I recently opened a business doing mobile RV maintenance and repair. I just returned from a call where a young woman and her infant child were living in their RV and the AC stopped working. The problem turned out to be their converter and the part alone costs $455. She doesn’t have the money for it. She waited until after I spent an hour diagnosing the problem to tell me. Thankfully I didn’t order the converter. How do I make sure that this doesn’t happened again. How can I ask if my customer if they can afford to pay for my service? If she had told me from the beginning that she couldn’t afford to pay I still would have diagnosed the problem for her and her baby and just wrote it off.
Customer can’t afford to pay
- Thread starter i7sharp
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trusthim711
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oncedepressed
New member
fallingjerichotm
New member
@oncedepressed House and RV are different.
My husband is a mobile repair person, he charges 135 for the first hour just to go to their house and diagnose something. There are probably 100 house AC guys to 1 RV mechanic.
To the OP - to start you tell them when you call its 135 when you show up then the meter starts after the first hour. That will scare some people away.
However there is always the chance someone will stiff you.
My husband has been stiffed twice in three years for about 300 each time, once was replacing an AC switch on a farmers tractor, the sec9nd was a generator on an RV.
My husband is a mobile repair person, he charges 135 for the first hour just to go to their house and diagnose something. There are probably 100 house AC guys to 1 RV mechanic.
To the OP - to start you tell them when you call its 135 when you show up then the meter starts after the first hour. That will scare some people away.
However there is always the chance someone will stiff you.
My husband has been stiffed twice in three years for about 300 each time, once was replacing an AC switch on a farmers tractor, the sec9nd was a generator on an RV.
@fallingjerichotm Yeah. A lot of mechanics charge a fee but if you use them for the repair they apply it to that cost.
oncedepressed
New member
@fallingjerichotm Eh, if you say house and RV ac mechanics are a different dynamic I’d believe you over me
fallingjerichotm
New member
@oncedepressed I appreciate that.. It's all a supply and demand thing.
Plus anything "luxury' is more expensive and specialized as well.
Plus anything "luxury' is more expensive and specialized as well.
@oncedepressed ammonia absorption cooling. much more hazardous chemicals. also uses heat to cool stuff lol.
@oncedepressed There's a huge difference between diagnosing and estimating.
We charge a diagnostic fee for any existing system, especially if we didn't install it in the first place.
You're essentially asking someone to work to figure out what's wrong with your system, but from your comment, you think you're entitled to have this done for free. We have families to support.
I'm willing to bet that you wouldn't go to work if your boss told you he was going to start paying you with peanuts because money was too tight.
I don't work for free and neither do you.
I write estimates all day, but if you want it for free, it's a verbal estimate.
Written estimates carry a cost because I'm using my valuable time writing you an estimate you might decide to unethically share with my competition.
I generally tell a customer that the fee will be deducted from the cost of the estimate once they move forward with us.
We charge a diagnostic fee for any existing system, especially if we didn't install it in the first place.
You're essentially asking someone to work to figure out what's wrong with your system, but from your comment, you think you're entitled to have this done for free. We have families to support.
I'm willing to bet that you wouldn't go to work if your boss told you he was going to start paying you with peanuts because money was too tight.
I don't work for free and neither do you.
I write estimates all day, but if you want it for free, it's a verbal estimate.
Written estimates carry a cost because I'm using my valuable time writing you an estimate you might decide to unethically share with my competition.
I generally tell a customer that the fee will be deducted from the cost of the estimate once they move forward with us.
@oncedepressed I work in the home services industry. And I'm a homeowner. I have never met a home service provider that didn't charge a diagnostic fee for mechanical issues.
Remodels or something like that are different. But when a tech has to actually remove parts of the home and start testing things, I've never heard of that done for free.
And almost all handyman now have a minimum service charge to come out.
Remodels or something like that are different. But when a tech has to actually remove parts of the home and start testing things, I've never heard of that done for free.
And almost all handyman now have a minimum service charge to come out.
louisedritz
New member
@oncedepressed This isn’t a general contractor trying to win a project. Most field service companies will charge a diagnostic/visit fee.
fluffykinz
New member
@oncedepressed A lot of industries were able to start having diagnostic fees as supply got constrained.
I had plumbing and electric work recently and in both cases I couldn't find someone without a fee.
I had plumbing and electric work recently and in both cases I couldn't find someone without a fee.
converting2christ
New member
@oncedepressed I live in Michigan and you can’t get a free estimate anywhere
@oncedepressed I wouldn't. To me, that's the guy who's time is in demand
@oncedepressed Absolutely not. If we can visually inspect the issue, sure, we can do a free estimate, if it's diagnosing something like a water heater, we will always charge a diagnostic fee as that is work that should be paid for (and often solves the issue).
@oncedepressed I wouldn't. To me, that's the guy who's time is in demand