Do You Waive the Assessment Fee if a Customer Agrees to Your Service?

[thwikehu1990]

Hi everyone,

Just a quick question: Do you waive the assessment fee if someone agrees to your service? I'm debating on this, but I'm not sure.

On one hand you have the purely profit-driven ideology. Regardless if they go for your solution or not, you still spent your time with their computer on their bench that is costing you money.

The other is the customer service/selfish argument. That is, a company's main motive is to create profits; however, if you only look at the dollar and not the customer you lost customer service.

Am I right in my thinking? Or is this a false dichotomy? I'd love to hear your input!

 

[G8racingfool]

When you talk about waiving the fee do you mean you completely wipe out the charge for you to find out what's wrong with their system or are you talking about applying the cost of your diagnostic into the total cost of repair. You're still providing a product, and that product is your expertise, ability, and time so you need to be getting at least something out of it. You wouldn't just hand out a physical product ("here, try this and if it works I'll just give it to you for free") so why would you hand out your service product which is your most valuable asset?

Now if you're talking about rolling the diagnostic fee into the total repair cost, then you're not really waiving anything are you? You're still getting reimbursed for your time you're just looking like the good guy because you're charging a simple and concise bill.

 

[dgoglio]

We don't really do much one off service anymore but when we did I would charge for the diagnostics. Time is money! I have heard about some of the consumer guys "crediting" the diagnostics fee if they decide to get the item serviced but to me that is lost money.

 

[microtech]

In-Shop diag fee for walk-ins is waived with paid service. On-site diag, site surveys, and assessments are all paid.

 

[thwikehu1990]

When you talk about waiving the fee do you mean you completely wipe out the charge for you to find out what's wrong with their system or are you talking about applying the cost of your diagnostic into the total cost of repair. You're still providing a product, and that product is your expertise, ability, and time so you need to be getting at least something out of it. You wouldn't just hand out a physical product ("here, try this and if it works I'll just give it to you for free") so why would you hand out your service product which is your most valuable asset?

Now if you're talking about rolling the diagnostic fee into the total repair cost, then you're not really waiving anything are you? You're still getting reimbursed for your time you're just looking like the good guy because you're charging a simple and concise bill.

Yes, I mean waiving the diagnostic fee ($50) if you agree to my service. It would be a separate fee. So diagnostic + whatever solution.

 

[Archon Prime]

Well, the 13th rule of Acquisition is Anything worth doing is worth doing for money.

 

[thwikehu1990]

In-Shop diag fee for walk-ins is waived with paid service. On-site diag, site surveys, and assessments are all paid.

Why do you waive the in-shop fee as opposed to the onsite fee?

 

[Slaters Kustum Machines]

For us the cost of diag is built in to the cost of repair so if they go with the repair we wave the diag fee. However if they do not then we charge the diag fee to pay for our time.

 

[thwikehu1990]

When you talk about waiving the fee do you mean you completely wipe out the charge for you to find out what's wrong with their system or are you talking about applying the cost of your diagnostic into the total cost of repair. You're still providing a product, and that product is your expertise, ability, and time so you need to be getting at least something out of it. You wouldn't just hand out a physical product ("here, try this and if it works I'll just give it to you for free") so why would you hand out your service product which is your most valuable asset?

Now if you're talking about rolling the diagnostic fee into the total repair cost, then you're not really waiving anything are you? You're still getting reimbursed for your time you're just looking like the good guy because you're charging a simple and concise bill.

So let me get this right, just so I'm not confusing anything. You're saying instead of divvying up the bill into the two services such as:

Item #1: Diagnostic fee: $50
Item #2: Windows: $90

Total: $140

You're saying:

Item: $140

Total: $140

So I'm putting both services into the bill, just in a more condensed manner?

 

[Larry Sabo]

I have a 1 hr. minimum charge for in-shop repairs. if the fix can be completed withing that 1 hr., that's all there is. If they say, "Thanks for the information, I'll have to think about it" (i.e., do it myself or have my brother do it), they pay the 1 hr. fee. This works fine for most problems but not all, e.g., screen display is torn/ragged; determining if it's the screen, cable or GPU takes a lot of time and effort, yet my in-shop fixed-price screen replacement fee is just 1 hr. I lose unless I charge for the diagnosis in addition to the screen replacement fee.

 

[microtech]

Why do you waive the in-shop fee as opposed to the onsite fee?

All on-site work is billed by the hour (unless it is a quoted project), therefor waiving a on-site diag fee would be useless and confusing when it comes to billing.
In-shop diag fee is assessed because without it people would (and have before) abuse it to learn whats wrong with the machine and then have someone else fix it for cheaper than we are willing to do it. The diag fee is waived for clients who pay for service because it is basically the cost of doing business. In most cases, finding out whats wrong with the machine and fixing it are not two separate actions but rather a 2 step process that runs together. Generally speaking, getting pre-approval to either fix or at least a max spend before calling is the way to go. Then the diag fee would only apply if the cost of repair is much larger than expected.

 

[Markverhyden]

I don't have a shop. But if I did, as well as when I was at CompUSA when it was alive, there would be an upfront fee upon check in. In the case of CompUSA they charged the full fee up front with no refund. If it was my decision there would be an upfront fee, say 30%'ish, of the repair labor. If they decide to not proceed, no refund. If they do it would apply to whatever labor there is. Remember that we do try to add on services. So that makes it more attractive to the EU.

