# Customer $horting the Invoice??



## On The Rock (Feb 5, 2010)

So you generously ate an hour of travel time right off the bat, did about an hour of work at her house, then drove home for about an hour for a final bill of 2.25 hours. Anybody giving away 30% of total time on a job needs to realize they're cutting their own throat _and_ reinforcing to the customer and everyone the customer talks to that they were charged a fair and equitable price. It would be almost better to give the whole job away (not every job, of course), because the customer _ought_ to know that at that point that is a gift and that they can't reasonably use $0 as a baseline for other work. The problem with a lot of homeowners is that, yeah, they are familiar with paying $95/hr when they take their car to the dealership for service work, but they forget that _they_ took their _own_ car in for work. The homeowner "paid" the cost of taking their own car in, not the mechanic who did the engine work. How much would it cost the homeowner for service work on her car if the mechanic brought the shop to her?

Five minute drive to put in a ceiling fan? That's easier to eat. But when I go to a job, most of which are an hour to a couple days, I am loaded for bear, that is, I bring the shop to the customer's house, and if travel time is an hour each way, I'll tell the customer before I leave that there will be a trip charge no matter how long I'll be there or what I end up having to do.

Unfortunately, most new customers need to be educated about the value of the service they're getting....


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## ABLE1 (Apr 30, 2005)

Thanks to all for your replies and input. I have finished my letter which was greatly toned down from my original vent. 

Yes it was my mistake on this one and I do pay for my mistakes. I tried a little education on reality in the letter, but doubt it will do any good. 

If she ever does call in the future I will just be far to busy to provide service.

Thank again.

Les


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## DREAM1 (May 25, 2010)

ABLE1 said:


> Love the video. Wish I could put that in a enevlope and mail it.
> 
> 
> To answer the above question.
> ...


the first mistake was not telling her plus travel.and the second was letting her guilt you into giving her a break.if it were me id just let it go and put it in to my lesson of the week folder so it dont happen again.its only an hr and you learned a valuable lesson from it.dont even send her a letter let her think she won and if she calls you back for some more work thats when you get your travel from the last job and if she dont then oh well you learned some thing.


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## casey344 (Dec 15, 2005)

*Minimum Fee?*

I have considered charging a different rate for the first hour to help cover the travel expenses, maybe call it a minimum service call fee.

$99.00 for the first hour, then $55.00/man hr after that. Not interested in necessarily profiting from travel time, just want to cover time/fuel expenses.

Casey


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## Inner10 (Mar 12, 2009)

There are two types of people, those that are happy to pay and those who give you a hard time....you could have said the price was 7 and she would offer your 5. 

I always state the price before and if they bock about the price I just say "this is exactly the price we agreed too, I do not see the issue".

Then if they continue to complain (I have only used this one a few times and it worked like a dream, yet it was with small bills). "I understand that you may be experiencing some financial difficulties, I can work out a financed payment plan if you prefer."


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## tedanderson (May 19, 2010)

As others have said, let it go- However I probably would ask her the following:

1. Did I provide you with excellent service?
2. Is there anything that I've done to bring you dissatisfaction?
3. Is there anything else that I can do that would give you assurance that you are getting value for your investment?

Then I would say: "I don't know if you had the opportunity to shop and compare but I can assure you that I am providing double the level of service and I am only charging you a little more than half of the going rate. And in order to stay in business and keep my prices competitive, I really needed to charge for this additional drive time so that I could provide prompt and reliable service. I always want to remain in a position where if you needed my services, I could address your needs quickly and in an expedient manner. I can't provide this level of service for a lower price if I cannot collect all of what I am charging. So if you would be willing to reconsider your refusal to pay my travel expenses, I would greatly appreciate it."


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## ABLE1 (Apr 30, 2005)

tedanderson said:


> As others have said, let it go- However I probably would ask her the following:
> 
> 1. Did I provide you with excellent service?
> 2. Is there anything that I've done to bring you dissatisfaction?
> ...



Thanks but that is a tad too late.:whistling

Les


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## Tiger (Nov 21, 2007)

There are several ways to handle this as others have stated. It took years for me to realize that jobs like you describe (1.25 hours on site, 2 hrs. travel) are 1/2 day jobs from a business point-of-view. You need to know your cost and sales price for 1/2 day jobs and charge accordingly. It's more of a challenge to charge a 1/2 day for 1.25 hours on site than it is to recover travel expenses on a 3 day job. I still have issues with it. 

Sometimes I think it would be better to pass on the small jobs except sometimes their next job will be larger. If you combine small jobs with free estimates you'll have larger issues recovering travel expenses.


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## englishdave (Apr 14, 2008)

jimmys said:


> Dude, you didn't 'splain the travel charges beforehand, you don't get to bill them. No revenge, just a bad-tasting lesson. Next time!


I was thinking along the same lines as Jimmy. 

I find most of the time it comes down to me thinking "hey, I had to drive here and then back, so I should be paid for that"!

And there thinking "hey, he got here at 10 and he left at 12 therefore its 2 hours.


H/O
I give them the bill for 4 hours, they think there being over charged, knee jerk 'contractor overcharging stereotype' kicks in.

ME
My 'oh here we go again, tight wad HO nickel and diming me again' reaction kicks in 

And next thing you know, were on here telling everyone about tightwad H/O and there at there friends talking about contractors overcharging

I think if on the phone, we make it clear to them that "look, I will have to drive out to your house, go to the store to pick up the part, install it and then get back to my office". If they agree to that, AND then try to not pay, I burn there house down!!!!

Just kidding, then I say...*[email protected]# etc... and go and get some gasoline and a lighter... and stand outside shouting I know where your children go to school dude! :jester:

Myself I only usually charge for getting there, not leaving. I figure Im onto the next job and Im going to charge that next customer for getting to theirs.


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## Cmpletehomeserv (Jan 12, 2010)

angus242 said:


> Not apples to apples but I once had a potential client for a kitchen remodel. After 2 months of back and forth and 4 different designs with numerous changes between, he decided to not use me for the remodel. That was hours and hours lost to me (and a HUGE lesson learned).
> 
> I mailed (postal) him a letter stating my time is valuable and that I did, indeed, provide him with a skilled service. Knowing I wasn't getting a dime out of him, I included an invoice for 200 hours of work for $1. I think the insult to myself got to him. He eventually apologized but I never got a dime...nor did I expect one.
> 
> Bottom line, you're not going to see the lost money and there's nothing within reason you can do about it. You will most likely receive a bunch of advice on how to have this not happen again but I'd kiss that hour good bye & bank it to the lesson learned vault. Move forward & don't let it happen again.


Excellent!


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