# I went on a job Sunday @10:30PM.



## vinpadalino (Aug 27, 2010)

My last company I worked for didnt charge extra, but they had about 10 guys working for them. It's just me. I was thinking about charging from when I left for the call to when I got back, an hourly rate. Tell the customer that on the phone so I dont go out there for nothing. Any thoughts?


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## plumbpro (Mar 10, 2010)

It depends, there are some companies here that offer 24/7 service at the same price they would charge during business hours. If you want the night time business, charge a rate like that. If you want the nighttime business, but only at a certain rate charge that. If you don't want night time business, don't answer your phone. 
I charge a time and a half rate, that includes all time gone from home.


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## luv2plumb (Apr 30, 2010)

Any service calls after-hours we charge from the time whoever is on-call leaves his house till the the time he gets back home.


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## vinpadalino (Aug 27, 2010)

My father in law does that, and he gave me the idea. I like doing after hour calls, but I want to make money doing them. That sounds like a good idea. Charge around 150-200 an hour when I leave to when I get home.


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## plumbpro (Mar 10, 2010)

There is no way I'd do it for a regular rate, it's not worth it.


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## Phat Cat (Apr 1, 2009)

When a customer suggests other cos. don't charge for overtime, I politely inform them that their rate is significantly higher than ours. Basically they charge our overtime rate 24/7/365.

We charge for the work completed. No arguments about travel time that way. New customers are told there is a flat add-on-fee for overtime. Keeps it easy and we don't have customers pacing watching the clock.


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## vinpadalino (Aug 27, 2010)

PlumbCrazy said:


> When a customer suggests other cos. don't charge for overtime, I politely inform them that their rate is significantly higher than ours. Basically they charge our overtime rate 24/7/365.
> 
> We charge for the work completed. No arguments about travel time that way. New customers are told there is a flat add-on-fee for overtime. Keeps it easy and we don't have customers pacing watching the clock.


Thats great idea!


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## UnclogNH (Mar 28, 2009)

PlumbCrazy said:


> When a customer suggests other cos. don't charge for overtime, I politely inform them that their rate is significantly higher than ours. Basically they charge our overtime rate 24/7/365.
> 
> We charge for the work completed. No arguments about travel time that way. New customers are told there is a flat add-on-fee for overtime. Keeps it easy and we don't have customers pacing watching the clock.


This is true. I do the same. Never an over time rates it's because their rate is already to high. Then it depends on the area like my economically depressed service area's think any rate is too much.


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## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

These four questions MUST be answered before setting a price for your after hours service:

1. How much per hour must you charge to pay ALL overhead expenses and still make a profit?
2. Do you need after hours work to pay for your budgeted overhead or is it all covered M-F, 8-5?
3. Why do you want to run calls after hours?
4. How important is it to you that you get after hours customers?

After you answer these questions, "how much should I charge after hours" will be pretty obvious.


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## vinpadalino (Aug 27, 2010)

I have a better idea now. After hour calls within a 1/2 hour away min of $300 and up + double material coast. 
Jobs that are more then an hour away min $400 and up + double coast material. 
Repeat customers get $25 off.
Hows that sound?


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## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

vinpadalino said:


> ...Hows that sound?


Your numbers are not relevant if you haven't answered at least the first two questions above. The way you're bouncing around dollar amounts, it sounds like you're just looking to the after hours calls for windfalls of cash.

I'm not suggesting you tell us your specific budget numbers in a public forum, just making sure you consider that before picking an hourly rate out of your...:whistling2:


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## vinpadalino (Aug 27, 2010)

plbgbiz said:


> These four questions MUST be answered before setting a price for your after hours service:
> 
> 1. How much per hour must you charge to pay ALL overhead expenses and still make a profit?
> 2. Do you need after hours work to pay for your budgeted overhead or is it all covered M-F, 8-5?
> ...


I cant pay all my over head expenses on 1 call. I dont need the after hour calls, but the extra money and customers are a good thing. I run after hour calls so customers dont find someone else. Plus I dont mind. It comes with being in the heating biz.


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## breid1903 (Feb 8, 2009)

when the customer says someone else only charges x bucks ask them why they called you. the answer i get is that i was the only person who answered their phone. lol. i then tell them caller that i'm the cheapest out there. i do it because i make a lot more money at 3 am than i do at 3 pm, as i told some lady at 3 am. she laughed. me to. i like the money. that is why i go to work. i can go to the gym to exercise. actually i do. breid..............:rockon:


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## vinpadalino (Aug 27, 2010)

Or maybe just tell customer there's an additional fee of $150 on top of what ever coast is. I don't want to scare them away with the price up front. So basically at the end of any call there looking at a price of $300 and up.


