I met a true outlaw yesterday

[TexasBred]

We have a 56$ sevice call in our county and it goes up the further we go. Show up diagnose the problem, give a estimate/bid on the work needed to be done before performing any work. If work and price is approved we complete the task and get paid. I am not the cheapest around but we are honest and do good work that we stand behind, we are also very busy. We are plumbers

That is worth plenty !!!!!

 

[Carpenter2n]

I guess I'm falling way behind the times, seems to happen more often then not these days. $100 to drive 3 blocks and spen 15 minutes to look at a piece of potential revenue sounds obscene to me. I can understand driving 1/2 hour but not local. But as I stated I may be to old school. Man I feel old :lol:

+1!!
.... but then, we still give free estimates and don't nickel & dime our customers over every little add-on.

 

[Kingfisher]

You get estimates at a body shop. An HVAC problem needs a diagnosis to estimate a cost to repair.

Is that what the "Service charge" is, to drive to your property and diagnose the A/C?

No it's to pay for the tools and training to make a proper diagnôsis on your $10k plus HVAC system and make you an accurate estimate to repair.

 

[Kingfisher]

When the storm surge washes your outside unit into the Gulf of Mexico I don't even drive over to give your estimate as long as it didn't rip the hard line thru your living room. ;/

 

[Askme42]

You got ripped off. I would think a 100% mark up on parts and a $150.00 per hour for labor would be more than fair.

Curious as to why 100% mark up on parts is fair?

This is always what ticks me off about any type of repair. Why should I pay double what I would pay if I ordered it myself and honestly the company is probably getting a large discount over what you or I get it for.

Also I have no problem paying a repair man a good wage for their services. What's crap is charging me $150 an hour when the guy doing the work makes $15-$20

 

[HDRider]

We have a 56$ sevice call in our county and it goes up the further we go. Show up diagnose the problem, give a estimate/bid on the work needed to be done before performing any work. If work and price is approved we complete the task and get paid. I am not the cheapest around but we are honest and do good work that we stand behind, we are also very busy. We are plumbers

That is worth plenty !!!!!

That is all I ask for...

 

[Clodhopper]

You paid for an after hours service call, it's standard practice to charge more for them. You should have waited until Monday to have them out. You always pay for convenience or special treatment.
Remember, you called them out on Saturday. Nobody forced you.

 

[Clodhopper]

You got ripped off. I would think a 100% mark up on parts and a $150.00 per hour for labor would be more than fair.

Curious as to why 100% mark up on parts is fair?

This is always what ticks me off about any type of repair. Why should I pay double what I would pay if I ordered it myself and honestly the company is probably getting a large discount over what you or I get it for.

Also I have no problem paying a repair man a good wage for their services. What's crap is charging me $150 an hour when the guy doing the work makes $15-$20

$15-20 dollars, plus his benefits. Also workman's comp, liability, the truck he drove to get there, insurance on it as well. The tools, special training, etc. The building that houses the business, utilities and upkeep on it, insurance again, the secretary, etc. Is that all? Probably not. Doing business is expensive these days. If it's too high, do it yourself.

 

[True Grit Farms]

You got ripped off. I would think a 100% mark up on parts and a $150.00 per hour for labor would be more than fair.

Curious as to why 100% mark up on parts is fair?

This is always what ticks me off about any type of repair. Why should I pay double what I would pay if I ordered it myself and honestly the company is probably getting a large discount over what you or I get it for.

Also I have no problem paying a repair man a good wage for their services. What's crap is charging me $150 an hour when the guy doing the work makes $15-$20

I can agree with you to a point. He had the parts in stock, delivered them, and installed them. No one that knows anything works for less than $20.00 per hour. Normal shop time is $100. + per hour for a mechanic.

 

[RanchMan90]

Yep, I worked in dealerships for nearly a decade with international (trucks) and John Deere. Back then they charged $75 an hour on my labor, I got 20% of that. Best thing I ever did was get in the instrumentation and electrical field, now they get $100 an hour on my labor and I get 30%. If I ever did go back to turning wrenches I would have to own the business to make a living. It takes money to make money though.

 

[greybeard]

$15-20 dollars, plus his benefits. Also workman's comp, liability, the truck he drove to get there, insurance on it as well. The tools, special training, etc. The building that houses the business, utilities and upkeep on it, insurance again, the secretary, etc. Is that all? Probably not.

Yes, but they don't really have to collect all that in one service call--you would think, they 'could' spread it out over a month's worth of work.....

 

[Askme42]

Yep, I worked in dealerships for nearly a decade with international (trucks) and John Deere. Back then they charged $75 an hour on my labor, I got 20% of that. Best thing I ever did was get in the instrumentation and electrical field, now they get $100 an hour on my labor and I get 30%. If I ever did go back to turning wrenches I would have to own the business to make a living. It takes money to make money though.

Wow I know a gm mechanic that was with them
For almost 30 years. When he started he said they got 75-80% of the hourly wage. When he decided to quit it was something like 20-25%. Said he could make way more by himself.

I will say he lucked out and somehow got into the high end drag strip and pulling engine business. So all he does is build $10,000+ engines all day long.

 

[RanchMan90]

That's true. Used to be a decent trade, wage percentages didn't rise with inflation. I about starved to death back in my mechanic days, lost a wife and a girlfriend somewhere along the way.

 

[greybeard]

Hopefully, not simultaneously..

 

[RanchMan90]

Lol I've only ever had time for monotonous relationships.

 

[RanchMan90]

Monogamous*

 

[Nesikep]

Lol I've only ever had time for monotonous relationships.

ROFL! autocorrect gets the win there!


15 years ago we had a small walk-in cooler built, everything was connected up, etc and all the guy had to do was fill it and test it.. The bill was about $900, and the guy had the nerve to bill us for the time he spent eating lunch at our table with us... HVAC is expensive, but there's expensive and get-raked-over-the-coals expensive

 

[Rafter S]

Monogamous*

They could have been monotonous too.

 

[RanchMan90]

Lol a few bad ones will make a man appreciate a good one. I got this one when I couldn't rub 2 nickels together, she comes from a ranch family and is working on her phd She could be a keeper.

 

[f150fatboy]

I had the AC go out on my work and back car. Local shop quoted $750 to repair. Went to rockauto, parts were $250. Luckily my Dad is retired from HVAC but still had his vacuum pump and some 134a. We did it on a Saturday and saved around $500.
He never charged $100 for an estimate though, different times I guess.