Flat rate repair work - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Jwalling
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 27, 2018, 12:16:36 pm
content: I do quite a bit of repairs for customers who send me their test gear for repair, mostly oscilloscopes.I give them a flat rate quote before they ship to me. Most times it works out fine, but there is the occasional time where the labor turned out to be alotmore than expected. Still, I don't charge them more and keep to my flat rate quote. I eat the cost. In the end, I make a comfortable living doing this.I just received a Tek scope (from a good repeat customer who always pays their bills in a timely manner) where the complaint was that it wasn't triggering on any channels, and even the "force trigger" button would not produce any traces. It took me about 1 minute to see that it was operator error: The RUN/STOP button had been pressed, and was in the stopped state.Do I keep to my flat rate quote, or give them a break? Sort of an ethical dilemma. Iwilltell them exactly what the problem was; I'm not going to deceive them and say that I've repaired it...

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2018, 12:43:04 pm
content: Just because you *think* you've found the fault is operator error, doesn't mean there isn't a real trigger fault, which if not found will damage your reputation. They could have pressed the button while fumbling around trying to get it to trigger again.Charge them for your time per minimum increment of 1/4H to check it triggers on *all* channels + ext input in *all* trigger modes, then put it on soak test for 24H, and (hopefully) report no fault found + your observation that RUN/Stop was depressed, which would prevent triggering.

author: cvanc
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2018, 05:40:29 pm
content: Quote from: Ian.M on September 27, 2018, 12:43:04 pmSeconded. I think this is an excellent and fair way to handle the situation.

author: Mr. Scram
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2018, 05:49:31 pm
content: I've noticed this honest behaviour can be seen in a lot of self employed people across many trades. The problem is that you may be stealing from yourself. A flat rate works both ways and if you keep eating the bad ones and don't accept the spoils of the good ones you end up losing out. I very much understand the impulse, but you should be mindful not to hurt your own business as a consequence. After all, if you have to stop doing what you're doing your customers aren't any better off either.Of course, you could reduce the rate a bit to make a gesture to the client. As people have stated, it's probably good form to test the unit properly and let the customer know what you did. I do believe in building good relationships with customers and that means the immediate profit isn't always the main concern. I know it may sound like I'm contradicting myself.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2018, 01:10:03 am
content: I suppose you could have a flat rate repair plus a minimum charge for looking at it. I've repaired a lot of vintage arcade monitors and other parts and I tend to give a flat rate quote for the labor and then charge my cost for parts. I normally don't charge at all if I can't fix it or can't find anything wrong.

author: 2N3055
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2018, 06:36:14 am
content: I do something similar as james_s. If there was work, even little, flat rate is OK. If I find nothing is wrong but spend some time verifying, than I charge some smaller amount for verification. If I can't help, no charge. People appreciate honesty, they come back and send their friends...

author: Jwalling
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 28, 2018, 09:21:00 am
content: Thanks to everyone for your advice, some great points were made. After extensive testing, the scope is fine. Triggers fine on all four channels up to 1GHz, and AUX trigger is fine as well. I left it running overnight running SPC and full self tests in a continuous loop, and no errors were indicated in the logs.So I've decided to charge half of my normal flat rate. I think my customer will be fine with that, and appreciate the honesty.

author: Red Squirrel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2018, 12:39:29 pm
content: I've run into this too when I used to fix computers. I used to charge flat rate too. Sometimes it was a curse (like dealing with super slow computers on site so more of my time is taken) but also a blessing, for quick routine things like re-imaging or troubleshooting a simple enough issue.But sometimes I just felt wrong charging the full rate, like if I got there and it was something unplugged. I'd usually charge a smaller amount in those cases.

author: HackedFridgeMagnet
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2018, 01:27:23 pm
content: Personally I would change to charging for Time and materials.It's fair for you and fair for them.If the customer trusts you, it's an easy sell.If they don't really trust you then maybe they aren't the customer you want anyway.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2018, 02:09:54 pm
content: Always over quote by about 30% but next time tell them they have a 10% discount for repeat customer.Im a Ferengi at heart though.Edit: also don’t be afraid to ask for more money. Most people will gladly pay it.

author: In Vacuo Veritas
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2018, 03:03:46 pm
content: Couldn't you make a list of equipment you do flat rate repairs and the rest is hourly? Surely you must know on which you have a higher chance of getting it done on a flat rate basis?

author: MrMobodies
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2018, 12:33:04 am
content: I charge a flat rate and I do it as a hobby.I have just had a customer around who had one of those Apple Airbook where it wouldn't boot up with an SSD with a non standard SATA connector.Her technician told her that it will have to be sent away to a data recovery company that he uses and it will cost £400 to £500. Unless we are talking about data recovery of something urgent where the cost is justified from a failed hard drive where it involves changes of heads, platters and spindles and handling in an air tight box I thought it was ridiculous.I just plugged it in and it didn't take more than a couple of minutes to transfer the important stuff over.

author: Nusa
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2018, 12:58:10 am
content: Where flat rate fails is when your repeat customer is actually another repair guy. They fix the easy ones themselves, send anything they think is hard to you at your flat rate, and make money off their customer either way.

author: CJay
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2018, 11:34:26 am
content: Quote from: Nusa on October 02, 2018, 12:58:10 amSend it back with your branded warranty/test labels on it and enforce 'warranty void' rules if they come back defaced or without them

author: MrMobodies
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2018, 04:52:36 pm
content: Quote from: Nusa on October 02, 2018, 12:58:10 amThat could be his data recovery company.I bet it was really hard for him. The Sata to Apple Air interposer board only costs £10 from Ebay and it comes with a cheap Sata 3 usb controller and there is even a free ext2 read only driver on Sourceforge that works pretty well for those with Windows that he could of used. It only took me a couple of minutes to copy things over.When I hear them say "send it away" I always suspect that they are up to no good.

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2018, 04:59:43 pm
content: No ill will to your customers -- it happens.It's called the "stupid tax". Sometimes it gets you, when you run way over. Sometimes it gets them, and you run way under.Did they ask you to fix a problem? Did you fix it? Did they agree to pay the full price quoted? Then there is well and truly nothing wrong here.Tim

author: onesixright
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2018, 07:02:21 pm
content: Quote from: Jwalling on September 27, 2018, 12:16:36 pmI believe in karma. I think if it really took a minute, give the man a break. Good things will happen in return.As a developer, I'm getting ton of questions. Silly ones, stupid ones, real ones. I'm on the clock, yet for each question I don't throw the "taxi-meter switch". I also like to believe if the invoice is taking more time then fixing the problem, its not worth sending the invoiceSomebody that is truly grateful is also something nice (without getting paid).Now, if this customer is doing this on a regular basis (misusing your time), explain what happend and charge him the hours.my $2c