How much to charge

[johnrobert]

Went on site today 20 minute drive client said HP desktop would not boot

He tried it several times the day before and again in the morning before I came

I went straight to computer and pressed power button it immediately booted up

Then I completely shut it down and did same again it booted no problem

Instead of being happy his computer was working he said how much this is going to cost me

I said without thinking $20 it was way too cheap I don’t think he would have paid much more

I know most tech charge a minimum charge even for the smallest fix since you solved the problem

No matter how small but in this case I did not do anything.

What are your thoughts about this.

 

[jfm]

We always charge 1 hour + 1 travel fee minimum. (90$)
And it is always mentionned to the client beforehand.

I think in those situation the best thing is to do a complete check up of the computer.
Visual inspection, quick mem test or PC Doctor so it doesn't backfire on you.
I always do the visual inspection first, kinda essential and you're doing a torough job.

You're also assuming you fixed the issue, could it be an intermitant issue ? Did you do any tests ?
Did you made sure he had backups in case the issue comes back again ?

You really need to put in place a procedure for scenarios like this.
Caus you lost time and money there and the client thinks your work for peanuts

 

[jfm]

No matter how small but in this case I did not do anything.

You answered the phone.
Spoke with client and took appointment
Drove onsite
Checked the computer
Double checked the computer ?
Made an invoice
Received payment
Drove back.

20$ (-5$ for gas).

15$ Ouch.

 

[Krynn72]

I know most tech charge a minimum charge even for the smallest fix since you solved the problem

One hour minimum. In my pricing and service area, one hour of labor covers my travel time, gas, my processing time (booking, invoicing, accounting, phone calls, etc) and covers me for the lack of ability to work on other paying work at that time. Then you need to consider your bills for electricity, phone and internet, etc as overheads, and every customer needs to pay a percentage of that off for you, because you're paying those bills for them so you can provide service to them when they need it. Those are all expenses that need to be accounted for when you bill customers.

I once showed up and plugged in the network cable to a clients printer that had fallen out or been knocked out accidentally. It was litterally the first thing I looked at when I walked into the room. They hadn't even finished explaining to me the story of it not working and all the different things they tried to fix it. I printed a test page, printed a document they wanted tested, and all was good. Not even 120 seconds passed between the time I walked through the doorway and the clients issue was fixed.

I said "Well, thats fixed, anything else you want me to look at while I'm here? The minimum fee covers up to the first hour, so unless you really need to get back on this computer asap I can check out any other issues you may be having." Most people have some other small issue that will take you 5-10 mins to take care of and then they'll feel satisfied.

I used to get concerned I'd get people trying to tie me up for the full hour (which I would do without complaint of course), but I am careful not to word it as a "one-hour minimum" but as "a minimum fee of $XX" which just so happens to be the same price as one hour. People then understand that the second you show up, they've already spent $XX. I think if you say a "one hour minimum" to a client who isn't used to dealing with hourly professionals, many will feel like they shouldn't owe you anything for just showing up, only if you spent a significant amount of time there.

But when you say the minimum fee is a specific dollar amount, and you only start to charge hourly at the beginning of hour 2, most people are in the mindset of "ok, lets get him out of here asap so we don't get hit with his hourly rate", which means most "quickie" jobs like this really don't take anywhere near a full hour.

The client I mentioned has called me back out 3 times since that incident btw, so you don't lose good clients this way either.

 

[Krynn72]

Wow - serious headology. Respect!

Ha, I reread it and it confused even myself. So I edited it to make it hopefully a little easier to understand for a sleepy tech.

But yeah, I stay up at night going over "ways to word things" in my head, especially if I said something stupid or confusing earlier that day. Phrasing really matters a lot, in everything we do. Its why my old boss always gave me the phone when there was an upset customer on the line . Nobody else could calm a customer down like I could apparently, even if I was conveying the exact same information or doing the exact same thing for them that anyone else would have.

 

[sapphirescales]

Unbelievable. We charge a $169 trip charge UP FRONT before we even get in our cars. Then we charge a diagnostic fee. I would have shown up and once I discovered that it was booting fine I would have run full diagnostics. If I couldn't get it to replicate the problem, I would have suggested taking it back to the shop to run further tests. If he was just a dumbo that couldn't figure out what button to push to turn the computer on, then his education would have cost him $218 + tax. Sorry, but if you call me out and make me spend my time and gas, you're gonna pay me. It's not my fault that you're too stupid to know where the power button is. It may sound harsh, but that's the reality of it.

Imagine this scenario. You don't know how to turn the hot water on in your shower in your new house, or someone flipped the hot and the could knobs around so because of this, you think your hot water tank is going out. So you call the guy out to come take a look at it and maybe replace it. He goes to your kitchen and turns the hot water on and it works. Then he explains your error with how you're turning on your shower. Shouldn't he be paid his usual rate for coming out, or should he give you 90% off for your ignorance/stupidity? He held up his end of the bargain and should be paid accordingly.