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## Richard Hilliard (Apr 10, 2010)

When we were time and material we charged portal to portal. Never had much of an argument due to time limits that we imposed. If a tech had to travel more than 30 minutes it did not seem fair to charge travel time due to where a tech lived. Move to the food mentality.

Now that we are a flat rate our over time charges reflect the travel time.Charging straight time when it is an overtime call and paying overtime wages is kind of crazy when you really think about it,might as well just send the customer a check for doing business for lost revenue.


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## vinpadalino (Aug 27, 2010)

Could you get into trouble for charging to much?


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## Titan Plumbing (Oct 8, 2009)

vinpadalino said:


> Could you get into trouble for charging to much?


Yeah, you could finally lose all your customers. To me that would be trouble.

I hear what your saying but I don't think you would actually get into trouble, if your prices are too high the customers won't use you, not sue you.


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## vinpadalino (Aug 27, 2010)

Titan Plumbing said:


> Yeah, you could finally lose all your customers. To me that would be trouble.
> 
> I hear what your saying but I don't think you would actually get into trouble, if your prices are too high the customers won't use you, not sue you.


Just for ****s and giggles. I can charge $1000.00 for an hour of work?


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## Phat Cat (Apr 1, 2009)

vinpadalino said:


> Just for ****s and giggles. I can charge $1000.00 for an hour of work?


Yep! Why not? If you have customers willing to pay that much for your services, go for it. :thumbup: 

Think of it another way, customers pay handyman $25/hour to destroy their homes and then pay someone else to rip it out and start all over. In the end, cheap/ignorant customers pay more than everyone else does for plumbing.


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## plumbpro (Mar 10, 2010)

PlumbCrazy said:


> Yep! Why not? If you have customers willing to pay that much for your services, go for it. :thumbup:
> 
> Think of it another way, customers pay handyman $25/hour to destroy their homes and then pay someone else to rip it out and start all over. In the end, cheap/ignorant customers pay more than everyone else does for plumbing.


I don't feel bad for people that hire hacks to fix their plumbing because they are cheap. If they were thoughtful people they would look at the disparity of rates between plumbers and handy hacks. When seeing this rate difference they should dig deeper, but often don't, and because of that they end up with water damage, mold, a poor installation, much more expense down the road. 

I went on a call yesterday morning to fix a leak in CPVC. After the leak fix, the guy wanted me to come look at his bathroom. He was not pleased with the results of his recently remodeled bathroom. He asked what could be done. I said well rip it out and start over pretty much. The guy that did it will not come back to fix anything wrong. I said not to hire non plumbers to do plumbing and you could have avoided this. "Oh, so and so said he was a plumber".
Then he gets my bill, "you charge alot more than so and so"
:laughing:


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## scottyk52 (Jan 29, 2011)

Customers calling on a Sunday should know they will be paying a premium. Would they be going to their job on a Sunday for regular pay?? Highly doubt it!! i would charge hourly from the time i started getting prepared for the job. Don't forget the higher mark-up in materials too!! Supply houses are closed on Sundays so you should be able to charge a premium for having the parts on hand. The simple law of supply and demand. For us it all depends on the customer. If it is one of our contractors or a regular customer we wouldn't charge as much as a random caller.


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## vinpadalino (Aug 27, 2010)

I guess I'm learning new things being is biz. I found it's very expensive to own your own biz. 
I know my last company got in trouble with BBB. They basically had to tell so and so how they got there #'s with the bill, The company's name was put on a list, I think.


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## ckoch407 (Sep 30, 2009)

I charge the same for service 24/7/365. Its a flat rate. There is a service fee on every call just for showing up. Usually $39.00 - $49.00. for after hours and holidays its $99.00 - $149.00. They feel much better only paying the higher callout fee knowing everything else is the same. Simple and less intimidating without all the buts and ifs.


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## breid1903 (Feb 8, 2009)

the 3 am lady is the only person recently that has asked about the price. i was already there and done. i don't remember anyone that complained about price. the question is will you come out now? or some variation. breid........:rockon:


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## Richard Hilliard (Apr 10, 2010)

*I went on a job Sunday @10:30PM*

Keep in mind 35 dollars or 1000 dollars when promises are not kept the customer has over paid. When the task is not repaired the customer has overpaid. Once you realize that you are worth the dollars then the customer will know you are worth the dollars. I do not care what anyone charges it does not matter to me. What I charge is what really matters to me. Communication will get you what you need.

Zig Ziglar said if you help enough people get what they want you will get what you need. You must charge what you need to cover your expenses and profit that is required to keep your doors open and make a living.


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