good telephone service – somebody who knows even a little bit will weed out the rubbish.
giving basic advise on the phone blocked pump filters/cookers on auto etc will get the customer on your side and they will always come back and recommend you. It also helps if the person taking the call has a good memory and can recall customers personal details / family history we all get Dear Diary information, it makes them feel you have an interest in them if you recall previos conversations(obviously only applies to solo independent engineers)
Try and do it right and stand your guarantees. All repairs go wrong occasionally and experience says just sorting it with no fuss or bother gets you more referrals!
Don’t expect expect every job to give you a profit, very ocaisionally you will get a pig that you will not win on the best approach is to solve the problem even at your cost then move on and put it down to experiance,(that customer will usually come back for the next repair)
Get rid of the Thompson advert! Everybody gets a copy of Thompson’s
I find that applies to Yellow pages also, local paper adverts also gets you all the rubbish.
Re: Free Estimates
A number of interesting additional comments were posted here last week but sadly lost. 😥 However I think I can summarise that the general feeling amongst members was simply DON’T PUT YOURSELF DOWN BY DOING FREE ESTIMATES😉
MartinRe: Free Estimates
Hi all
Im a little confussed ( dont take much )
Between no call out charge, free estimates and free quotes
How can I do free call out but not charge for estimates
I call and tell them £55.00
they say no what do I do ?
How do you guys do it.
My competition advertise free call out only.paul
Re: Free Estimates
The way a friendly trading standards officer explained it to me, and the way they advise the public is, a call out charge is the charge you make to actually arrive at the property, this may or may not include any labour time.
Advertising free estimates and no call-out charge infers to the public that they will not pay a penny for diagnosis whether you use one or both of those terms in your adverts.
Best way, don’t use either and explain to the customer when they call what the charges are.
Dave.
Re: Free Estimates
streetlighter wrote:How do you guys do it.
You cannot ignore your competition of course but like Dave says, don’t do either.
In my case I prefer to call it and advertise it as a ‘Fixed Rate’ charge. Specifically £35 + VAT for local calls that ‘includes’ the first half hour on site, thereafter £7.50 each additional 15 mins + VAT. My fixed rate increases with the radial distance from base thereafter up to a maximum of £50 + VAT for calls up to 25 miles away (though I am seriously thinking of not going beyond 20miles due to spiralling fuel costs and longer travelling times)
We all know what a ‘No Call Out/ Free Estimates’ leads to (so too do Trading Standards – they prefer to register those that show fixed rates incidentally) with these ‘Cowboys’….foot in the door, check out its worth, rip ’em off and away!
Your choice really 🙄
Martin
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