Please excuse the rambling nature of my post but please read it all. It could lead to some good discussion
This was in response to someone complaining about how much a repair cost (HVAC or Plumbing). It is rambling, and I am not going to go back and correct my grammar, sorry. I hope I get some of points across.
Unless you want to deal with a company who will be gone in 1-5 years, you will pay more to get a job done properly, and have a company stand behind their work. You have to consider what is the overhead of that company. What is the national average time it take to perform that task. For an above average shop certified techs, clean new trucks, ongoing training, planning on longevity in the industry, purchase of all new tools and gadgets to keep up with the new and more complex machinery, lawyers, accountants, consultants, insurances, taxes. Out of an 8 hour day we may only be able to collect for
4- 6 of them. How many families is the owner of that company responsible to feed and insure.Wait we need to advertise $2-10,000 per month. Licenses, Trade organizations, Chamber of Commerce, Lease/Mortgage, utilities, Cell Phones $800/month, survive during seasonal slow times (overhead doesn't change), You notice I neglected to put the owner/general manager/ manager of every hat in business, did not have a salary in there. Trust me the best tech make more than we do for quite a while. We are trying to make a 5-10% net profit at the end of the year. Most Companies out there make less than
1-3%. Most companies making that small net will fail with in 5 years.
The average wage of an above average technician is $20-30/hr + about 28% for taxes and insurances, plus about $6/ hour family health insurance. A company with over three trucks on the street requires at least one full time person to run the office $15-20/ hour. Hopefully she has bookkeeping experience, if not (sometimes if she does) you will need someone to do the books at least once per week, another $100/week. We have a drastic shortage of trained personnel in our field, despite these wages. In addition we need extremely knowledgeable, computer literate, clean, and organized personnel. Most of our employees make more than alot of college graduates.
I hope I am getting my point across. There are so many hidden costs, that the customer doesn't see or have no fathomable knowledge of having to pay. And lets admit it, the customer has to cover all of the costs.
..and if you use a guy who is doing it on the side, it is really wrong on a couple of notes. Does he have the insurance and license to perform work on your you. I know he is a freind or friend of a friend, What is going to happen when you have to sue him for burning a aprt of your house, or falling through a ceiling, or flooding your basement. What happens to you if he breaks a hand or foot while working in your house, and can't work for 6 weeks and your work is half done. Where is that guy going to be when it breaks down. How many of the parts he is using are stolen from his employers vehicle, what kind of a warrantee can he give you. what kind of inferior equipment is he using, because that's all they sell to moonlighters. There also companies that do business like this. They lack the advanced training they need now a days to keep current with the new developments in our industry. You would be shocked if you knew the amount of repairs we have to go on to fix improperly installed or set-up equipment. These are the guys that will bid $1-2000 less on installations, and the ones who can't go back to fix it when it breaks.
Do you know how much it costs to make a hamburger, or a cup of coffee? It would probably knock your socks off if you knew the net profits on that stuff. How about new cars. How many hours do really spend in your cars? How long do you keep it, how much did it cost? Does the dealership send someone from their establishment to fix or maintain it, you have to drive it to the dealership or repair person. What kind of net profits do you think they are making.
Compare that to your home comfort system. You or someone in your home is with your system almost 24/7. It costs 1/2 to a third of what it costs to purchase or maintain as your auto did. Yet you want to skimp on costs, you want the least amount of health saving accessories if any, you don't want to invest on Comfort Issues that can be done once and improve the overall quality of life for everyone in the home. By the way the Home Comfort System will last 5-10 times longer than that new car you bought. I welcome any debate about what I have just said. Keep it in debate rather than attacks and look forward to discussing this with one and all, but I will PLONK you if you just act like jerk