I would like to hear the opinions from the USERS of service to the following questions:
1) As a USER, would you prefer to receive an invoice broken down stating "Trip Charges" or "Fuel Surchages" etc. added, or simply a higher hourly rate, assuming that it amounts to the same total?
2) Similair question: Would you rather see a "break down" for the installation of a jack, including wire, jack, labor, etc, OR just a single line item price?
Please do NOT post any pricing. I would just like to see your preference from an "End User's" point of view.
We break down all items into unit costs:
3 RJ11 Voice Jacks = $
3 RJ45 Data Jacks = $
114' CAT 3 voice cable @ .XX per foot = $
114' CAT-5e data cable @. XX per foot = $
1 66M1-50 connecting block = $
2 hours @ $XX.XX per hour
The customers like the break down and understand what they are paying for. Also, it has helped on many occaisions where the customer compared the breakdown with bill/work order from a previous vendor which showed no breakdown.
As for fuel charges, with gas prices well above $3.00 gal., we increased our hourly rate a modest $1.50 per hour. It's not a huge increase for the customer, and they understand and sympathize with the reason for the increase.
We charge a minimum "trip Charge" whenever we go out to a customer for a 10 minute fix. The charge is labled on the work order as "Trip Charge Only" = $XX.00. It seems the adding of the word "only" makes them feel like they are being treated fairly.
I love to see a bill that is broken out. Yes I want to know how much each RJ45 is. But I don't like to see your fuel surcharge, etc. Build that into your hourly rate.
Time and material should always itemize the material costs, that's why it's called "time and material".
Labor costs and trip charges are another matter and you are going to get a few opinions here, depending on who you talk to. One thing is certain, if you are going to have a fuel surcharge it should be a separate item.
We have a single service call charge that covers the first hour and up to 45 minutes each way. We have opted not to have a fuel surcharge because we found that customers think that it is a temporary charge that will change or be reduced when gas prices drop. We actually had some customers deduct the charge when THEY thought gas prices were low enough. They also will argue that the charge is more than what the gas costs to go back and forth to their site. Then you get into an arguement defending the fact that the surcharge covers much more than the gasoline used for the trip.
So, bottom line- my opinion- raise your service call and labor rates. They won't expect them to ever go down and it will give them less things to nickel and dime about.
-Hal
Hal, I don't install jacks as T&M. When I started out, it was our niche when clients called. They wanted to know exactly what the total would be, unlike Bell at the time. Now even Bell is using fixed rates for installation.
Another reason for NOT using T&M for installation, I had a client that I ended up in Small Claims as she refused to pay the invoice that I had broken down, because she could buy the jacks cheaper at HD.
I had to explain to the judge that I was using Nortel quality jacks as apposed to dime store junk for DIY's. He agreed, but I don't want that hassle again.
Regardless of how I invoiced the client in the past, when posting to QuickBooks, I do break it down to disperse my materiel, with labour being the balance of the price/jack. Sometimes it looks like I worked for practically nothing....
I do agree with you on the fuel charge and have no intention of using that "term".
Like most of the installers in the other threads on this topic, I have a vast area to cover and have rarely used a "Trip Charge" as such. Hardly seems fair though that local clients should pay the same hourly rate as those that are an hour or so out of town. That is why I am serious considering a variable "Trip Charge" of some kind.
The reason for the post was to get the "Users" perspective on this as they are the ones that ultimately decide who to hire.
As an end-user I don't find trip charges to be an unexpected line item. I just figure that if I need on-site support there's an added expense for someone making the trip to my site. I would, however, like to know what that is in advance.
I do like the line items broken out as much as possible so I can anticipate costs for additional work.
I try to hit a happy medium with listing materials. I don't list every single jack, box, etc. individually unless it's been requested specifically, as I feel that can lead to some of the "but I can get one at B&Q {*} for less" type of problems. But I do try to break down the job to more than just two lines for materials & labor.
With gas prices over here not far off the equivalent of $8 per gallon now, it's tempting to add a separate fuel charge item, but then everydbody knows how expensive it's gotten anyway and probably doesn't need reminding, so I just allow for it in my labor charge.
{*} B&Q = Brit equivalent of Home Depot, even a similar orange color scheme!
I fall into the end user category and person most likely to have to call and hire someone. I would not want the invoice to have a separate fuel charge, I like when it lists lists:
service call (amount)
additional time (amount)
because usually it costs so much for someone to come out then after that the price for time drops
I would like an itemized parts list with prices like the way eriway does it for the same reason Steve stated , to anticipate costs for additional work.
I also like what eriway stated about the Trip Only Charge, this way if the service call turned out for something dumb, like turning on the power that takes less than five minutes , you would get a trip only charge. That would definately be the person we would hire.
I agree with Paul. I break down hours, trip charges, large item parts, and bundle the smaller stuff together.
I actually talked to my customers before I put a gas surcharge on, I was told they would rather see a charge that they only pay once instead of each hour.