Pricing (very) small jobs & charging

[secret squirrel]

Yeh totally agree it differs, be the customer or previous work or friends or whatever but it is still £50 to start the van for an hour

Yeah, sort of agree,

For me and its only a personal take on things really,

If I get called on to perform my daily tasks between 9am and 5pm Mon-Fri (or 8am to 4pm whichever is your preferred times) I'd agree 100%. I don't charge more because its an emergency within my normal working day.

However, if its out of hours then I do charge an additional fee. My reasons are quite simple, I like Sundays off. My partner doesn't work Sunday so we like to go out or vegitate in front of the TV. If its an emergency, water pouring through the ceiling etc. heating/ hot water not working, toilet not flushing. I will charge my normal rate if the customer waits until Monday morning. If the customer chooses to use me on my day off there is an additional charge.

I also charge more if the customer wants me to go out after 6pm, they're sitting on there backside in front of the TV with the dinner and I'm changing a ball valve at a time to suit them! this is totally acceptable (to me) if you want to pay more! if you want it done between 9 and 5 then you pay the £45 plus parts.

Sainsburys charge more for delivering your shopping, so do other delivery companies and I personally think this is acceptable.

In our society of everything done at the customers convienience 24 hour shopping etc etc etc. then providing the customer is made aware that there is an additional charge I don't see a problem.

IF, however, someone wants to go out at 8pm in the evening and charge there normal rate (genuinely) good luck to them, if I loose out on a ball valve or whatever the job is then that is my issue.

 

[mitchellplumber]

A-men! That's my thoughts entirely.

 

[Hybrid]

Having said that it is hard to charge £45 for 10 minutes, well it was when I started but now I've got a bit more merceneray about it. BT, Sky, BG, appliance repair companies all charge huge rates and never feel guilty.

A solicitor will never say it'll take me 5 minutes to do this on a form on the PC and print it out, call it a tenner......

Everything you've said is bang on.

I'll throw someone a freebie on occassion if it makes business sense and i'll do a reduced rate for the elderly because they appreciate it, are good payers and they pass on recommendations to their families.

I don't do it because I have a responsibility to society at large. My obligations are fullfilled by paying tax on my earnings.
I conduct my business fairly but in line with what is expected of businesses in other sectors. I don't see the trades being any different to, for example running a shop, an estate agents or manufacturing. There are running costs and expenditures. Someone has to cover them and like every business it's the customer.

 

[mitchellplumber]

Scenario- You get called out at 9pm for a boiler break-down.. get to the boiler and the stupid customer has not turned the boiler on, it is switched off at the wall. You switch it on, the customers face goes . Do you charge them your call out rate or not? This job has taken 2 mins and a 5 min drive there and back. Answers on a postcard please ;0)

 

[Barry98]

Scenario- You get called out at 9pm for a boiler break-down.. get to the boiler and the stupid customer has not turned the boiler on, it is switched off at the wall. You switch it on, the customers face goes . Do you charge them your call out rate or not? This job has taken 2 mins and a 5 min drive there and back. Answers on a postcard please ;0)

no but they owe me a pint when they see me in the pub to keep me stum

 

[dontknowitall]

For these tiny, very local jobs if I don't get my toolbox out I don't charge.

If a tool or two comes out and it's a 2-5 minute job, I charge from nothing to £40. It depends on the customer. Older person who's lived in the village for 50+ years won't get charged as they're frequently good for recommendations. A holiday house is £40 or more.

If I was town based I'd charge the full call out whack but pad out the call for another 5-10 minutes with a "Do you know how to turn your hot water off in an emergency?" It's surprising how few people do know. And if the tap won't turn, there's another job for the future!

This way a 2 minute job takes 12 minutes or so and a £40 for 12 minutes seems a much fairer price.

imho

 

[PlumbBobBob]

i agree, a pint down the pub would suffice for me too.

 

[mitchellplumber]

That's a fair shout Bod ;0)

 

[secret squirrel]

Scenario- You get called out at 9pm for a boiler break-down.. get to the boiler and the stupid customer has not turned the boiler on, it is switched off at the wall. You switch it on, the customers face goes . Do you charge them your call out rate or not? This job has taken 2 mins and a 5 min drive there and back. Answers on a postcard please ;0)

At 9pm in the evening YES, they couldn't do it and the fact that the solution is so simple why is that your problem?

I've had to get changed, wake the van up, put my cup of tea down, jump down the bat pole to the cave and off I go........

If it was during the day say 9.30 in the morning, I'd still charge but obviously not as much as going out at 9pm.

Very sorry guys and girls, not that I'm a money grabbing git but I've got bills to pay, advertising etc and if you call me at 9pm to do a job that you can't then you have to pay! again, not many industries or large companies will come out for free.

Most large companies will take a credit card over the phone and charge a minimum rate.