Do you charge to do estimates?

Jack, CVMS

Re: With All Due Respect...

Mr. Schmitt

It would appear, from the context of your posts, that frustration with your present unemployed state is partially
responsible for your diatribe. This we can understand. Your logic, however, is more difficult to understand.
You relate that you at one time performed money-losing trips that gave you satisfaction. This is admirable. The
contractors and technicians on this forum perform very similarly in that on every job there are opportunities to do
something the least expensive way, or the right way, even if it costs a bit more, and lowers the profit margin. Peace of mind, and the ability to sleep well at night, are things that money can't buy.

You would like to have a professional contractor come in to assess your problems and give you professional advice for rectifying them for "$25 to $30". You seem to think this is fair. Maybe you ran your former business as a charity, but few of us can afford to. Not if we intend to stay in business providing a service for our communities, as well as making a living and supporting our families, and providing employment for those depending upon us.

Let me acquaint you with some of the realities of business life: Even if you lived within 2 blocks of my shop, and I
could look your job over and come up with an accurate estimate while spending no more than 30 minutes in your home, that $25 to $30 would not even cover my overhead for the hour (at least) that would be deducted from my work day. You seem to think your present status should carry some weight in regards to how much you would be charged. Were I Bill Gates, it's possible it might. But I'm just a lowly plumbing and heating man, trying to pay my bills while maintaining a modest lifestyle. There are all kinds of charity cases out there - elderly widows trying to scrape by on meager social security checks, single moms trying to support families, and so on. If I could, I would do all their work for next to nothing, or at least a fraction of what I normally charge. But I can't do that and stay in business. And if I don't stay in business do you know what happens? The guys who don't charge for estimates but do slipshod work - the kind you describe as having been found in your home when you purchased it - will be the only ones left, and you will be at their mercy.

Yes, you literally drove the extra mile while you were delivering packages. But that cost had to be paid by someone. If it came out of your profit margin, you were, in effect, taking it from your own family, and that was your decision. If it was just figured in as a cost of doing business, then your more profitable runs were subsidizing the losing ones. So you had to wait 'til all hours to get your truck out of the shop. That's the price we all pay when we chose to be self-employed. It isn't fun, but if we don't like getting up at 2:00 AM to answer a no-heat call we can find some other line of work. A few years ago I took a short sabbatical to see some more of the country from the seat of a semi-tractor. Border to border and coast to coast, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Most weeks I put in 120 to 140 hours (you're right, that doesn't leave much time for sleeping) between driving, loading/unloading, paperwork, truck maintenance, etc. I'm very familiar with what you did when you were driving. It was fun, it was rewarding, it was educational. But it didn't pay the bills. No one felt sorry for me because I had to drive a minimum of 2500 miles every week just to break even, or sat in the heat of a Texas summer for 3 days, waiting for a load to somewhere else - anywhere else. So I returned to plumbing and heating.

And it's a good thing I did, as in my absence two other businesses grew, and took over most of the work being done in my area. Fortunately for the people around here, one of the businesses had to declare bankruptcy and the owner moved out of the state. The other one has very little work anymore as his reputation spreads. My partner and I stay very busy just correcting the myriad mistakes these two have foisted onto the unsuspecting public. Neither of the two principals involved would have spent time at this forum, or any other, trying to stay abreast of the latest technology, the best methods, the collective wisdom available here. Because it takes time - time from family, time from money-earning pursuits, time from relaxation (which everyone needs in order to survive) to stay proficient. It has cost us to become the professionals that we are, in both dollars and time. That's time that costs us and our families, and our sanity. We won't give it away to strangers.

Dave DeFord

I didn't intend to imply

that $35 was a resonable fee for an estimate. I think in my post I said something like $ 50-75. I also know that this charge will be different for different parts of the country. What I was trying to point out is the model of charging for the initial estimate but at a rate where the customer doesn't feel like they are being taken to the cleaners.

Fred P

does anybody else have trouble reading this

topic now? I noticed on these long message topics that towards the end i have to go back and forth to see with the bottom arrows to see the entire message. My screen does not have word wrap..anyone else??

Mad Dog

What happened Schmitty? you've gotten very quiet...............

are you for real or were you pulling out collective leg? Yes, jim, I'm having the same problem Mad Dog

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Larry (from OSHA)

yes

me too

hey mad dog.. love the black paint. (and the rest of it too!) what was it someone said about pick any 2. good, fast, cheap. or some such thing. quality work is worth paying for.

MikeB34

I cannot afford to go to someones house for free. ANd this field is an insurance mans wet dream. I will freely gives names and addresses to people who want them, but a lot of calls come from customer referals. NOT yellow pages. I charge what I need to stay in business, plus a reasonable profit. It drives me crazy to hear people wanting me at 2am on a saturday, get angry I want $x , (and they live in a million dollar home, with a bunch of expensive cars, and have the CHEAPEST, worst installed heating system put in by some hack who WONT come out at 2am!!!)

You get what you pay for. Want Cheap = it will be.

DanHolohan

It's the oversized photos that do that.

I put them in the background and that solves the problem. Thanks.

Mad Dog

oops sorry about the ig picture

mad dog

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frank s

I'm done with free.............

When I go out for an estimate it's always atleast an hour, I'm tired of giving my knowledge away and not getting any younger, but let me correct myself for an estimate I will do for free, I will simply say anywhere from 2 - 10 or 20 thousand, if you want a firm quote then you pay!