What shall I charge?

Bill Wright wrote:
The resident of a sheltered housing scheme complained about the TV
reception. The scheme is in a town a long way from here; most of that
association's properties being much closer. I went out there today. There
was nothing wrong with the TV distribution system. The tenant had a cable TV
connection which allowed them to view but not to record and didn't allow
reception in the bedroom. They had a B & O telly that was a bugger to tune
in; he was in the early stages of dementia and she was an airhead. They have
no relatives nearby. The invoice details read as follows:
No fault found with reception from communal TV system at this flat. Aerial
cables and scart cables behind living room TV sorted out; living room TV,
bedroom TV, VCR/DVD combo tuned-in; VCR/DVD combo's output channel adjusted
to avoid clash with C5. Tenants given full explanation of the operation of
their equipment, including the provision of written notes regarding the
recording of cable channels and aerial channels and the selection of cable,
VCR/DVD, or aerial channels for viewing.
In the lift motor room: routine check of the head end. Adjust the FM tuner
(audio for camera).
Total miles: 119. Total time door to door 5 hours.

This, of course, is the sharp end of the problem that many people have with
domestic electronics. It is pretty well impossible for the layman to connect
everything together and make it all work properly. But that's not why I'm
writing this. The thing is, this is also the sharp end of the problem of
rising transport and labour costs. With no materials to mark up as a means
of covering costs, this invoice is going to be a naked statement of labour
costs and overheads. So what should I charge? Don't worry, I have my own way
of calculating this. It gives an horrific, cringe-making amount. Those of
you who are involved with this sort of thing -- what are your thoughts? And
what are your figures? Work it out for your own organisation and let's see
the total.

Our organisation would only ever charge expenses at cost, and if you
were using a company vehicle that would be about 30p per mile - based
on the latest AA figures. You might be entitled to charge for
reasonable meal expenses as well.

I guess you would consider your skill at least equivalent to, if not
better, than a garage technician. As main dealerships can charge up to
£100 per hour you start to begin to see the problem - you are already
up to nearly £600 - quite unacceptable for a pensioner couple in
council sheltered housing and likely to do nothing for your reputation.
Private sheltered housing residents usually have a bit stashed away so
it's worth charging them a bit extra.

Customer's expectation, as well as your on-the-fly assessment of their
ability to pay, must be reflected in your charges. Being a sole trader
or small business you have that luxury. Balance the old-age pensioners
against the dual-income 5-bed detached household (with Aga and kids
named Rupert and Tamara). Take a loss on some, claw it back from those
who can afford to pay and do your own little Robin Hood act.

JPG



Bill

JPG wrote:

Bill Wright wrote:
The resident of a sheltered housing scheme complained about the TV
reception.

snip

If it's your main customer who "contracted you to do the work", then
you either need to send em a stiff bill, or else discuss with them what
they think would be reasonable in the circs.

If it's the wrinklies, then unless they look gold plated, you're
probably going to have to take a hit.

What's the "correct" answer Bill?

It is going to be a big problem, even my techno savvy brother in law
can't figure out how to connect his TV/VID/Freeview/DVD kit up such
that he can record from Freeview.

What hope for the wrinklies and hairdressers of this world?

Then again, as Bill has observed before with regard to poor reception,
it's amazing what a lot of people will accept. I can see a lot of
people just having one freeview box after switch off and never recoding
anything again.

Leaving aside the fact that my BIL lives about 200 miles thataway ^, I
am disinclined to try and sort his system out, as it would probably
result in it having to be used in a different way (watching the
Freeview via the VCR perhaps) which would confuse my father in law who
is getting past his prime.

I guess you would consider your skill at least equivalent to, if not
better, than a garage technician. As main dealerships can charge up to
£100 per hour you start to begin to see the problem - you are already
up to nearly £600 - quite unacceptable for a pensioner couple in
council sheltered housing and likely to do nothing for your reputation.
Private sheltered housing residents usually have a bit stashed away so
it's worth charging them a bit extra.

Customer's expectation, as well as your on-the-fly assessment of their
ability to pay, must be reflected in your charges. Being a sole trader
or small business you have that luxury. Balance the old-age pensioners
against the dual-income 5-bed detached household (with Aga and kids
named Rupert and Tamara). Take a loss on some, claw it back from those
who can afford to pay and do your own little Robin Hood act.

Prolly the pensioners are better off .. asset rich, cash poor!.

And the five bedroom home owner is probably up to his ears in debt with
school fees etc.

JPG



Bill


--
Tony Sayer

/yujhh

wrote in message
ups.com...

If it's your main customer who "contracted you to do the work", then
you either need to send em a stiff bill, or else discuss with them what
they think would be reasonable in the circs.
They seem happy to pay over the odds for travel, so they can use one
(reliable) firm to cover all their establishments. It's just that I still
wonder about the best way to calculate the amount.

What's the "correct" answer Bill?
I wish I knew. I have two methods. One is to charge £1.10 per mile plus £60
for the first hour and £30 per hour thereafter. The other is to charge 40p
per mile plus £37.50 per hour door to door.

Then again, as Bill has observed before with regard to poor reception,
it's amazing what a lot of people will accept.
Funnily enough I've just been to one who had a broken cable running from the
living room outlet to the DTT box in the kitchen (where the telly is) with
25dB loss on it, and the lack of about 75% of the channels wasn't bothering
them unduly. There moan was that ITV1 breaks up sometimes.

