Service calls

[ABLE1]

Anyone here want to share how they handle fuel surcharge and or mileage for
service calls???

What rate do you charge and has it changed since the gas went thru the
roof???

I am mainly interested as it relates to sub-contract service work.

TIA

Les

 

[Crash Gordon®]

I did 30 mile radius for free, then over that it would be a trip charge $20 bucks added to service. If it was really far it was hourly drive time rate of 20 bucks. I charged that to client and also paid that to subs.

 

[Jackcsg]

That can be a loaded question without knowing the specific's of your service
range, the types, and the frequency of calls, and whom you're subcontracting
for. Also how your business is set up for expenses.
I have different rates for different types of service calls, plus a daily
rate for each. I did raise them a little, but this gas issue is still a big
pain the a**. For me keeping vehicle mileage logs works best for tax
purposes, and expense reports. But there is some work involved in finding
the happy medium.

 

[Frank Olson]

Anyone here want to share how they handle fuel surcharge and or mileage
for
service calls???

What rate do you charge and has it changed since the gas went thru the
roof???

I am mainly interested as it relates to sub-contract service work.

TIA

Les

I came across a Chubb work order the other day... They tack $5.00 on to
each call. They call it a "fuel surcharge"... The customer was "PO'd" to
say the least. He's spending $129.00 an hour for a Chubb tech and then they
add the other $5.00 for fuel... Tsk!!!

 

[Jim]

I came across a Chubb work order the other day... They tack $5.00 on to
each call. They call it a "fuel surcharge"... The customer was "PO'd" to
say the least. He's spending $129.00 an hour for a Chubb tech and then they
add the other $5.00 for fuel... Tsk!!!

Which reinforces my method.

Don't bill any kind of "surcharge" Just include it in the cost of the
service call.

I would guess that the idea behind showing the surcharge is sort of a
way of saying to the client "hey, we've got to charge you more but it's
not our fault" Soooorry. But the human psyche, can easier accept an
increase in a service call than having it pointed out to him that he's
paying more for something that he's already ticked off about.

Any kind of "add on" charge is likely to upset the customer. If the
service call is just $5.00 more, they don't complain and you're still
the good guy who came to fix his system. A client is much more likely
to accept an $80.00 service call rather than a $75.00 bill with a $5.00
gas surcharge. You're just agitating him more than he already is, about
the cost of fuel. And if you asked him why he's upset about the $5.00
surcharge, what would he say?

"You should just accept the increased cost of fuel as the cost of doing
business." And so how would you actually do that? By increasing your
service charge to ............. yep .......... you guessed it, $80.00.

I don't understand why this is a big problem to discuss. If it cost you
more to run your business, you've got to charge your customers more. If
you do and your competition doesn't, you can wave bye bye to him as he
goes down the tube.