is my boiler worth repairing phone call

[buckley plumb]

dont know if just me but i am getting fed up with the calls where you go and look at a boiler and diagnose for the customer but its not worth repairing so you quote and never get the job even though you spent 2 hrs looking at it for them for free. keep thinking of charghing a call out for the initial look at the boiler but this could loose me work what do others do in situations like this.

ant

 

[CES]

I stopped doing the free diagnosis bit. I now charge £50, if you want me to fix it Ill knock the £50 off the price.

 

[southcoastboile]

When people ask me about it I always say its not a callout charge but £40 covers you for the 1st hour and is a diagnostic cost. If it can be fixed there and then it will only be £40. I found since I have explained it like that I am getting more people agree for me to come out

 

[Leo21]

When people ask me about it I always say its not a callout charge but £40 covers you for the 1st hour and is a diagnostic cost. If it can be fixed there and then it will only be £40. I found since I have explained it like that I am getting more people agree for me to come out

Thats exactly what I do, more often than not they decline though.

 

[julesverne]

When people ask me about it I always say its not a callout charge but £40 covers you for the 1st hour and is a diagnostic cost. If it can be fixed there and then it will only be £40. I found since I have explained it like that I am getting more people agree for me to come out

i used to charge a call out till someone suggested on another thread a while calling it a diagnostic.

since then i've called it a diagnostic fee including 1st hours labour far more successful.

i only go to friends, family and a trusted customers free of charge.

 

[Millsy 82]

Dont ever do anything for free you have got to cover your costs and you probably gave them all the advice they needed to get someone to do it at the weekend really cheap. I dont work for a huge company but a large local company and nothing is ever done free of charge except for their close friends and family.

Also never call it a call out as people think the 1st hour is added as well just say the 1st hour will cost you £50 or whatever you charge.

 

[SimonG]

When somebody phones and says their boilers broken down can you come then I'm going out to fix it, not tell them whats wrong with it. As soon as the van points in their direction it's gonna cost em. But if you are having issues than the 'diagnostic fee' is a way to go.