Do you charge a gas/trip fee?

[stuart]

Last year when gas prices got to be just too much we started charging a $15 trip fee or "gas surcharge". I cannot believe the arguments we get from customers on this!

We will not go out on a call without a credit card and the trip fee for these reasons;

1. Not all calls during the warranty period are covered by the manufacture....if someone has you come out for dirty filters they have to pay for that.  Pre charging their credit card and letting them know that they are responsible for the bill if it isn't covered has changed the amount of loss there.

2. Gas, Oil and maintenance on vehicles has gone up.... Manufactures don't pay enough in most cases to cover the expenses of warranty calls so a trip fee is reasonable.


Do you charge a trip free and if so how much?

 

[Brookenstein]

Stuart,

As a consumer I would be okay with a $15 trip charge even under warranty.  I just have hard time with the $45 or so charges unless there is a significant travel distrance.  The stories of being 3 miles from the dealer and being charged $45 leave a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[East_TX_Spa]

We do not charge a travel fee, although we did raise the cost of an out-of-warranty service call from $65 to $99 last year.  It had been $65 for about the last 10 years and we realized we were way behind the times.

We, too, have started requiring a credit card number up front.  Some folks don't like it, but most people understand the reasoning.

Term

 

[Brookenstein]

Term,

What does the $99 cover?  Is that just to show up or does that include diagnosis?  If they have to come back to finish the work are they charged the fee again?

 

[East_TX_Spa]

Term,

What does the $99 cover?  Is that just to show up or does that include diagnosis?  If they have to come back to finish the work are they charged the fee again?

Our guys always talk to the customer ahead of time so that they'll generally have an idea of what's wrong with the spa.  Once on sight, they will diagnose and correct the problem.  If they experience difficulty, they will contact technical support at Watkins and use their help to diagnose the situation and resolve it.  They are usually at the customer's home less than 30 minutes.

If by some rare chance they have to return, there is no charge.

Term

 

[Bonibelle]

I think I posted on this before, but when my pump went the plumber kept hitting me with a gas fee..each time he came back to "finish" the job. So several trips, several$$$$ I wrote and told him it would be to his advantage, at least from a customer's standpoint to just incorporate those fees in the bill, don't line item it...Service people have to travel TO the customer, so that is a part of doing business. Otherwise there would be no business. I can't bring my well and pump to them to work on. So in that light, getting to the job is just a function of doing business. I wish my husband could hit his boss up for the extra cash it is costing him to drive to work each day...and I am waiting for the grocery store to send me a gas coupon for driving there to do business..

So I say if you need to charge it, just incorporate it in the general bill. The plumber that fixed my well made enough in gas money to go to disney world!!

 

[clover]

We charge a $50 trip fee and have for the past 10-12 years and we still do.  Before that, it was all free.  We found customers to be very demanding for what they got for free, so we began to charge a trip charge.  We do require a credit card before going to the site.  That fee is discreationary and can be waived or discounted at our discreation for "good" customers.  Once there, we charge $25 per quarter hour with most service calls handled within 30 minutes.  Occasionally, we get  someone with no credit card and they pay by check.  We will NEVER BILL AGAIN, too many arguments and too many writeoff's, all of which leads to stressful relationships.

Our manufacturer pulled our line from us after 17 years and brought in a big dealer with deep pockets.  They charged our customers $85 for a trip charge for warranty work, with some customers telling us they were charged $150 just for them to show up for warranty work.  The highest charge we heard was $300 and they were 60 miles one way.  All of this was done with the knowledge of SD, who did nothing about it, as all of these people called them to absolutely no avail.  They are no longer in business today after 18 months closing 4 very large stores and you ought to hear what customers have to say about them, Not Good.

 

[loosenupspas]

As long as the work is in warranty I don't charge any trip charge/fee.  This market is competitive and this gives a slight edge on the other hot tub retailers in central Florida.  It is an educated assumption, in so far as, Coleman tubs are very reliable, requiring next to no follow up service.

Non-warranty work, $65.00 for the first half hour and $55.00 every our after that.  So far we trust people to mail or have a check ready.  Gas is very expensive, but the Tundra is reasonable on gas.  

A quality hot tub repair service is making a fortune on labor and parts.  It is a very good business.......the better ones can just about charge what they want to charge.

 

[Mendocino101]

We have a one time trip fee it applies after the first year of service. It varies between 50 and 75 dollars the one time fee means it is one fee per repair no matter should a return trip or trips be required (of course we try to do it in one call). We also guarantee the repair against another travel fee for 90 days we have yet to have this occur. The reality for is we have very very few warranty calls most of our work comes from spa not sold by us.

 

[Cyn]

I think I posted on this before, but when my pump went the plumber kept hitting me with a gas fee..each time he came back to "finish" the job. So several trips, several$$$$ I wrote and told him it would be to his advantage, at least from a customer's standpoint to just incorporate those fees in the bill, don't line item it...Service people have to travel TO the customer, so that is a part of doing business. Otherwise there would be no business. I can't bring my well and pump to them to work on. So in that light, getting to the job is just a function of doing business. I wish my husband could hit his boss up for the extra cash it is costing him to drive to work each day...and I am waiting for the grocery store to send me a gas coupon for driving there to do business..