 

[HFultzjr]

1 hour min charge. I would have spent the extra time checking/testing, making recommendations if necessary, etc.

 

[kwest]

One hour minimum. If this happened to me I would have said well you have me for an hour do you have any questions or do you want me to give the computer a tuneup. You still have to show value even if it took you 5 minutes to complete.

 

[Briggsy]

One hour minimum. If this happened to me I would have said well you have me for an hour do you have any questions or do you want me to give the computer a tuneup. You still have to show value even if it took you 5 minutes to complete.

This ^^

You need to earn a living - and the guy wants value for money. Easy solution - minimum charge of one hour, then if the job takes minutes, you say well I'm all yours for an hour because you've paid for my time - so I'll do some preventative maintenance. Clean his cooler fans. Do some hardware tests. Anything worthwhile to fill that hour.

Then you can leave happy that youve not sold yourself short by underchanging - and the client is happy because not only did you do as he asked, but you went over and above the requirement by offering other services to provide value for money.

Everyone's happy. Win win for all.

 

[Diggs]

Remembering that my service market is small and small town where word of mouth is everything....

In the case of the OP I tell the customer I'd split it with them and charge 1/2 of my normal call rate. My expenses are covered at that rate (and then some) and the goodwill that it generates is way better than the advertising I pay for. (Did this for a client and didn't know they were the President of the Chamber of Commerce - huge ripple of business from that call - karma?). I'm usually not so busy that I'm losing other work because of the stop.

 

[buzzcut]

1 hour minimum is what I charge also.
Yesterday I drove 25 minutes to get to a client's house, for a 20 minute network setup.
I felt bad, so I asked her if their was anything else I can help her with. Helped her with her phone, email etc.
I quoted a flat rate of 1.5 hours to cover my traveling time and the client told me that was not enough.
She gave me a $25 tip. She had called a local business and they quoted her close to $200 and never showed up.

 

[Your PCMD]

Im with many here, 1 hour minimum plus travel. I my case, your job would have been $80. With that said, as others have mentioned, they paid for the hour, see if there's anything else you could have done. Diagnostics, file system cleanup, even a malware scan. You should not feel bad. Business is business. I ALWAYS quote the minimum cost to every client - unless I'm going for a specific thing, like malware removal. I charge a travel fee if outside 10 miles from base - its even on my website.

 

[AlaDes]

I always charge a one hour minimum at $75.00 per hour once on site, plus $2.00 per mile one way to site (based on Google maps). However, I always give them their hour, so if I fix their problem in five minutes, I explain to them that they still have me for another 55 minutes that they've already paid me for if they have another issue they want or need fixed. Trust me, I've never had anyone turn me down lol.

 

[TechU]

I would generally agree with the upfront fee (equaling 1 hour). Here is my question when I run diagnostics on a pc is could take a few hours... What diag are you doing that takes only a fraction of the time... on site? Forgive the ignorance I am new and learning a lot reading the posts here. I have not fully stepped out on my own yet but have a couple clients I work with on the side for now.

 

[Porthos]

@TechU From the forum rules when you signed up...You need to create a thread in the introduction forum and answer a few questions before posting any where else..

Tell us a little about yourself


What country do you live in?


What is your current experience? (Years working on computers, in the business, certifications etc..)


Are you looking to start a computer business, already have one, working for someone else or something else?


Anything else you would like to share? hobbies etc...


@Nige

 

[brandonkick]

If I were to do a job like this one, keeping in mind I do not run a physical location and have zero overhead,
I would charge at least $60. That would be my travel fee if nothing else, If I had to do anything beyond hit
the power button to get it running it would have been $100.

Regardless of why it worked when you hit the button, you drove over there and spent your time. You get
paid for that.

 

[jfm]

Here is my question when I run diagnostics on a pc is could take a few hours... What diag are you doing that takes only a fraction of the time... on site?

Onsite service is a different beast.
Your diag should be pre-made over the phone for starters, with the information collected.
Then onsite, no more than 5-15 minutes to confirm.
You should not really need any tools or software for your diag, it's basically you logical deduction. Software will mostly confirm.

 

[TechU]

@TechU From the forum rules when you signed up...You need to create a thread in the introduction forum and answer a few questions before posting any where else..

Tell us a little about yourself


What country do you live in?


What is your current experience? (Years working on computers, in the business, certifications etc..)


Are you looking to start a computer business, already have one, working for someone else or something else?


Anything else you would like to share? hobbies etc...


@Nige

sorry about that I just rectified the problem
https://www.technibble.com/forums/threads/hi-all-from-ct.73522/