Installers

maddog

What would you charge?

I called to a lady on Friday night at 7:45pm for a service call after 1 hour I discovered the problem, the cable going to her second viewing point is damaged somewhere in the drywall. Now when I came to this conclusion it was about 9pm her kid was going to bed so I couldn't continue, so I charged €65 for the call out and made arrangements to call back on Monday afternoon I said it requires new cableing and that I would charge another €65 for the labour and cable and she seemed to be ok with that.

Now my Boss said that I shouldn't charge for going out again and fishing the cable that I pay for? Oh also out of the 65 the office gets 15 for administrative
costs.

So what I want to know is what would you charge am I being unfair or is my boss?

Regards,
Maddog

Hagar

I think it would be fair to charge her the difference between the €65 she already gave you and whatever you would have charged her to do the job to completion on the first visit. My 2c worth.

Tony

i'd never go to a house so late for two reasons.
1. Checking a dish out in the dark is dangerous and 2. As you have found it you may not get the time to finish the job.

If the customer was happy with the arrangement though then really thats all that matters, although imagine the reaction if you had charged 130.

maddog

How would you charge, per hour/per job?

Regards,
Maddog

Rippy

Tony wrote:

i'd never go to a house so late for two reasons.
1. Checking a dish out in the dark is dangerous and 2. As you have found it you may not get the time to finish the job.

.

Agreed working in the dark is not ideal. but I find I have to do it. The evening is when people are at home , so I work most evenings.
Using a good headtorch (Petzl), I keep both hands free so I don't find it difficult or dangerous. Same applies for attics or even dark corners!

Tony

maddog wrote:

How would you charge, per hour/per job?

Regards,
Maddog

Really depends on the job, commercial customers usually per hour + materials but domestic usually a callout and if anything major needed have a chat with the customer about their options.

Tony

Rippy wrote:

Agreed working in the dark is not ideal. but I find I have to do it. The evening is when people are at home , so I work most evenings.
Using a good headtorch (Petzl), I keep both hands free so I don't find it difficult or dangerous. Same applies for attics or even dark corners!

I would check your insurance as you may find you are not covered working after sunset. Of course people are home in the evenings but tradesmen would be out of business if we did not work daytime hours. I think one of the biggest pains from a customers point of view is when they take time off work and the guy does not show up so i can understand why people are reluctant to lose valuable time this way.

maddog

Thanks for your replys guys, as it stands I'm not going to charge anything extra to get this job finished, take the good with the bad I guess.

Regards,
Maddog

maddog

Rippy wrote:

Agreed working in the dark is not ideal. but I find I have to do it. The evening is when people are at home , so I work most evenings.
Using a good headtorch (Petzl), I keep both hands free so I don't find it difficult or dangerous. Same applies for attics or even dark corners!

Same here I find the headtorch a good investment.

Regards,
Maddog

Tony

maddog wrote:

Thanks for your replys guys, as it stands I'm not going to charge anything extra to get this job finished, take the good with the bad I guess.

Regards,
Maddog

Fair Play to you

andrew3

maddog wrote:

What would you charge?

I called to a lady on Friday night at 7:45pm for a service call after 1 hour I discovered the problem, the cable going to her second viewing point is damaged somewhere in the drywall. Now when I came to this conclusion it was about 9pm her kid was going to bed so I couldn't continue, so I charged €65 for the call out and made arrangements to call back on Monday afternoon I said it requires new cableing and that I would charge another €65 for the labour and cable and she seemed to be ok with that.

Regards,
Maddog

Question 1: Why did it take you over an hour to discover a cabling problem.
Question 2: How long would it take to tie a new piece of cable pull it through the wall then join it on to the existing cable using an f-connector joint and suitable insulation?

You should have been able to complete the job in under an hour - I'd say you didn't have the proper tools for the job in hand!

Hagar

andrew3 wrote:

I'd say you didn't have the proper tools for the job in hand!

I'd say you don't know these posters very well.

Rippy

Tony wrote:

I would check your insurance as you may find you are not covered working after sunset. Of course people are home in the evenings but tradesmen would be out of business if we did not work daytime hours. I think one of the biggest pains from a customers point of view is when they take time off work and the guy does not show up so i can understand why people are reluctant to lose valuable time this way.

I can find no mention in my Quinn Direct policy, but I will check with them to be on the safe side.
TBH evening work suits me and it suits the customers as I am not a morning person!

Tony

Rippy wrote:

I can find no mention in my Quinn Direct policy, but I will check with them to be on the safe side.
TBH evening work suits me and it suits the customers as I am not a morning person!

I know that feeling BTW can I ask how much quinn direct charge as i got a quote from a broker today for just under 1k which I thought was pretty good.

Tony

andrew3 wrote:

Question 1: Why did it take you over an hour to discover a cabling problem.
Question 2: How long would it take to tie a new piece of cable pull it through the wall then join it on to the existing cable using an f-connector joint and suitable insulation?

You should have been able to complete the job in under an hour - I'd say you didn't have the proper tools for the job in hand!

Thats pretty harsh since you were not there, do you know the poster/installer? How can you say he did not have the proper tools without knowing this for sure?

maddog

andrew3 wrote:

Question 1: Why did it take you over an hour to discover a cabling problem.
Question 2: How long would it take to tie a new piece of cable pull it through the wall then join it on to the existing cable using an f-connector joint and suitable insulation?

You should have been able to complete the job in under an hour - I'd say you didn't have the proper tools for the job in hand!

Tracing the cable in an attic full of s**t.... bringing the tv from that room down to the reciever to make sure it wasn't the tv tuner, moving furniture.... the end of along day.... loads of reasons.

I find that installers in general have different skill levels.... some are just **** hot and some are just ladder monkeys... some just in it for a quick buck and then they move on. I've learned a lot from this forum and picked up a good bit on the way but most of all I've learned that not every job is the same, some don't give a toss how they get it installed and some just don't want to see a cable anywhere.

So andrew3 what would you have charged for this job? What tools would you have brought to get this job done?

Regards,
Maddog

Sponge Bob

maddog wrote:

What tools would you have brought to get this job done?

A Kango with a bolster bit would have shifted that cable and finished you up for 9PM

maddog

As it turns out it was the tv that had the fault, dodgy tuner.

regards,
maddog

Rippy

Tony wrote:

I know that feeling BTW can I ask how much quinn direct charge as i got a quote from a broker today for just under 1k which I thought was pretty good.[/QUOTE
If yours is under a grand take it !
Just paid 1600. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Who's your broker?

Tony

Rippy wrote:

Tony wrote:

I know that feeling BTW can I ask how much quinn direct charge as i got a quote from a broker today for just under 1k which I thought was pretty good.[/QUOTE
If yours is under a grand take it !
Just paid 1600. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Who's your broker?

E mail me and I'll give you details, it was actually big paddy that put me on to this guy

Tony

maddog wrote:

As it turns out it was the tv that had the fault, dodgy tuner.

regards,
maddog

I have a promax mc277 for sale which will save you all this pain in future