So I say if you need to charge it, just incorporate it in the general bill. The plumber that fixed my well made enough in gas money to go to disney world!!

I agree with Boni...upcharges because life has gotten more expensive  .  That is the cost of doing business and if you need to raise your rates, raise them, but don't insult me by saying you are charging more 'cause gas is more expensive.  I have to say that auto repair places that tack on a $10 fee for extras such as shop towels, etc., are crazy...how insulting to pay $300 or whatever and then have an added $10.  Put it in the price for the work done.  

 

[Confused_in_Canada]

I agree with Boni...upcharges because life has gotten more expensive  .  That is the cost of doing business and if you need to raise your rates, raise them, but don't insult me by saying you are charging more 'cause gas is more expensive.  I have to say that auto repair places that tack on a $10 fee for extras such as shop towels, etc., are crazy...how insulting to pay $300 or whatever and then have an added $10.  Put it in the price for the work done.  

I have to agree with Boni and Cyn.  

I do have sympathy for you dealers out there with escalating cost of fuel, insurance and maintenance but the "term" trip charge does not leave a warm and fuzzy feeling.  My advise, for what its worth would be to bury it in the invoiced price.  Maybe raising your hourly rate by $5 may offset it.  I would never pay a "trip charge" to any dealer or service provider if the trip was for a warranty issue.

Like I said it just doesn't leave the customer with a good feeling

 

[tazman]

Case and point for trip charge, Mr Schmuckatelle called the other day and said his spa was not heating, we ask "how old are your filters" the customer replies "I just cleaned them" We explain we understand that the filters have been cleaned but it still could be the issue. "Just come out and fix my spa" he says "O.k sir but first I have some information I must let you know before we come out" the script goes like this, "sir just recently the factories have allowed spa dealers to collect reasonable trip charges from customers as they do not pay us for actual travel time, so to help defray some of the cost we have found it necessary to impose a onetime trip charge of $15"
We realise your spa is under manufactures warranty , however there are things that the manufacturer may not cover such as dirty filters, incorrect wiring, airlocks and un balanced water chemistry, just to name a few" This being said there may be things necessary in the service call that are not covered by the manufacturer, in this unlikely event you may responsible for our rates upto $95 per hour plus parts,but only if the factory finds the problem to be a non warrantable item" "Do you have any questions sir?" " Just come fix my spa" "o.k sir is Tuesday afternoon o.k?"

We go out and remove his filters and low and behold! The filters were swullen and restricting water to the system, you guessed it! disengaging the heater. We were out of his yard in 10 minutes. This morning I have an urgent message to call him. "I am not paying another $95 for your guy to come and tell me my filters are bad" "well sir did we not read you our rates and fees card that indicated this may happen?" "Yes you did but I am not paying."

Luckily in this instance we took a $15 trip charge on his credit card so we are able to send him a bill and charge his card. People don't want to pay even if the damage or problem is neglect on their part. I call that attempted theft. Luckily we have security sytems in place. For the most part people are great but the bad apples......Well thats just my $110 worth.

 


I have to agree with Boni and Cyn.  

I do have sympathy for you dealers out there with escalating cost of fuel, insurance and maintenance but the "term" trip charge does not leave a warm and fuzzy feeling.  My advise, for what its worth would be to bury it in the invoiced price.  Maybe raising your hourly rate by $5 may offset it.  I would never pay a "trip charge" to any dealer or service provider if the trip was for a warranty issue.

Like I said it just doesn't leave the customer with a good feeling

 

[Confused_in_Canada]

Tazman,

 I understand your point and I do not want to leave any business person on the hook for my stupidity but, the customer in your example is a 1 in 100.  I would imagine that 99% of the time your service calls are justified by a legitimate repair or warranty claim for which you and your company are paid.  If you guys came out to my house and determined that my complaint was due to dirty or damaged filters then yes I agree some compensation for your time is due.  If my complaint was a legitimate warranty claim then I don't believe I should be charged for you to come to my house its not like I can bring the tub to you.

What I am saying is that dealers should not use the term "trip charge" call it a minimum charge or bury it in your invoice or raise your labor rate.  Trip charge is not a customer friendly term.

 

[Mendocino101]

Tazman,

 I understand your point and I do not want to leave any business person on the hook for my stupidity but, the customer in your example is a 1 in 100.  I would imagine that 99% of the time your service calls are justified by a legitimate repair or warranty claim for which you and your company are paid.  If you guys came out to my house and determined that my complaint was due to dirty or damaged filters then yes I agree some compensation for your time is due.  If my complaint was a legitimate warranty claim then I don't believe I should be charged for you to come to my house its not like I can bring the tub to you.

