Scammer got me Friday.

[GypsmJim]

Customer said "all you people are cheats!" Boss, picked up his bag and made to leave. "Customer" said "What bout my heat!" Boss said, fix it yourself and we left.
Life's too short to deal with jerk customers.

I have been dealing with the same auto repair shop for 35 years. The sign on his wall reads:

Hourly Charges:
Good Customers.........................$125 / hour
Argumentative Customers......$150 / hour
Belligerent Customers........,,....$200 / hour

Since I would have felt sorry for the people without heat, I guess if I were your boss I would have asked for cash in advance and done the job anyway. But then they would be on my no call list.

 

[gnappi]

Egads, my AC guy has been here a few times and will not charge me! I have to just about FORCE him to take a hundred dollar bill!

 

[Blueandnickel]

Two years ago, a 10 minute YouTube video, a trip to the A/C supply store, a new $22 capacitor, and 10 more minutes to install it, was enough to teach me another DIY project. Bought two capacitors, so if it happens again, I know the fix.

When the drain pipe for the clothes washer under the slab came apart, and the pipe underground was blocked, I happily paid the plumber his $700.

I evaluate whether the busted knuckles, hours of cussing and frustration is worth more than what I have to pay the pro. Sometimes it is, sometimes not.

 

[Jeff423]

Our Plant's Chief Maintenance Man was on the job for 50 years. Finally, at age 70 he retired. He offered to be a Consultant on Retainer and come in as needed. At that time the Plant Manager was a young guy with an MBA, and he balked at the idea.

Weeks later there was a catastrophe and the whole plant was down because of a major machine failure. We're talking $thousands / hour in losses. The PM called in old Joe, but told him only to tell the new mechanic what to do and then send us a bill. Joe spent a half hour and then put a check mark on a part. The mechanic replaced the part and the plant was back up and running.

The bill came and it was for $500. The PM was livid. He demanded an itemized bill.

The new bill:
One Check Mark...................................................$0.50
Knowing where to put the check mark........$499.50

Old joke. When I heard it it was a printing press, a hammer blow and a $100.00 charge: "One hammer blow-$1.00, knowing where to hit-$99.00"

 

[StrawHat]

We run our own business. Frequently we get calls to “come on out and sharpen our knives”.
There is a minimum charge for that.

You got off cheap. Yes, if it were me, I would have worded the invoice differently but, you still got off cheap.

Kevin

 

[hyena]

The total cost sounds very reasonable to me. If I were him I would have rolled the $25 gas charge into the service call charge. A plumber right down the road from me charges $100 to just come look at your problem, then an additional $100 per hour to fix it. (His rates have probably gone up - that was a few years ago.) He told me he was going broke driving to people's houses, looking at the problem, telling them how he was going to fix it, only to see the home owner say thanks I'll fix it myself. So now he tells people up front it's $100 to come look, whether you have him fix it or not.

 

[jeffrefrig]

I was a "displaced" steelworker after 9 1/2 years, early '80s. The Federal TRA program paid for my tech school. I took almost a year course in electricity and another in RHVAC. I actually paid attention and got excellent grades; I learned a lot. My 1st job was with a company that serviced mainly supermarkets. If I could I would help friends or family out so they didn't have to pay a 3-digit bill for a 2-digit job; basically beer money. One evening a whacko neighbor lady came over all upset because the kids she had that delivered a used refrigerator broke the discharge line down near the compressor. It took me 2 hours dragging tools, torches, vacuum pump, etc. and I got it fixed...no warranty! (Company parts, etc. which were worth about $20 tops.) I charged them $30 and the old man thought I was ripping them off! He was complaining the whole time he dug the money out of three different places in his house. I told him keep his darned money and never call me again. About a half hour later his son came to my door, apologized for his dad and gave me $50.
I basically ruined my evening for pennies on the dollar. As stated quite a few times in previous posts above, if you can't do the work, you gotta pay. I did very little side work after that except maybe for family. I'd gladly pay $300 for cool air on an 85 degree day.

 

[Michaelp57]

Have you been to a Franchised car dealership for repairs lately.

$150 an hour and then they charge for the supplies the mechanic takes home

That, my friend, is a misconception. The service/shop charges go toward covering specialty tools, tire disposal fees, shop supplies(air hoses, fluids for top offs, air chucks), and other miscellaneous things like that. The general tools that a technician uses to work on your car are owned by the technician. Fixing cars, hvac, plumbing, etc isnt cheap.

 

[bigggbbruce]

That, my friend, is a misconception. The service/shop charges go toward covering specialty tools, tire disposal fees, shop supplies(air hoses, fluids for top offs, air chucks), and other miscellaneous things like that. The general tools that a technician uses to work on your car are owned by the technician. Fixing cars, hvac, plumbing, etc isnt cheap.

I know what those charges are supposed to be.

 

[dockmurgw]

The total cost sounds very reasonable to me. If I were him I would have rolled the $25 gas charge into the service call charge. A plumber right down the road from me charges $100 to just come look at your problem, then an additional $100 per hour to fix it. (His rates have probably gone up - that was a few years ago.) He told me he was going broke driving to people's houses, looking at the problem, telling them how he was going to fix it, only to see the home owner say thanks I'll fix it myself. So now he tells people up front it's $100 to come look, whether you have him fix it or not.

This was always one of my favorite red flags...when the first question was "do you give free estimates". What they refused to grasp was that finding the problem was 99% of the job, fixing it took minutes, but all they wanted was an estimate for the fix and all the time to find the problem for free. What a nightmare...I'm so glad I don't have to deal with that crap anymore.

 

[dockmurgw]

And this hung on my office wall for the 90 days same as cash crowd.

 

[LVSteve]

We were having issues with our septic system a good while back, just on one end of the house, so we called a plumber. He said most bathrooms have a tub. Correct. He told us to fill the tub, flush the toilet and pull the drain plug at the same time. He said to call him back if it didn't work. It worked. Called him back and thanked him. He said "That's what we're here for: enjoy your day."

He never came out and said no charge.

Glad it worked for you. One thing I noted while the walls and ceiling were torn out in this house last year was that the grey water (tubs, sinks) and black water (toilets) are run separately all the way to the slab stubs. Don't know if that was the builder's habit, or a code thing.