Charging for boiler fault finding

[cr0ft]

Folks,

Do you charge for time spent diagnosing boiler faults? I believe it should be charged for but it seems a lot of customers expect me to be doing this for free like quotes.. Clearly there are two appointments involved, diagnosis and repair usually.

What do you all do?

 

[rpm]

Charge for the diagnosing but don`t say exactly what the problem is otherwise the customer goes and buys the part(s) but tell them the visit is foc or at a reduced cost if they accept the quote and you return to complete the job then factor it in to your quote.

 

[quality]

for me its my hourly rate

 

[rpm]

for me its my hourly rate

I try and offer the carrot to entice the donkey to come my way. lol

 

[rocketmanbkk]

Charge

 

[Best]

Charge for it! You don't go privately to a consultant for diagnosis of your illness and then expect only to pay for the next visit for treatment, - do you?

 

[rpm]

Charge

I`m saying charge and offering the enticement to get the job then adding the reduction made back in to the quote in such a way that the customer can`t see it so it`s a win win situation unless you don`t want the job of course.

 

[quality]

when boilers are broke and your there looking at what the problem is its very rare (never in my experience) that you don't get the job of repairing it

 

[rpm]

when boilers are broke and your there looking at what the problem is its very rare (never in my experience) that you don't get the job of repairing it

Good on yer however how many times have we heard of customers buying and fitting the part themselves or getting their friend to do the job once they know what the fault is if anyone is daft enough to tell them which I`m sure you don`t.

 

[quality]

that's not unheard of. I posted the other day about a similar scenario which end with a boiler change

 

[rpm]

Hope you got the boiler change mate.

 

[quality]

I did mate after a bit of a stand off from the DIY specialist

 

[Millsy 82]

Good on yer however how many times have we heard of customers buying and fitting the part themselves or getting their friend to do the job once they know what the fault is if anyone is daft enough to tell them which I`m sure you don`t.

I can't recall ever having that once.

 

[rpm]

I can't recall ever having that once.

It does happen though doesn`t it, once they know which part is faulty.

 

[REDSAW]

i dont charge for looking with my eyes.

if i take the cover off or get it working then i have worked on the boiler which is a flat hour charge!
if its then a quote for repair say fan, then i knock it of the price then add the hour to the part price.

 

[plumbdoctor]

Think you have to judge the custard if you think you may be getting turned over then it's very easy to give them a quote and tell them the wrong part ;-) if they go with it then just arrive with the correct parts. I see this as a win win, but I don't really have the problems of people doing this to me. But I'm aware it is quite common.

 

[woodsy]

Definitely charge for both, experience and knowledge has cost you money to learn. Unless the fault can be made good in the initial diagnosis, then it's one fee for diagnosis, especially if tools have to come out and another for repair. Take your van in and ask the garage to carry out exploratory work on a fault and then not charge you and wait for the answer. Too many people allowing their skills to be devalued by giving time and knowledge away.

 

[jonnyswamp]

I wouldn't visit if it was just to diagnose, only go if I carry out the repair
Most just want their boiler up and running again and don't want 3 quotes like a larger job

 

[rpm]

Definitely charging for 2 visits just saying you can be seen to be a nice man whilst collecting all the money.

 

[hammers4spanner]

I charge 50 quid to look at boiler no matter what , separate charge for repair.

Got one trying it on at the moment tho so see how that pans out

 

[jtsplumbing]

Done work for company's in the past all charge for dialogistic work usely first hr or call out charge. you have to cover you overheads,

 

[village idiot]

I wouldn't visit if it was just to diagnose, only go if I carry out the repair
Most just want their boiler up and running again and don't want 3 quotes like a larger job

I'm yet to come across a customer who wants more than 1 person to quote for a repair? As said, they just want their boiler working (except those internet sites - Mybuilder, Check-a-trade, etc). Like Redshaw, I do not charge if I have my habds in my pocket and just have a look. Once I take off cover or use tools to aid diagnosis, I charge

 

[SimonG]

With boiler faults its either I'm coming to fix it or you'll be getting somebody else. Don't see the point in saying I'll charge £50 to tell you what's wrong and £xx to fix it when it can all be lumped into one.

Although you could make a fortune.

 

[stevetheplumber]

i quite like the idea of charging for diagnosis and then letting someone else do it no chance it will be you thats lumbered with a spare pcb
i charge to hourly to fix, if its beyond economical repair then i charge the hour quote to replace and agree if i replace it i will discount the hours money providing youve diagnosed the problem correctly parts cost is irrelevant as who ever does it has to supply the same parts
if a customer is humming and arring i sometimes throw in a max labour charge of 3 hours for any repair

 

[cr0ft]

To those of you who charge to repair on the first appointment, how do you know with certainty what's wrong with the boiler if you haven't seen it first? Do you keep loads of spares in your van?

 

[hammers4spanner]

To those of you who charge to repair on the first appointment, how do you know with certainty what's wrong with the boiler if you haven't seen it first? Do you keep loads of spares in your van?

Nope usually check and check again and if unsure tell them maybe second fault something deeper but need to repair A to see if fault B exists.Never guarantee what your saying just in case e.g phone worcester tech help they never guarantee when they go through the little speech they have prior.

