To Charge or not to charge – that is the question

[Martin]

Re: To Charge or not to charge – that is the question

This’ll put a smile on silverbrooms face…….. 😀

…… at my local Vauxhall dealership……………one one occasion my van had an intermittent fault where it was blowing fuses and the windscreen wipers wouldn’t work. I pulled into their forecourt, their electrician went straight to the cause (wiring harness chaffing on engine block). He taped the loom safely, replaced the fuse….NO CHARGE!

…..on another occasion…strong smell of spilt diesel? The end rubber fuel pipe (an inch long rubber bung in fact) next to injector had perished. He got a new one from the stores, poked it on, wiped away the diesel spillage, job done in minutes….NO CHARGE!!!!

8)

[andy_art_trigg]

Re: To Charge or not to charge – that is the question

Another option could be to advise that the fault isn’t obvious if nothing is found within several minutes and give them the option for to investigate further at X cost or pay the call out charge and call you back if the fault re-occurs.

It depends whether you are really keen to earn money or very busy and would be content to get a call out and get onto the next job or not.

[robbo1973]

Re: To Charge or not to charge – that is the question

similair to this thread i got accused of being a rip off by a guy for fitting a new drain pump. the problem was no empty and there was a hair band wrapped around the impellor i changed the pump and charged accordingly. he said i should have unwrapped the tightly wrapped hair band and refit, i explained if he wanted to do this then fine but he would have been charged the labour rate and if the pump failed tomorrow he would have to pay the full amount again parts and labour. do you just change the pump or remove obstruction?.

[andy_art_trigg]

Re: To Charge or not to charge – that is the question

robinsonrobbo wrote:similair to this thread i got accused of being a rip off by a guy for fitting a new drain pump. the problem was no empty and there was a hair band wrapped around the impellor i changed the pump and charged accordingly. he said i should have unwrapped the tightly wrapped hair band and refit, i explained if he wanted to do this then fine but he would have been charged the labour rate and if the pump failed tomorrow he would have to pay the full amount again parts and labour. do you just change the pump or remove obstruction?.

If the band could be removed without damage to the seal or impellor it’s hard to justify a new pump. If you didn’t try I presume you’ve had experience of removing such an obstruction before only to get a recall.

I never had any trouble removing a hair band myself and always did. I’d have advised the customer that I recommended a new pump because … and let him decide whether to risk repercussions or not if he didn’t want a new pump.

You must have thought it was going to take a long time if you think a new pump would be cheaper!

[silverbroom]

Re: To Charge or not to charge – that is the question

Thanks for that one Martin, I am sure you will support this garage after such good service.

Great debate this but please please, all posters on this one keep in mind I am talking about offering no more than a flick of a switch or push of a oven clock to reset back to manual when I am but a few streets away from an existing paid call and this only to my regular customers built up over many years, however if I have to open my tool case then my standard call charge would apply.

Thinking back, I have only made two no charge visits this year based on the above criteria————that is untill this morning.

What would you have done?.

7:45am Regular customer of mine phones, her Bosch fridge/freezer not
working, defrosting and no light on in fridge.
She has changed fuse, bought and fitted new bulb still no joy.
What would you do, and what did I do.

1 Tell her the Bosch has a two year guarantee so contact them.
2 Arrange a call yourself reminding her of your call charge.
3 Ask her to try unit in another socket.

Correct answer to “What did I do” will win two tickets for the following fictitious concert starring,

The Jimmyshandrix Experience and Ceilidh Mynogue

silverbroom

[/u]

[andy_art_trigg]

Re: To Charge or not to charge – that is the question

silverbroom wrote:
What would you have done?.

7:45am Regular customer of mine phones, her Bosch fridge/freezer not
working, defrosting and no light on in fridge.
She has changed fuse, bought and fitted new bulb still no joy.
What would you do, and what did I do.

1 Tell her the Bosch has a two year guarantee so contact them.
2 Arrange a call yourself reminding her of your call charge.
3 Ask her to try unit in another socket.

Correct answer to “What did I do” will win two tickets for the following fictitious concert starring,

No 3 first. Then if necessary no 2. Never no 1 because she’s in need of urgent attention and it could be something simple you could sort out straight away. If visit was necessary I’d advise number 1 if it looked involved or expensive.

I reckon you sorted her on the phone and she’s well happy.

[neilsukwg]

Re: To Charge or not to charge – that is the question

My question was a hypothetical one, more of a survey of what others do than a request for help in what to do.

I think it is essential to charge for every visit. Also important to remember that if you are charging, for example £45 for a visit plus parts you are still on average 50{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} cheaper than the average manufacturer service. Is your service 50{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} inferior ? I don’t think so.

I do vary my charges though, not means testing, just common sense, all my work is within a 5 mile radius, I rarely travel more than a mile between jobs and if an o.a.p (not as the celebs in get me out of the jungle suggested an acronym for Old Angry Person ) can’t see the programmed dial properly, I am just as likely to charge him/her £5 or less and stick a bit of Day-Glo tape on the facia to help him/her choose the right prog. Great PR!

As regards the disclaimer, in the case of a no fault found on a leak, I explain that I have not repaired the machine as no fault has been found to repair. I go on to make it clear that as no fault has been uncovered then the machine must not be left alone during a cycle as the fault could re-occur at any time.

Also somebody who has to pay a team of engineers and keep them on the road surely has to charge for every call, not so essential for the engineer working in a small community on his own, who might be bumping into his customers down the pub or at the shops every day. Horses for courses.

I think a lot of the debate here about what is ethical, what is right etc. just goes to show you how lucky our customers are, all posters in this thread and throughout the trade forums have displayed integrity in their dealings with customers. Surely that integrity alone is worth the charges we have to make to cover our costs.

[tanner]

Re: To Charge or not to charge – that is the question

hi guys,
i always charge in this instance but only a basic call out fee. £35 my normal labour rate is £55 so they dont feel ripped off.
i do inform them that if called again and again no fault found i will charge again.
if there is a fault discovered then they only need pay the remainder of the labour rate plus parts.
dont devalue yourselfs what we have is a skill that took years of hard work and toll to get.
as i was once told by a heating engineer i am payed for what i know not what i can do!

rgds
stuart

[richardable]

Re: To Charge or not to charge – that is the question

stuart, i’m with you on this one, good ,easy scheme, customer knows what to expect, no surprises..it’s alwasy difficult to argue the toss when you haven’t told the customer what to expect, “no call out charge” doesn’t mean “free estimate”
richard

[Author]

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