Customer surprised to be billed for work ... ???

[Choppie]

So I have a client who is pretty much a low tier client. I only work with them once every couple of months, and they aren't the most convenient to work with.

She emails me a few days ago and says she is on the phone with Apple Care and she needs the server settings for her email to fix it. I tell her that her email is setup with Autodiscover so server settings are unnecessary. I tell her that they are doing something wrong if they are asking for server settings and suggest that we setup an appointment for the following day and I should be able to fix it pretty quickly.

I login to her computer the following day and sure enough I was able to fix it in about 5 minutes. So I send her an invoice for my remote minimum which is $35.

Today I get this email ...

" I was surprised to receive a bill for $35 for just a 5 minute quick fix. How did you come to this number and how would you charge us in the future if we move forward with you? "

Lol? They know my rate, I've done a couple dozen jobs with them before, onsite, and remote, and I always billed for all of it.

Without going into detail with her explaining that yes in fact I do not work for free. The software tools that allow me to provide remote support aren't cheap (TeamViewer), If I schedule an appointment I need to leave at least a 30 minute window to troubleshoot in case I can't fix it in 5 minutes, which prevents me from scheduling other things, I fixed it so quickly because I am clearly more knowledgeable than Apple with whom you spent hours on the phone with, I charge in increments of half hours for remote support, so my minimum remote support fee is in place so that I can meet the client halfway IF I am able to fix the issue so quickly.

So instead of explaining that, I think I'm just going to say ...

"Onsite is billed at $XXX with a 1 hr minimum, remote support is billed at $XX in half hour increments. In the event that a remote repair doesn't require the full half hour then I charge a minimum remote service fee because I don't feel it is right to charge a full half hour."

What do you all think?

Another answer could have been; I only wasted 5 min of your time where as Apple WASTED HOURS of your time.....how bout dat... The faster you got her up and running is worth more than screwing around on the phone for hours.....people see things in a foolish way. Knowledge cost money and experience.

 

[thecomputerguy]

Another answer could have been; I only wasted 5 min of your time where as Apple WASTED HOURS of your time.....how bout dat... The faster you got her up and running is worth more than screwing around on the phone for hours.....people see things in a foolish way. Knowledge cost money and experience.

Alright guys ... so the good news about this client is she eventually paid the minimum fee I billed her for ... Then shortly after that she completely hosed her whole company by letting the domain expire, then closing her domain account, thinking if she just signed up at godaddy her email/website would magically come up. Obviously it didn't. I billed them pretty heavily for that situation and she was extremely grateful.

From that point on she just throws money at me because she now realizes how important I am, and well you just don't eff with your tech guy, we can save your life or ruin your week, especially when your business requires computers/internet 99% of the day.

She must have just been having at bad day at the time of this OP.

 

[drahcir_16]

It turned out pretty well in the end. At least that client knows the value that you provide she won't be challenging the bills you sent her.

 

[Vyper28]

For the discussion about 5 minute fixes, I solved this recently using the same methods Lawyers do!

I'm super busy these days and I can hardly keep up, so I thought to myself... What's fair? I feel like I work a 10 hour day and bill 5/6 if I'm lucky. Half of these fixes are 5 minute/10 minute quick jobs I do on my laptop while hijacking WiFi somewhere around town. I don't feel right charging for a 5 minute quick fix, even though I know I should.

So I charge a retainer fee. I've moved 75% of my clients over to a monthly retainer equal to 2 hours of labour. I no longer feel like I am wasting time because I have a steady fixed amount of cash coming in for these exact fixes. It's just the start as I want to move to MSP model eventually, but for now, I have a bout 45 clients paying me a monthly retainer fee so I get paid for these "quick fixes".

The other 25% are the fat I will probably cut if they don't want to take me up on the retainer fee.. Cheap clients anyway, so who cares!

 

[fastremotehelp.com]

I agree with all the write-ins above: You are giving her a break by charging only 1/2 hour. Personally, I use the hourly fee mechanism as a tool to nudge them into a Remote Support Plan, with recurring revenue. No plan? Oh, no problem, we just charge the regular rate ($90 per hour).

 

[JonnyRT]

For the discussion about 5 minute fixes, I solved this recently using the same methods Lawyers do!

I'm super busy these days and I can hardly keep up, so I thought to myself... What's fair? I feel like I work a 10 hour day and bill 5/6 if I'm lucky. Half of these fixes are 5 minute/10 minute quick jobs I do on my laptop while hijacking WiFi somewhere around town. I don't feel right charging for a 5 minute quick fix, even though I know I should.

So I charge a retainer fee. I've moved 75% of my clients over to a monthly retainer equal to 2 hours of labour. I no longer feel like I am wasting time because I have a steady fixed amount of cash coming in for these exact fixes. It's just the start as I want to move to MSP model eventually, but for now, I have a bout 45 clients paying me a monthly retainer fee so I get paid for these "quick fixes".

The other 25% are the fat I will probably cut if they don't want to take me up on the retainer fee.. Cheap clients anyway, so who cares!

For the discussion about 5 minute fixes, I solved this recently using the same methods Lawyers do!

I'm super busy these days and I can hardly keep up, so I thought to myself... What's fair? I feel like I work a 10 hour day and bill 5/6 if I'm lucky. Half of these fixes are 5 minute/10 minute quick jobs I do on my laptop while hijacking WiFi somewhere around town. I don't feel right charging for a 5 minute quick fix, even though I know I should.

So I charge a retainer fee. I've moved 75% of my clients over to a monthly retainer equal to 2 hours of labour. I no longer feel like I am wasting time because I have a steady fixed amount of cash coming in for these exact fixes. It's just the start as I want to move to MSP model eventually, but for now, I have a bout 45 clients paying me a monthly retainer fee so I get paid for these "quick fixes".

The other 25% are the fat I will probably cut if they don't want to take me up on the retainer fee.. Cheap clients anyway, so who cares!

I really like this idea. Is this for businesses or residential? 2 hours labour per month seems quite high.

 

[Vyper28]

I really like this idea. Is this for businesses or residential? 2 hours labour per month seems quite high.

I am strictly b2b so it is for businesses. I do give a break (1hr retainer) for very small clients (like 2 staff) IF they aren't abusing the 5 minute question policy.

 

[untoldtech]

"it took me 15 years how to fix it in 5minutes", truthfully for me like 20+. I had one lady had gone round and round with HP on her printers (she has a car wrap shop). She had dual nics one that went to printers and one to internet, they were conflicting, I reIPed printers to a different subnet and setup internet to route out her other interface. Fixed it in 15minutes and she happyily wrote my check for 100. She had literally spent 10 hours on the phone trying to get it fixed. People who understand your value dont question you, you could tell them, "well, i could use geek squad pricing if youd like 150$ for a remote fix, if youd rather go with "main stream pricing".

 

[carmen617]

I simply tell people who object to my minimum rate - it's cheaper to pay me to fix the problem, than to pay me to learn how to fix the problem! That works every time!