ECN Forum
I was just wondering, for those that do maintenance and repair work, what do YOU consider an " emergency" call, ( as in drop what you are doing and get there or do it ASAP) versus a " Regular" call...
Many MANY times we get calls for burned out parking lot lights or for the circuit feeding a TV somewhere going dead deemed an " emergency" where I would consider them to be a regular everyday type of service call...
I would consider any call that involved a major outage, downed service, smoke, sparks , fire.. an "emergency".. NOT burned out lights or a dead circuit feeding a TV or air conditioner or the like..
Also, for those that are "on call", does your employer pay you just to BE "on call" or is it expected of you, and if you get called out at 3;00 a.m, is it considered regular time, time and a half or double time...

A.D
The guy down the street, is a maint manager at a local plant, he was telling me when they call in a contractor for emergency work, day time hours, they charge from $300 to 400 just to come there, hope this helps.
This is something the customer needs to decide. You need to make them aware of your normal hourly rates, your after hours rates and your emergency rates. We define an emergency call as when we are requested to respond immediately or even within a 48 hour time period. We may or may not normally be able to respond within the 48 hour period but that is at our descretion according to what we are doing at the time. If the customer WANTS us there then they will have to pay and if they think a bulb replacement is worth the cost that's OK with me.

-Hal
Rewired:
Well.....there's a lot of variables.
We HAD a service contract with a national chain (local stores (60 miles). They had requirements (response time). 'Emergency' required under 2 hr arrival; yes there was a "Rate". Retail is a 7 day operation, and the definition of 'emerg' varied by store and DM.

As to lot lighting, we have service contracts for strip malls & shop ctrs; a few bulbs is a scheduled reg call; a quantity of poles out is an emerg. NJ is crawling with lawyers, and I don't want to be a 3rd party to a law suit if someone has a problem related to lighting.

Nites/Sat/Sun is premium times

John
Doctors sum up what an emergency is.
"If you can't reach us call 911"

Of course if you are just selling "premium off shift service" make sure you get a premium price. I worked for a 24/7 operation for 30 years and they really did guarantee one hour "call customer" and 2 hour "on site" response time, even at 0200 on Christmas.

It wasn't cheap though. In the 80s/early 90s it was $325 an hour, 4 hour minimum.
From the standard service contracts (and Terms and Conditions handout) I issue to my clients:

An URGENT ACTION call is defined as any equipment malfunction/failure which results in a degraded or substandard picture or sound presentation, but with minimal or no risk of damage to film or equipment;

An EMERGENCY call is defined as any equipment malfunction/failure where operation is not possible, with or without risk of damage to film or equipment.

Of course, to most cinema managers/ownwers, if the Surround speakers aren't working it's a major crisis!! [Linked Image] (As a footnote, in real terms the surround channel is second only to the subwoofer as the least critical channel in professional cinema sound. The Center channel is the most important, as it carries the majority of the dialogue.)

My rates are based on the hour work commences more so than type of call. For example, calls from 0800-2300 (8am-11pm) are standard rate, calls from 2300-0100 (11pm-1am) are double time and anything extending past 0100 thru 0800 are triple time. Base rate is $65.00/hr.

edited to add: I charge a four-hour minimum in any event.

Any call commencing at the earlier time but extending more than 1/2 hour into the next rate will be charged for applicable time within that rate scale.

The extended span for regular time reflects the usual hours for cinema work.

The hardest part though, is getting them to pay the bill!!

[This message has been edited by mxslick (edited 07-05-2006).]
The company I work for bills like this:
Normal Call 08:00-16:30 92/man-hour + 75 travel with a 1 hour min (Or something like that)

Emergency 16:30-08:00 175/man hour portal to portal for the tech plus a 150 travel charge.

I go on the clock when the pager goes off and go off when I take my shoes off. We offer customers 24/7 response via a pager that rotates thru the field techs, everybody gets it for a week at a time. The company gives the tech $70/week to carry the pager. The down side is if there is a call pending all day that nobody was able to get to, the on call guy gets stuck with it. Which really sucks when I am working 20 minutes from home but I have to drive past the house to continue into NYC, about an hour (no traffic) away.
jcooper,

no offense, but there is something wrong when a low voltage/card access contractor (for which no license is needed) charges more than an electrical contractor (which is licensed)

please don't take offense, i do not mean for you guys to charge less. Just for EC's to charge more.
No offense taken mahlere, I think it is silly what my company charges, probably because we are so top heavy, three project managers, six salesmen, and about 8 other office people, for 9 guys in the field... If it makes you feel better I only get about half of what the prevailing journeyman rate is, and I pay for half my benefits, and no retirement plan with the company.
don't feel silly. i would like to see your wages go up and your companies rate go up.
The phone installers, and repair services, get $110 an hour, ring, and tip, and a meter with a good battery, their truck stock is 1/10 th of ours, just check your local phone directory, the rates are published.
Hey Everyone! Sorry for the slow response... Been tied up with work and a lot going on ' round here but thank you for the info again! I was just curious as to what others had to say because at the company I work for, we do have a pager that rotates between 3 of us similar to what JCooper has... Only difference is we get a measley $20 just to be on call...
Last weekend ( Canada day weekend ) I did have it go off twice.. Once was a legit emergency call where a booster pump in a hi-rise building went up in smoke, and its backup refused to start, the Other was where someone plugged in an A/C and everything stopped working... Not an emergency in my eyes, and it got taken care of the next regular business day ( both calls were for the same property management company)... Still WE only get paid time and a half to go out off hours to repair anything, but I am sure " da man" got a little something extra in his pocket... Not that I am complaining by any means, He did buy 2 new trucks and is sending 3 of us to get our " DZ" lisence so we are able to drive them! [Linked Image]

A.D
Most of the time in the big city we ran 3 shifts of somebody working but out in the rest of country the deal was 2 hours pay for carrying the pager. You had to negotiate whether it was 2 hours per shift, day or weekend. In Ft Myers Florida it was per day.
If they didn't have a pager guy it was call out from home, catch me if you can. That was a 4 hour minimum and paid time and a half or double time on sunday.
Back when things broke a lot we had guys doubling or tripling their salary.
The sweet deal was to get called out at dinner time, work until morning and go home and sleep in all day (on the clock), then get called out again. String out a week or two of that and you can start looking at a nicer car. You will need it to find a new wife.
If we get a call out after hours/week ends etc. (other than 8-4 M-F) it is Portal to
portal with a minimum of 4 hours at X1.5. Emergency calls during the day (regular hours) we charge Portal to portal at X1.5 with a 3 hour minimum. Our "on call" is completly voluntary. We usually have 1 or 2 W/E calls so everyone wants the on-call.
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