 

[Briggsy]

I charge a diagnostic fee if they decide not to proceed with the work so that their friend who "knows about computers" can repair it for them instead.

If they agree to me doing the work after I've done diagnostics, then I just include it in the price.

Keeps things simple and prevents customers from wasting my time too.

 

[NviGate Systems]

Since very soon I am going to be doing my own repair work not affiliated with any company, here is my take:

On site would need at minimum travel fees and perhaps half hour prepaid. You are paying for convenience.

If the machine is dropped off, free diagnostics if you pre-approve repair. If you don't want to have me repair it but want details as to what exactly is wrong and what parts are required, diagnostics fee applies as you are paying for my expertise.

The only exception to this would be a No Fix No Fee for repairs that were under 15 minutes when dropped off, ie; laptop smashed to bits or plastics cracked on hinges and I know it's not going to be economical. Stuff where it's on a case by case basis where you need to see the unit to be sure.

 

[mikeroq]

We charge a diagnostic fee of $45 if we do nothing else. If we repair then it's just the cost of the repair. The only cases were we don't charge a diagnostic is say they bring in a laptop with a broken screen. We can just look up the screen and give them a price right there. Another case were there might not be diagnostic if they bring in something pretty beat up or old that isn't worth repairing. That of course is if they decline a diagnostic. We try to get them to do a diagnostic just to make sure there isn't any other issue.

As for onsite there is no diagnostic fee. All onsite work is billed at $65/hr. Typically a 1 hr minimum. If it's a quick fix (say less than 30 minutes including driving time) and they are an existing customer they might get it reduced to a 1/2 hour or the rate lowered to say $55 or $45.

I had a guy call yesterday who thought paying $45/ea to find out whats wrong with this two computers was absurd. Even more absurd was that average repair fee I gave him. No real loss though, don't really want a customer like that anyway.

 

[G8racingfool]

So let me get this right, just so I'm not confusing anything. You're saying instead of divvying up the bill into the two services such as:

Item #1: Diagnostic fee: $50
Item #2: Windows: $90

Total: $140

You're saying:

Item: $140

Total: $140

So I'm putting both services into the bill, just in a more condensed manner?

Not quite. Let me give you an example of what I mean.

Walkin Phoenix brings his desktop into my shop because his computer keeps freezing up. I diagnose that Windows needs to be reloaded. Along the way I note that the copy he had installed was a pirated copy and there's no known OEM or retail license available which means he's buying a new copy of Windows. My diagnostic fee is $50, so I'm getting that $50 if he doesn't want to fix it. The total cost to fix would be say $100 for Windows + $125 labor for the backup/reload/restore. That $125 however would include the $50 diagnostic (so think of it as $50+$75 if you will). So his final bill would look like:

Item #1: Windows - $100
Item #2: Labor - Backup system, reinstall Windows, and replace user data - $125


If he decided not to have me fix it, then it looks like this:

Item #1: Computer diagnostic - $50


The way I explain it to my customers is that "It's $50 for me to look at it, but that fee will go towards the cost of repair if you decide to fix it."

It's waiving the fee without really waiving the fee. Make sense?

 

[Your PCMD]

All on-site work is billed by the hour (unless it is a quoted project), therefor waiving a on-site diag fee would be useless and confusing when it comes to billing.

^ This. +1

I do my diagnostic fee a bit different when in-shop. Its $39, but if the go ahead is given to service, then that fee is dropped. So if I am doing a keyboard replacement, its a fixed fee of $79 + parts then the client will get an invoice of $79 + parts. Sure, I may lose out of the $39, but I gain in the end because 99% of the clients will return for repeat business.

Though I may add that I am dropping the diagnosis fee at the end of the year and going straight hourly. A minimum of 1 hour labor time which is $60. I, like @Larry Sabo can generally find, access and fix many issues within that time.

 

[Ken's PC Repair]

$50 diagnostic fee that we apply to the cost of the REPAIR. So, if the motherboard is toast, and the client decides they just want the data transferred, we charge the diagnostic fee + the data transfer fee.

No diagnostic fee for onsite work, it is billed houlry.

 

[EpicRhox]

This has been a really informative article. For the most part we have been advertising free diagnostics, we haven't had a customer turn away from the service once we have figured out the problem so I haven't thought about the effects of the opposite happening. I think I might reevaluate adding the diagnostic fee to the charge if they continue the service but add a fee if they choose to turn down the service. Thanks.

 

[sapphirescales]

Let me ask you something. Have you EVER had your auto mechanic waive the diagnostic fee to figure out what's wrong with your car? No? Why not? Because it costs him TIME AND MONEY to find out what's wrong with it. Why should he work for free? Because you're going to pay him to fix it? That's ridiculous. You can claim that you're bundling the cost of the diagnostic in whatever work you do, but the fact remains that you could easily charge whatever you're charging for the repair (with the diagnostic fee included) PLUS the diagnostic fee. Shops that waive the diagnostic fee really make me shake my head in disbelief. That's like your plumber waiving the trip charge if you actually pay him to fix whatever the problem is.