No Call out Charges

[johnmcginty]

Ok so I put no call out charge in my website and on adds as I would probably get no work otherwise. Just wondered what you guys are doing in concern to this area as yesterday customer phoned me up with an "emergency" ( man, professional around early thirties ) , he said he had a leak coming from above his bathroom and that he thought it was some pipes upstairs. Ok so I told him I would be 45 mins ( across Leeds in rush hour... Moortown to Hunslet to be precice) . Got there and his girlfriend opened the door and showed me the bathroom and said we had to go upstairs to see the pipes . which was correct so we went upstairs. Only to boil my blood as she knocked on the flat upstairs and a guy answered who precided to say he had called a plumber out this morning and all was now well. !! she just said oh ok , and gave me some half arsed sorry, timewasters. As i advertise no call out charge I felt though I obviously couldnt give her one. This happens too often now as work is picking up.

1, Any ideas on how to word the legal eze? i.e The no call out charge is only applicable if you have authority to contract the work and the plumbing work must be yours.

Like I have said before I feel that i dont want to give a call out charge as to keep in competition , though just want to cover my back as I am getting tooo many timewasters . Any one else deal with this issue would love to hear how you verbalise your wording on websites and what you tell customers over the phone before you go in an emergency . How many of you actually have t and c's and what is on it ? any help much appreciated guys.

 

[secret squirrel]

I don't mention anything about call out charges anywhere, the only thing, I mention is a free quote. I do, however, advertise emergency call out.

There is a big difference in "can you give me an estimate to fit my bathroom" and "there's water coming through my ceiling." So, I differentiate between the two.

I explain the distance I have to travel etc. the emergency call out charge which includes the 1st 30mins (in my case 60 min) work and ask if anyone else has been called. If yes, let me know how they get on!

I think legally, whatever, you do the customer must be made immediately aware of any charges (this would be on the telephone, when the customer has called you). However, if you turn up, the work is completed by someone else before you get there, the chances of you getting paid are slim. That leaves the small claims court, which although is easy is just more hassle, then you need to prove that they were aware of the costs......

The nightmare of our work is most agreements are verbal!

I had an argument in an electrical shop, there T & C's were on the receipt. I argued that I did not agree to them until it was too late as I was only made aware of them after my purchase. I received a full refund. So written T & C's are only any good if you give them before hand.

 

[Dirty Fingers]

For general plumbing only I too do not charge a call-out fee. However, I do make it clear that I charge £45 for the first hour and then £35 thereafter. Pro rata.

 

[Avatar]

£30 min to cover costs - even if it is a false alarm!

This is your bread and butter after all.

 

[traineedrip]

We have been doing some plumbing work in some very posh 100year old houses lately. had 2 jobs to quote on.... one was a jammed stopcock which we would have fitted a lever valve and the other job was water coming out of a loft overflow.

stopcock we unjammed with the grips as there was no room whats so ever for a lever valve. customer could also turn off in the road via lever valve so he was safe. no charge.

the loft overflow was the lid taking a nose dive onto the ball arm. fixed with a plank of wood. no charge

they both offered payment but we hadnt really done anything, better to leave them with a very nice taste in their mouths as we had paid work to go on to. it wont be forgotten and word of mouth is the best advertising.

if you need to make money quick fair do`s, or if youve driven miles to get there. but if you want to build a business then be prepared to take the odd loss and get known as a fair safe plumber and your customers will stick with you.

 

[johnmcginty]

I do have that mindset although I still need to pull in the cash as everyone else does ... The odd loss is one thing , 5 timewasters a week is another.

 

[Bernie2]

It's funny really.

The idea of "call out" charges is a very recent thing. Previously if the person called within normal working hours, there was no fee charged.

The thing is of course, travel costs a lot today, tell them how much a mile you charge and how much it would cost for you to come and then let them decide if they want to pay or not.

Your only being up front and honest.

BG give a fix any fault on a boiler, including parts of £137. Another company came using the same idea and charged £120. Okay so it was only an over heat stat. The customer knew how much they would have to a pay all in, and they probably like that idea.
I think there is nothing worse for a customer than not to know how much a job is likely to cost.

Okay some jobs you can't cost but many you probably can.

Mind you a fixed all in price may sound good but you may have to renew the pcb and that can cost over £100 on its own.

Its win some loose some.

 

[justlead1]

Hi. This problem is historic, back in the 70'is i experienced the same problem. You may be the same as i? Too cost conscious. This help you want to administer to your clients will only be available whilst YOU trade. If you don't get more assertive and go skint, your clients loose a service. Call out is one thing an hourly rate from leaving base is another. What i recommend is your invoice book in NCR format, write it out get client to sign, never leave a job without getting paid. As its an emotional purchase, when asked for the monies two weeks down the line they forget the knight in shinning armour and your magnificent feats. Good Luck

 

[Bernie2]

In the 90's I worked for a firm who did a lot of work for housing associations, along with other contractors doing the same kind of work.

The housing associations wanted every company to put their fixed prices up on their company website for every kind of job their company did, so the housing association could choose which one to send to a job.

General Motors do the same kind of thing to get each of their plants to compete with one another as do Fords for their parts suppliers.

It seems to be the way things are going.

 

[stevetheplumber]

It's funny really.

The idea of "call out" charges is a very recent thing. Previously if the person called within normal working hours, there was no fee charged.



BG give a fix any fault on a boiler, including parts of £137. Another company came using the same idea and charged £120. Okay so it was only an over heat stat. The customer knew how much they would have to a pay all in, and they probably like that idea.
I think there is nothing worse for a customer than not to know how much a job is likely to cost.

Okay some jobs you can't cost but many you probably can.

Mind you a fixed all in price may sound good but you may have to renew the pcb and that can cost over £100 on its own.

Its win some loose some.

does the british gas offer include parts i always assumed it to be a fixed labour cost and any parts fitted would be extra?

 

[emergencyman]

Hi,

I live in Leeds too along the ringroad from you (OP).Ive probably seen you around.

Anyhow, In all my advertisments I put "We only charge from arrival". When someone phones I state that there is no call out , the rate is £XX per hour or part of and we do charge for diagnostic work. I also go on to say that there are no other charges apart from a cancelation charge after the engineer has set off .
Most big firms such as React Fast don't use the no call out charge phrase.

Out of hours I take the first hours labour by Debit or Credit card before setting off. Too many hoax calls, people changing their mind, finding a cheaper quote, uncle fred has turned up and he can fix it etc etc.

ps. Perhaps you should re phrase the bottom line of your first paragraph in your post :0)

 

[johnmcginty]

Thanks guys , some very interesting advice especially emergencyman, awesome ...I will definately take that on board and rephrase my website now. Is there a cheap (free ) way of taking money from peoples debit cards or will I need a streamline machine?

 

[emergencyman]

I looked into ways of taking credit/debit card payments and I found the best option was to get one from my bank. HSBC charge £250 for the machine including first years rental then 25p for debit cards or 2% for credit cards. This is for a machine that stays at home. It will not work on a phone line that is on divert constantly.

There may be cheaper ways but I took that one as I already bank with HSBC and all the ones I compared were around the same cost. Better the devil you know and all that.

A few people are reluctant to pay before arrival with concerns that they will pay and no one will turn up. I just have to explain and 99% are ok. Only one refused , think he was a hoax caller anyhow.

ps I meant rephrase your first post on this thread....sorry Im been childish..the bit where you said "obviosly I couldn't give her one" ;o)