 

[stevetheplumber]

keep a few bits mostly vailant and a few thermistors couple of prvs so i can change the heads if need be

 

[mfgs]

I always tell customers there is a minimum charge for the first hour in which most problems can be diagnosed. If it can be repaired in the hour with parts I am carrying then just the price of the part will be added on. If I don't have the part I will quote a fixed price to fit the new part/parts I have diagnosed on top of the original minimum charge.

 

[lame plumber]

just hand over an invoice if they dont want a repair, or if they do it all goes together once the repair is done.

 

[Leo21]

I always tell customers there is a minimum charge for the first hour in which most problems can be diagnosed. If it can be repaired in the hour with parts I am carrying then just the price of the part will be added on. If I don't have the part I will quote a fixed price to fit the new part/parts I have diagnosed on top of the original minimum charge.

Same here. If you go out and quote for a repair, youve factored in the time for diagnosis. If you tell them what parts required they can ring round for a quote. But the other guy hasn't spent an hour or travelling time. So he's bound to be cheaper and get the work.
So I charge for diagnosis. If it's an easy repair I'll do it there and the for the first hour charge. Topping a boiler up, freeing a trv off etc.

 

[southcoastboile]

I always charge for a diagnosis and I tell them what it needs. If I don't get the repair work I don't really care, still made the £50 for diagnosis. As said it's very rare not to get the repair work anyway.

 

[SimonG]

Diagnosis is the easy bit. You could make a killing just doing diagnosis all day, and with no comeback if you word your terms and conditions correctly.

The only issue I have, is if I turn up and a customer says to me, oh it's the kerfuffle valve, so and so diagnosed it. Yeh right, I'm still adding extra on.

 

[Leo21]

Diagnosis is the easy bit. You could make a killing just doing diagnosis all day, and with no comeback if you word your terms and conditions correctly.

The only issue I have, is if I turn up and a customer says to me, oh it's the kerfuffle valve, so and so diagnosed it. Yeh right, I'm still adding extra on.

I tell you what ,those kerfuffle valves are getting expensive aren't they.

 

[SimonG]

Still cheaper than a flux capacitor or a dihydrogen monoxide relief valve

 

[buckley plumb]

I do charge now I learnt the hard way. People to advantage

 

[Linkyplumb]

Hourly rate for me

 

[REDSAW]

With boiler faults its either I'm coming to fix it or you'll be getting somebody else. Don't see the point in saying I'll charge £50 to tell you what's wrong and £xx to fix it when it can all be lumped into one.

Although you could make a fortune.

i do , especially if its a load of crap and i dont want the repair, get dozens that only need topping up

 

[so-solar]

When the customer asks if we charge a call out fee, we say "no", it's a diagnostic fee! £55

 

[thompsonbrown]

I struggle to be brazen enough to say I want a call-out fee, and if its local and just needs a pressure top up,
I don't charge more than £20
not saying I'm right, but a 5min fix, I just mentally cant say more. Sounds strange when I'm happy to charge
£150 + parts for 2 half hour visits to replace a fan.

 

[rocketmanbkk]

I obviously don't do gas but if I think it's a waster I'll charge callout

Not always easy to gauge though

 

[quality]

I always charge all work by the hour it is simple that way

 

[thompsonbrown]

I obviously don't do gas but if I think it's a waster I'll charge callout

Not always easy to gauge though

With me its just that 5 mins in someones house, and then saying something like "lets just call that £100" Ok

 

[gassafe]

British Gas are pushing there repairs from 79 pound again...

A quick look on there website reveals the true cost... 79 pound for 30 min repair, 199 for anything 30 mins to 2 hours & 409 for anything over 2 hours!!!!

 

[hammers4spanner]

They have an access as well

 

[Millsy 82]

With me its just that 5 mins in someones house, and then saying something like "lets just call that £100" Ok

I never spend just 5 minutes in a house. If it's low pressure I top it up and test the expansion vessel drain pressure off top the expansion vessel up refill and then you have to check the boiler and leave it running for 5 minutes.

A company that I worked for found that if you only spent 5 minutes people didn't want to pay and they always argued where as if you spend 15 minutes they would.

I'm not saying drag the jobs out to the 2nd hour but just enough so you can charge your 1st hour and feel confident about it.

 

[dave1]

When the customer asks if we charge a call out fee, we say "no", it's a diagnostic fee! £55

I'm doing exactly the same as this.

 

[mutley racers]

I always charge a 1st hour, order part and then I charge another 1st hour to fit as I have been and gone back it is 2 hrs, maybe more as getting stuck in traffic to pick stuff up on the same day takes a little longer than 2 hrs. I had my first client 2 weeks ago trying to fix it after I had diagnosed the fault. I told him his wireless stat was knackered and gave him a price to fix it. He said he would talk to his wife. I didn't hear from him so put in an invoice for diagnosis, he called me said I was wrong as he hit the programmer and it worked. A week later he called me up and said he would be happy to pay and go with the quote. Some people a

 

[REDSAW]

failed on a boiler today.
charged £40, he said you sure youve been here nearly 2 hours, make it £60.
so, i took it and refered him to baxi.

 

[buckley plumb]

failed on a boiler today.
charged £40, he said you sure youve been here nearly 2 hours, make it £60.
so, i took it and refered him to baxi.

I had a main last wk did my head in replaced most parts. In the end it was venturi.

 

[Leo21]

I had a main last wk did my head in replaced most parts. In the end it was venturi.

Did it melt? If it did, when I had it the pcb had gone. Occasionally firing regardless of what the ntc,s were saying.