Trip Charge?

[zzaphod42]

A couple of questions:

First who does and doesn't have a trip charge policy in place for warranty work?

Second - if you do have a trip charge policy, is it for all customers, or only those who are out of your immediate vicinity?

And finally - how do customers respond to the idea of a trip charge for warranty work?

Joe

[Lori]

I could understand a trip charge, I mean, my local HotSpring dealer is now 90 miles away!  Of course, I bought from a dealer who was only 40 miles away, but they no longer carry HotSpring.  Of course, they still handle pools, so the techs are still around and still do my warranty work, but if not, I would understand a trip charge!

Whew...can you tell it has been a very long day?  

[Vinny]

I asked that question to my dealer and was told all THEIR customers don't get any charges for warranty work.

[Phil]

Used to charge, it was nice because it made the customers think twice about calling for a service call..  what i mean is check dirty filters first, water level etc...


We no longer charge a trip charge, because we want to completely take care of our customer.  However, we make it clear to the customer at the time of sale that the spa has a MFG. warranty, not a warranty thru us.  With that being told to the customer, they sign a warranty disclaimer agreeing to that.    Now, our service advisors will talk to the customer about the situation and advise them that if it is not a warranty call they will be charged.

There of course are situations where we will comp a call due to the fact that these customers do not understand their hot tub and possibly need some help along the way.  I would say the majority of our customers have never owned a hot tub before and do not understand them.

So for the measly $30 we used to charge, I would have to say that the miles we have gotton out of not charging are well worth it.  

If we sell to a customer, we service that customer, in our rural sales/service area we sometimes will run 2 hours 1 way for a call.  But, our street prices on the original sale set our expenses for that customer.

Does that make sense???

Also, when we used to charge we were dealing with a Mfg. that did not support us well, nowdays we carry D1 and the support is fantastic.  So that helps.

[Chas]

No trip charge.

[stuart]

We only do a trip charge for warrenty work outside of 35 miles, otherwise no trip charge.

[salesdvl]

We have a Purchase/Delivery Agreement form that covers some basics like what we can and cannot do on a delivery etc... Also in there is the verbage that a $49 trip charge will be charged after the first year for all service calls.

[zzaphod42]

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far.

I find we are running into a problem in my area because we haven't been around since the dawn of time like some of you guys, Steve, Chas, Stuart, Doc   and most of the service calls we get are still warranty calls. That being said our service department is taking a beating, and it seems that in order to keep the high level of service that we want, a trip charge is a necessity. I expect that within the next couple of years, the trip charge will diminish, or disappear completely.

Phil, I understand why you got rid of your trip charge, but why did you have one in the first place?  

Joe

[HotTubMan]

We charge one customer travel charges, its because he gouged us on services rendered to us. Otherwise NO

Joe;

Could your warranty difficulties help explain why Beachcomber has lost 10+ delaers in Ontario alone this year? Can you say Cornerstone?

[zzaphod42]

Actually, to the best of my knowledge, Beachcomber is handling all claims for new models, while Cornerstone only has anything to do with D series and older models. Don't quote me on that, because I no longer have to do the claims myself. Plus now that everything is done online, the process is a lot smoother.  

The problem is that, as I am sure you know, you don't make any money on warranty work. Unless other manufacturers offer a lot more for labour than Beachcomber? Is there much difference in reimbursement for labour between Beachcomber, Coleman, and D1?

We have a large rural area that we service, so a five minute job can take a few hours out of one of our service tech's day, not to mention a good chunk of gas out of a truck's gas tank.

Joe

[wetone]

No trip charge for us, 90% of our clients are within 1 hour round trip.

[Spa_Tech]

First who does and doesn't have a trip charge policy in place for warranty work?

I have a trip charge on all service calls outside my standard service area-- whether or not the service is warranty related.

Second - if you do have a trip charge policy, is it for all customers, or only those who are out of your immediate vicinity?

I have a standard service area which covers most of the communites that border my towns city limits. This constitutes an area that is about a ten to fifteen mile radius from the city center.

And finally - how do customers respond to the idea of a trip charge for warranty work?

I inform my customers in outlying areas upfront that mileage will be charged to cover my time and fuel expenses. About 90% of them understand and accept these conditions- about one in ten who call for service will balk at the additional charge.

[Brewman]

I inform my customers in outlying areas upfront that mileage will be charged to cover my time and fuel expenses. About 90% of them understand and accept these conditions- about one in ten who call for service will balk at the additional charge.

I suppose you could always bury your trip charge in your labor rates, thus offering "free tripping".    

Brewman

[Phil]

Joe,

We thought we needed it in the early days, but in reality looking at the balance sheet at the end of the year it was not $10K Plus dollars.  So for what a pain in the @$$ it was to explain it to customers it wasn't worth it.  

I guess if your cash flow is getting eaten up by running around for "warranty" calls I would look at the bigger picture.  Either you are not selling the right brand of spas, or you are not charging enough, OR you are delivering to far out.

Btw, tman (roger) can attest to this, we cover a 3 to 4 hour radius out of each store and have made it work.  Talk about rural!!!

[East_TX_Spa]

Our company policy is that we do not charge a fee for warranty work unless there is nothing wrong with the spa when we get there.  About 90% of the time, we end up having to charge the customer $60 for having come out and clean their filters or push their reset button.  It usually only happens once per customer.

Chris O.