I'm hoping I am not the only one doing this? We do commercial and industrial service work. Normally we get a service call and charge 1 hour travel and labor as required. (min 1 hour)
Here is the question; When we get an emergency service call, where we have someone pick up their tools, apologize to that customer advising they have to respond to an emergency. Respond to the emergency service call: For this service we charge overtime (x1.5) and travel at portal to portal. We charge OT regardless of time of day. Are we the ONLY EC doing this? Does this sound inappropriate? How do you bill emergency service calls??

Learjet9,

In my situation, it depends solely on who the customer is, that needs emergency service.

If it is one of my "better" customers, than point to point billing is applicable, at normal rates, during normal business hours. After hours is point to point at 1.5, for normal customers.

Now if it is someone, who I have never done work for, that needs emergency service, two thoughts have to come to mind. One is, I would not stop work for my better customers to go somewhere else, unless the work I was doing wasn't critical. That is why they are my customers, I am there for them. Two, who is this new customer, and what really is their emergency. If it warrants me to pack up and leave a job, then yes, 1.5 point to point would be warranted. During normal business hours, of course.

If it is a new customer, you have to think about trying to retain them, and a guy in business who needs emergency service, is probably loosing more in man hours, than you are charging anyway, so at 2X your rate, point to point, you are still pulling him out of a jam.


Dnk........

Thanks DNKL - Here is the scenario more often than not; Elec on a job - gets pulled to go to an emergency service - the original job must still be completed as promised - now that he has spent the last 2 hours of his day on the emergency there is no 'regular' time left to complete the original job. Now that elec is on OT but we certainly cannot charge that customer OT as they did not create the need for OT hours. So, it means the customer with the emerg must pay the OT. Does that make any sense?

Yup, that stuff happens.

That is why you bill emergency calls higher, because if the electrician stayed there and finished the job, he doesn't have wasted fuel, wasted time loading and unloading a truck, and time wasted time remembering where he left off.

Dnk....

most commercial and industrial accounts, are paying min 2 to 4 hours for a service call, we just discussed this yesterday with one of our old industrial accounts, he said most of his vendors charge 4 hours min for a service call.
What was intresting is his comment, when i asked why pay 4 hours, he looked at me and said, what kind of electrician am i going to get, that charges one hour for an industrial call.

[This message has been edited by LK (edited 05-13-2005).]

We received a service call from a retail store about an hour drive from the shop. The call was for 1 fixture not working. We responded, replace 1 ballast and charged an hour travel and 1 hour labor. The response from the customer was; "It took you a whole hour to replace 1 ballast."
The other response we have heard; We complete a job and the customer asks; How come that took so long to do? I answer; Why, how long does it generally take you to do that? Anyone have any better answers to that question?

I think your reasoning is correct for charging overtime. I haven't heard the "took so long" comment in years. I usually get "that would have taken me SO much longer if I'd done it myself".

I'm thin skinned, so I'd probably take it as an insult if someone asked why it took so long. I wouldn't say it, but I'd be thinking...who are you going to call the next time you need an EC?

Dave

PS I like the 4 hour minimum. I must be in the wrong market. I'm still struggling with the free estimate thing.

Yes, it sounds like his charge is more then fair for a commercial account with his quick response, however industrial accounts usually take more time to service and require an electrician with a broad experiance, which usually demanding a higher rate of pay,that is why they get more for industrial calls.

The company I work for charges a 4 hour minimum for any 'same day' service call. And the hours we charge are point to point.

It does not matter if it is an old or new customer.

LK - That's correct, our rate for industrial service is higher for the reasons you stated. We provide emergency service, which to us means the customer wants you there right now, drop whatever your doing and respond. For this response we feel the overtime rate and the portal to portal travel is warranted. Many of our emergency service calls are completed in less than 1 hour. (Burning ballast, failed C/B, ETC)

When charging the 4hr minimum, has your customer ever said " since I have you for 3.5 more hours I need you to....

Rob

You have an hour travel time, that leaves 3 hours, and let's say you fixed the problem in ten minutes, your min charge was lets say $360 , when they call you don't say min 4 hours, you say min charge $360, you quote service call rate not hours.
If you quote hours, then you are open to argument.

The problem there LK is that the guy sees a $360 bill for 1 hour and ten minutes work.

Then another guy, comes along and does a T&M charge at $75/hr, charges him 2 hours and 10 minutes, and saves the guy $200.

Who do you think he calls next time?

There is good and bad with everyway going, you just got to know your market and your customer base.


Dnk.....

I can assure you, chances are pretty good that the guy charging $75 an hour and billing for only two hours, doing industrial work may not be around for the next call.

Most industrial accounts want service, not price, when i first started doing industrial work, they would come out look at my truck, see if it was a late model, and well stocked, along with checking our finances, and insurance coverages, these accounts are looking for vendors, that will be around for a while.
Early on i tried that lowball pricing on industrial accounts, and all it assured was never a call back.
What will assure a call back, is when you are there, doing your best at solving their problem, and going that extra step to give them your best.


[This message has been edited by LK (edited 05-15-2005).]