Question about Service calls

[KevinD]

I have a company that services my rental properties.

Their standard service call is $ 130.00

On top of that I pay from the time their service tech. is dispatched from their location till they are finished with my job. Also $ 130.00 per hour.

An example: Service tech was dispatched to my location at 8am Friday. Arrived at my location at 8.30am. Tech. was at my location 2 hours performing work.

I was billed for:

$ 130.00 Service call
$ 325.00 2.5 hours labor
$ 455.00 Total bill

I thought the idea of a service call charge was for the cost to get the tech. and equipment etc. to the job site.
It just seems like I am paying double, paying for a service call and also paying dispatch time.

 

[davegillfishing]

that is why we take care of our properties our selves..
when we get a call with a problem we pop open the rolladex and make the call
to one of our group of vendors we use and that uses us for whatever work they need.
that is crazy to pay 130.00 to take the call plus 130.00 per hr to do any work....
waste of money in my opinion.
dave

 

[KevinD]

that is why we take care of our properties our selves..
when we get a call with a problem we pop open the rolladex and make the call
to one of our group of vendors we use and that uses us for whatever work they need.
that is crazy to pay 130.00 to take the call plus 130.00 per hr to do any work....
waste of money in my opinion.
dave

The question in issue is not the $ 130.00 per hour.
Some jobs I have done are well worth paying the 130.00 per hour.

The question is: Am I paying double for the tech's drive time.

 

[rhino1]

Sounds like it. $130 just to take a call, then you pay for the drive time & repairs separately?

I would call the company and get them to drop the bill and negotiate a better rate. If they won't, use someone else. The economy "scare" has everyone tightening up, so now is a good time to get a better deal.

We have HVAC companies here advertising on billboards they don't ever charge for overtime anymore.

 

[Wayne Miller]

As much as I'd hate paying labor on top of a $130 service call it hurts even more to see grown CC'ers charging what we were charging 20 years ago.

We could learn a thing or two from plumbers and HVAC guys about the value of what we do.

 

[Dolly Llama]

We could learn a thing or two from plumbers and HVAC guys about the value of what we do.

the difference is, more often than not, the plumber, HVAC or appliance repairman are called cause sump'ums broke..and they "need" it fixed

CCing, more often than not is discretionary spending

two different animals, two different mind sets to the consumer


..L.T.A.

 

[Wayne Miller]

I agree. But, there are those folks with descretionary cash who can't stand dirty carpets anymore than they can a broken toilet or AC. I dont' see a service charge in my future but, as an industry, we could learn a lot.

 

[Bob Foster]

I think the fairest way would be to charge travel time one direction only unless its an abnormal distance where mileage charge could apply.

 

[davegillfishing]

i dont see a problem with the drive time from start to finish..i see a problem with
the 130.00 to take the call in the first place..i can see a min charge but 130.00 to
take a call then the 130.00 per hour after that?? makes no sense to me.

 

[mirf]

I wonder if we changed our pricing to the same structure what would happen.

Service Charge $40.00 Door to Door time
Hourly Rate $125.00 Starts when we arrive

Bet you the kids pets, and others would be out of the way. How many would do a better job vacuuming. Would we move furniture? Would customers have the whole house done?

 

[juniorc82]

what kind of work was it for? If it was a water damage or flood issue thats differant

 

[Greg Cole]

We charge for the transporation time for montiroing our water damage jobs. Never had an adjuster complain. Shouldn't they charge you as well?

 

[KevinD]

We charge for the transporation time for montiroing our water damage jobs. Never had an adjuster complain. Shouldn't they charge you as well?

This is what I am asking.
What is the service charge for if it does not include travel to the job?

Years back when I had employees we had a service charge also, but that charge covered ALL costs related to get the employee and equipment to the job site including travel time. Then our billable time started when we arrived.

 

[The Great Oz]

Tech drive time .5 hours (x2) + service time 2 hours = 3 hours total. 3 x $130 = $390. You were overcharged by $65 if their charges are by the hour. If a service company charged me a fee just to start the clock I'd assume they think me an idiot and I'd move on to another company. Immediately.