emergency Call out charges

[ajgas]

Just a quick question, not that i get that many but what does everyone charge for emergency call outs? for instance a burst pipe coming through a ceiling at 11pm at night, once you have charged a call out fee does everyone then charge by the hour, if so what sounds about right and reasonable? i no it gets more expensive the further south you but im just curious, cheers

 

[T & H Plumbing]

Not something I've really had but I guess

8am-5pm £50 call out then £25 per hour or part of

5pm - 8pm £100 call out then £50 per hour or part of

 

[Leo21]

I just charge a higher hourly rate, you've got to make money. But you don't want to alienate your customers. That's if you can get me to answer the phone anyway.

 

[townfanjon]

As usual it depends who it is !!!
Personally if it's a good customer I defo would nt take the *iss.
I got called out to a customer last sat night 8 ish ,leaking cylinder, drained it with a pump. From door to door about 45 mins .this obviously lead to a cylinder swap so the call out charge was lost in the final invoice.
Probably only really charged £50.00. Should have been more but good customer and all that !!!!

 

[Alex Pelton]

use pimlico plumbers as a guide. the prices are on their website

 

[hammers4spanner]

I had a call last week some one had a tap that wouldn't shut off ,phone rang at 9 pm and they wanted it sorted that night.
I said 80 quid cash she said can't afford it
Unfortunately I have overheads and need to earn money so ended up not doing it

 

[ajgas]

I had a call last week some one had a tap that wouldn't shut off ,phone rang at 9 pm and they wanted it sorted that night.
I said 80 quid cash she said can't afford it
Unfortunately I have overheads and need to earn money so ended up not doing it

ye that sounds a bit like our area, people are really cheeky, your good enough to call but not good enough to pay, the problem is people think theyre getting ripped off no matter what you say to them, your overheads dont even enter their minds i dont think

 

[ajgas]

use pimlico plumbers as a guide. the prices are on their website

cheers thats handy

 

[ajgas]

i wish i could charge those prices

 

[Aquablu]

i wish i could charge those prices

Yeah, me too 🙂

 

[hammers4spanner]

i wish i could charge those prices

Clearly selling yourself short

 

[ajgas]

Clearly selling yourself short

clearly! i just dont think anybody in the midlands area would pay £85 an hr in the day, i think they'd get someone else to do it

 

[hammers4spanner]

Been there done that anyone can be a busy fool as they say

 

[Dannypipe]

Some plumbers have higher over heads than others, so it's never a straight forward question to answer. A lot depends on their:

1/ Qualifications and experience
2/ Office costs
3/ Advertising costs
4/ Van costs
5/ Plant costs
6/ Local area costs (some areas are more expensive to live in).

I live in one of the most expensive parts of the country so our costs will be higher, doesn't automatically equate to more money left in my pocket once all is said and done.

 

[MarkAqua]

Depends what you think you can get away with. No point ripping people off
- as fair days work for a fair days pay leads to more work.

 

[SimonG]

Its not about ripping people off, its about the value you put on your time when you should be away from work.

If its an existing customer then it will charged accordingly.

If its a new customer, who uses somebody else normally, then I will make their eyes water.

 

[Mike Jackson]

A lot of the time I can't do out of hours calls because I'm at dog shows or dog training. If I do it's straight double time including travelling time. As well as being paid for your time you need to account for the fact that you may not be as productive the following day because you're tired.

Years ago when we used to do a lot of HA work we got a lot of out of hours calls. People used to tell us we were raking it in because of the double time but after 2 or 3 calls in an evening the next day was pretty much a waste of time.

 

[Leo21]

A lot of the time I can't do out of hours calls because I'm at dog shows or dog training. If I do it's straight double time including travelling time. As well as being paid for your time you need to account for the fact that you may not be as productive the following day because you're tired.

Years ago when we used to do a lot of HA work we got a lot of out of hours calls. People used to tell us we were raking it in because of the double time but after 2 or 3 calls in an evening the next day was pretty much a waste of time.

I've had the same experience.

 

[brum]

Theres no point anyone ringing me at night im always too drunk

 

[kris]

Dont think ive ever charged double time. I know most of my customers and only if its someone i dont know then il put price up. Even at nights n weekenfs working is always straight time. It keeps my customers happy and in turn they tell there friends etc.

 

[Dannypipe]

I agree, what you give one day, you can lose the next. That said, just had three pretty heavy days on the trot (finished at half midnight with an hours drive home to do yesterday) and I have more hours like that this week through. Off on Friday though.

 

[wetdrip]

use pimlico plumbers as a guide. the prices are on their website

Pimlico state their prices are middle-of-the-road.
Can anyone point me to a low-end and high-end price list?
Or a midlands based pricing chart?
Ta much.

 

[parkesy_plumb]

know your competition in your local area. 9 times out of 10 people look on yell.com or google using the key words "emergency plumber tunbridge" or wherever. Companies that specialise in call outs will display their call out charge on their site so charge accordingly!

Remember though .. Its your "foot in the door" for that customer. They only called you because they dont know any other local plumbers so you could be looking at a customer for life.

parkesy

 

[ajgas]

i think this thread has been slightly misunderstood, i didnt want to know how to build a customer base or how to present myself in front of customers etc 🙂 i simply meant what do people most people charge for a call out late at night

 

[T & H Plumbing]

Pimlico state their prices are middle-of-the-road.
Can anyone point me to a low-end and high-end price list?
Or a midlands based pricing chart?
Ta much.

Ring a few plumbers in your area at silly o clock n ask how much call out charge you have a leak and guess from there