Bill

"Bill Wright" wrote in message
...

"-GB-Carpy" wrote in message
.uk...

An interesting post Carpy. As you say, the phrase 'when you're passing'
has a hidden meaning: 'do it for nothing'.

Bill

The expression I find disconcerting is "thanks anyway"
I some times get that after doing a job.
Why then do they need to qualify their thanks? Maybe
they are not as satisfied as I am.
--

Graham.

%Profound_observation%

Bill Wright wrote:
/yujhh

wrote in message
ups.com...

If it's your main customer who "contracted you to do the work", then
you either need to send em a stiff bill, or else discuss with them what
they think would be reasonable in the circs.

They seem happy to pay over the odds for travel, so they can use one
(reliable) firm to cover all their establishments. It's just that I still
wonder about the best way to calculate the amount.


What's the "correct" answer Bill?

I wish I knew. I have two methods. One is to charge £1.10 per mile plus £60
for the first hour and £30 per hour thereafter. The other is to charge 40p
per mile plus £37.50 per hour door to door.



An alternative would be to have a common rate for all the
sites, with cost for the nearby ones inflated as necessary
to cover visits to the distant one. This would avoid the
need to agonise over the occasional high invoice, though it
does involve some risk in estimating the number of longer
visits. The client might find that easier to deal with, too,
though hopefully they wouldn't exploit it by asking for
more visits to the remote site.

Like BA and Virgin Atlantic, you might have to introduce a
fuel surcharge if costs go up again.

tony sayer wrote:


Prolly the pensioners are better off .. asset rich, cash poor!.

And the five bedroom home owner is probably up to his ears in debt with
school fees etc.

I offer training and support for Mac computers at people's homes, so
this thread is of particular interest to me.

I find that the pensioners I deal with are very keen to pay straight
away and never quibble, while the younger clients often try to postpone
payment by any means possible.

For customers within a sensible radius ( up to about 45 mins driving ),
my rates are £20 travel and £30 per hour, but I tend to be somewhat
generous with my time when I feel that the person deserves it. People
initially react as though my charges are rather high, but I point out
that it's cheaper than a plumber and they seem to accept it.

The acid test is how much repeat business I get at that rate and I'm
delighted to find that they come back and tell others too, so it must be
about right.

I note that Dixons ( or Currys or somebody like that ) have recently
launched a service where they visit homes and sort out problems with A/V
equipment etc. They appear to be charging £50 per hour plus £20
call-out.

Bill Wright wrote:

Total miles: 119. Total time door to door 5 hours.

of calculating this. It gives an horrific, cringe-making amount. Those of
you who are involved with this sort of thing -- what are your thoughts? And
what are your figures? Work it out for your own organisation and let's see
the total.

Something like £200+VAT I would have though based on the time...

--
Cheers,

John.

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In article ,
says...
I note that Dixons ( or Currys or somebody like that ) have recently
launched a service where they visit homes and sort out problems with A/V
equipment etc. They appear to be charging £50 per hour plus £20
call-out.


Anyone who phones up Dixons' amusingly-titled "The Tech Guys" service in the
hope of getting their problems sorted needs their head read. The ants that
crawl along the ground outside my home in the summer know more about AV
equipment than they do.

I remember when Watchdog played back a recording of their helpline when they
rang up for help with a PC, a couple of years ago. Dixons (which incorporates
Currys, PC World and The Link) had a policy - and may still do - of cutting
customers off after 15 minutes even if the problem wasn't resolved, telling
you you had to call back and, of course, go through the whole explanation
again.

They played the end of the call which went something like:

Watchdog: (talking about their PC which was still broken)
Dixons: Well, we're coming up to the 15-minute mark now so you'll have to call
back again.
Watchdog: But the problem hasn't been fixed yet.
Dixons: (hangs up)

They really are a bunch of useless *******s.
--

Dom Robinson Gamertag: DVDfever email: dom at dvdfever dot co dot uk
/* http://DVDfever.co.uk (editor)
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"Dom Robinson" wrote in message
...
In article ,
says...
I note that Dixons ( or Currys or somebody like that ) have recently
launched a service where they visit homes and sort out problems with A/V
equipment etc. They appear to be charging £50 per hour plus £20
call-out.


Anyone who phones up Dixons' amusingly-titled "The Tech Guys" service in the
hope of getting their problems sorted needs their head read. The ants that
crawl along the ground outside my home in the summer know more about AV
equipment than they do.

I remember when Watchdog played back a recording of their helpline when they
rang up for help with a PC, a couple of years ago. Dixons (which
incorporates
Currys, PC World and The Link) had a policy - and may still do - of cutting
customers off after 15 minutes even if the problem wasn't resolved, telling
you you had to call back and, of course, go through the whole explanation
again.

They played the end of the call which went something like:

Watchdog: (talking about their PC which was still broken)
Dixons: Well, we're coming up to the 15-minute mark now so you'll have to
call
back again.
Watchdog: But the problem hasn't been fixed yet.
Dixons: (hangs up)

They really are a bunch of useless *******s.
--

Dom Robinson Gamertag: DVDfever email: dom at dvdfever dot co dot uk

In my experience, that description is rather generous.