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I live in a big city, am the only one advertising in the local paper, have been in the game for 30 years and have not been earning a great deal of money in the last few years I reduced my call out to £10 and reduced my labour charges.
Went to a call out tonight at 7 clock,as the customer said they are at work in the day.
The machine was an 18 month old Hotpoint WT960 which needed a new mains filter. I quoted the customer £55.00. The reply was “We only want to know what is wrong with it so that our friend can fix it”
My reply was “I cannot tell you what is wrong with it to allow someone who does not know what they are doing to mess with it. So if you just give me my £10 I will leave you to it”.
“What’s the £10.00 for?”.
“My callout and for diagnosing the problem”.
“But you haven’t done anything”.
Needless to say I got my £10.00. But is it only me who comes across these people?Regards.
Nigel.Re: Is it just me?
No you are not the only one but your terms need to be clear from the moment you make the appointment on the phone (whatever) and that includes how much you are going to charge whatever the circumstances when you get there.
At £10 though you are setting yourself up for the chancers though and to tell the truth the “call out charge” is now a bit of a joke. Try using a flat labour charge and then a lower diagnostic charge for the quick in and out jobs you dont do, who knows you may even attract a better clientel who may appreciate and respect your work and knowledge.Re: Is it just me?
No not just you mate , there are more and more”chancers” out there who expect you to run around all day like your a bloody charity. I live out in the sticks a bit so they don’t see the 30/40 mins i spend driving too and from them ,they just see me walk in change a part in 15 mins and think i teleport back again lol
Re: Is it just me?
I converted to a diagnosis fee /call out charge around two years ago after 20 odd years of no call out and its been the best thing i ever did ,like you i was sick of the chancers taking me for a ride .I now charge £30 for a diagnosis but quash this charge if they go ahead with the repair at the price quoted at first i thought i might lose a lot of work but in reality its just sorted the wheat from the chaff and left me with time to concentrate on the quality customer ,takings are up and im a lot time richer nowdays 😀
Re: Is it just me?
It is tricky to get in the mind set to discuss charges even though the customer dosen’t ask. But the stress it relieves in knowing there can be no arguments when you’ve gone out of your way to get to them is well worth it.
On the other hand it can work the other way, when you don’t get the call, you then wonder if everyone else is being as up front as you are. I had four people yesterday who didn’t book a call with me after I explained charges. This is high though most people are fine with what I quote.Re: Is it just me?
Think its that time of year Tim ,i have had a few this week asking for free estimates and not booking, but in the main i find its probably only one in twenty that doesnt book certainly far lower than i feared when i started charging ,read a book recently regarding how the mind works relating to people who dont charge enough for there services and one line that stuck in my mind was that to a customer free call out =free repair ,and thats where your problems start :rolls: Cras
Re: Is it just me?
get it all the time when asked why dont you do free call outs simply ask them do they go to their work for nothing.
Re: Is it just me?
Same here I get fed up with it, but I am not going to go down the road of free /estimate & call out. May consider it if I can run my van on fresh air !
Re: Is it just me?
I always say to them wen they phone that i charege for call out mine call out is 35 ,00 if they dont have the job done
Re: Is it just me?
Giving free estimates only encourages customer to ring every engineer doing so in the locality.Even if you do get job chances are it will mean a return visit after customer has finished getting numerous free quotes.Diagnosis/Repair charge the only way.
Re: Is it just me?
I find the best line to give is
“If we repair it we do not charge a callout charge if you don’t have it fixed we charge X”I keep well clear of local papers they seem to attract the time wasters that want a free call out and only want to pick your brains. If anyone phones and says do you do a free call out, I say “only is you own a petrol station and will give me free petrol, it costs us money to come out to you”
I would rather lose a few calls than waste my time with free loaders. No fix no fee is a mugs game. If you make no profit in simply calling you have a lot of unpaid hours at the end of the year that is no good for any business.
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