What I am saying is that dealers should not use the term "trip charge" call it a minimum charge or bury it in your invoice or raise your labor rate.  Trip charge is not a customer friendly term.

I would have to say no not at all. Owners basic maintenance neglect is the cause much of the time. I have said this before but the owners on a board like this are the anomaly and not the typical spa owner. Dirty filters are a rather common occurrences for heating and flow problems.

 

[Bonibelle]

I think the real issue is that as consumers we have to totally asorb the increasing costs of EVERYONE doing business. In order for the business to make the same amount of money before the gas increases, the consumer has to pay that difference. The issue isn't how you differentiate between service calls; are they for real issues or customer stupidity? That is pretty simple. The issue is whether as a service company, you pass your increased cost of doing business off to your customers.  Do service oriented businesses get tax writeoffs for gas? If you decide that each trip is hit with a $10.00 gas fee, is that fair for the guy 3 miles down the road, as well as the guy 40 miles away? So should you charge by the mile? This is what made me mad at the plumber. It didn't cost him $15.00 in gas to get to and from my house.  The simple answer is just incorporate it into your charge and don't mention it is to cover the gas costs.

 

[lets]

The issue is whether as a service company, you pass your increased cost of doing business off to your customers.  

I keep trying to get my employees to take a pay cut, but they just wont go for it.... Dang guys all want raises..... something about the cost of living going up?

And my landlord tells me he'll evict me if I try to reduce the amount of rent he gets...... and oh by the way, did I forget it's a new year and there's that issue of a rent increase?

My insurance company refuses to lower their rates.... HA, they wont even keep them the same as they were last year.

And *sigh*, the oil company says I gotta pay the the credit card bill for gas, they're shooting for another record quarter.

Tell ya what, when I win the lottery, I'll take the hit and lose money for a while.......... crap, guess I better start buying tickets  ;D

 

[lets]

Seriously.... Say over the last few years you discover it's now costing you $10 more to do each service call, and you haven't raised rates in a while. $10 a service call, say you do 5 calls a day. That's $13,000 a year. Where does that $13k come from? It comes directly out of the pocket of the owner of the company.................... I ain't taking a $13k pay cut.................. will you?

 

[WHY_NOT]

We are a tile/stone subcontractor. When we have a service call on a house that is still under the contractor's 2 year warranty, we do not charge anything. Even if we wanted to, we couldn't. Some of the subdivisions we have are up to 60 miles away and we still eat the cost. We simply figure for these type of expenses in our original square footage bids with the contractors. Outside of warranty, we charge our hourly cost per person and what ever materials were needed to complete the job. There is no line on the invoice for a gas surcharge or "trip fee". That's just another expense of doing business and is figured in to our cost per hour.

 

[Chris_H]

1.It is the dealers right to charge the fee if they want.  
2.It is the consumers right to not pay the fee if they want.  
3.It is the dealer’s right to refuse any more service if said charge is not paid.  

Many service company’s charge this especially large appliance repair services.  

 

[clover]

All of us pay for what we don't know, can not do, or will not  do for ourselves.  It is sometimes easier to pay for what we need.  On the other hand, customers feel that IF they have a warranty, IT SHOULD BE COVERED.  

We always ask a string of questions to help us better understand the symptoms of what is going on.  This gives us clues as to what the problem could be, so that we might come prepared with most everything we need.  Some customers are very helpful and 70% of our service calls are fixed on the phone with no need to pay for services or the expenses to provide service.

There are some customers who feel they are entitled to free service and do not care to look into the problem, or to help you understand the answers to your questions, just come out and fix it.  These are the first to complain about any charges, expecially when, IF they tried to help us, they may not need us to come out at all.  When we get there, the filter is imploded and the suction fittings are all covered with leaves.  Well, of course, your gonna have a problem.  But, why should we buy gas, pay a service tech 2 to 3 hours to travel and counsel a customer about leaves and dirty filters.  They don't listen.  

If we don't have to afford the unnecessary expenses related to unneeded service issues that are common amounting more to "customer care" issues, and rountine maintenence.  It amazes me as to how many customers tell us they did this or did that and when you get there, it is blatantly obvious they didn't even attempt to remove a panel to look inside.

This is a two way street, customers want us available to help, but then they seemingly do not want to participate in caring for their personal property and expect, or in some cases, demand service and expect it to be free.  

There are basic costs in doing business.  But, when you call and want something done specifically for you that you could do for yourself, like take your filter out, or remove the leaves from the suction fittings to eliminat a FLO message, or check the GFCI, well then that's when we have additional expenses to care for customers, gas, time, 2nd trips, etc.

It is really more about help us, help you, and it takes a $ sign to get the customer's attention and assistance.  And then, "while your here" can you bring..., fix the broken cover locks, turn the inserts over, check everything out in the EQ, (that one will save all the service charges on the next call because they should have found it when they checked everything over).

Human nature is to make your problem be someone else's problem, and it should be at NO cost to you.  It just dosen't work this way.