Send invoice?

[Dylboy]

Good morning

Having a ponder this morning and wondering what most of you do.

When you get a call out for example, ELU keeps tripping and then you spend 3 hours trying to find it but can't. Let's say it has to do with the plumber and they need him for example.

Do you still send the invoice for your time?

I do on some occasions, depending on client, but I often get the "but you didn't fix anything" then I try to explain that time was still spent and then the client may pay reluctantly and then I know I lose that client (not a bad thing always but tough when finding your feet still especially in this shit show of an economy)

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[Derlyn]

My brother.

Always be upfront with the prospective client on the phone before you attend to the call out.

Tell them what your call out fee is and then ask them if they still want you to come.

If the reply is "yes" then they have agreed to pay the callout fee and there's no misunderstanding.

If they say they'll get back to you, just forget that you got the call. You don't need them.

That's how I operate and there's never any fighting over money.

Peace out .. Derek


Edit: Remember the call out fee doesn't actually have anything to do with fixing the fault. It's for other things. Time, petrol, vehicle wear and tare etc.

Think of going to your doctor. He has a consultancy fee. If he cannot "fix" you, he refers you to someone who he thinks can. He still charges his consultancy fee. An attorney is even worse. You will not even see him without paying the consultancy fee up front, whether he "fixes" your problem or not.

[ians]

I have a policy in my business ... if I cant find the fault ... I dont charge ... be it a machine repair or a fault in a building.

I tackle fault finding in the same manner ... lets say a machine has stopped working.

I go to the machine operator and ask the person what happened ... find out as much info as possible ... generally they will identify the problem for you or at least point you in the right direction ... I then test and check if it is just a silly thing like a limit switch or o/load tripped ... within an hour you can normally figue it out ... if not then you approach the customer and discuss the issue ... get permission to continue with the fault finding or walk away at no charger.

When it comes to building repairs .. .the approach is the same ... within an hour you should be to understand the issue ... at which point you make the call.

In all the years on the tools I have on 2 occasions wasted many hours trying to find a silly problem and in both incidents it has been due to bad wiring practises ... for example junction boxes plastered into the wall or tiled over ... I learnt that it is better to walk away from these kind of jobs ... however it is not always possible ... especially if it is one of your big customers ... but then it doesnt matter if you lose a couple hours ... you can always make it up.

[Dylboy]

Thanks gents for the replies. I need to build my own "standard" as you say a doctor still charges then sends you onwards if he can not help. I may do a hybrid model of sorts where I work with what you do and Ians.

Biggest of all which I need to practice is just be straight up ans tell them my standard or how I work and then they can be informed and go from there. Will work on a script to a degree hahah.

Anyways have a lekker public holiday all!


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