Just had a first. I've been repairing refrigerators for about twenty years. I went out this AM, and worked on a refrigerator. Did my best. She called back about 6 PM, it's still problems. She gave me more information, and my diagnosis changed. Drove back (half hour from here) to work on the fridge again. Used a new in the bag part, I'd bought several years ago. Told her I guessed the part was about $25, bought it years ago.
She asked if I had the receipt. Took a minute to understand. She wants to see the receipt of what I paid at the wholesale house. No, the receipt is in a drawer or folder at home.
And even if I did, I wouldn't show you. I sell for retail. I'll make a phone call tomorrow, see what the current retail price is, and call her back. What an evening.
But she has no business knowing what the repairman paid for the part. I occaisionally had customers when I was at the garage who expected to get the parts at cost, or who brought in parts they bought elsewhere and expected me to install them. (used, discount, or whatever) I finally posted labour rate to install customer supplied parts at
150% of regular rate. Easier than refusing to install the parts, with the same result.
Then one of my first contracts in the computer business - a well known software company, needed a particular component in a rush. One of my suppliers had it in stock, so I got it (at wholesale) and charged it out to the customer at MSRP - about 15% over cost. A week later they discovered they could have bought the component from my supplier for the same price I paid for it, and the "boss" had a hissy fit, refusing to pay my price, and saying it was not right for me to make money on components I supplied as a contractor.
It was a pretty good gig - but I walked out and never went back. If my knowing where to get the part they needed "yesterday", and getting it to them within the hour wasn't worth something to them, too bad. They were not getting it for nothing, and I didn't need their work badly enough to take the abuse that came with it.
Turns out most of their programmers and software engineers were "contractors" too - except the were really emplyees - as determined by Revenue Canada a year or so later. As "contractors" the company did not have to pay ANY benefits, did not need to with-hold any taxes, or pay any health tax, UI, holiday pay, etc. Instead of a "time sheet" the "contractors" turned in weekly "invoices" for their time - but they were required to work exclusively for that company with signed non-disclosure agreements etc - with percribed hours etc. Unlike myself - a consultant brought in to solve problems with their computer network and maintain their equipment
Yes. Chris was looking for trouble when he didn't just quote a price for the part and be done with it.
"Told her I guessed the part was about $25, bought it years ago."
Three separate problems he caused himself in that one sentence. "guessed", "about" "years ago". Years ago is iffy, but a lot of people don't understand that stock normally increases in valuie while it sits in inventory, and many stores encourage the belief that it doesn't by, on special occasions when it's relevant, saying they sell old stock based on what the wholesale price was then, and new stock based on what it is now.
But In fact I'm not sure Chris was saying he'd increased his price from what he woudl have charged if he had used the part when he bought it "years ago. It doesn't matter because he said "guessed" and "about", and so she was trying to help him figure out what he paid. I'm not at al convinced she wasnt' willing to give him a profit on the part, but what I know she did want is to remind him of what he paid for the part.
I also can't tell if when Chris said it was about 25 if that's what he paid for it or if that's what he intended to charge for it, based on what he paid for it.
Chris, next time just say, The part is 25 dollars. Or whatever it is with your profit. I'll bet that's what you usually say, and that's why t his hasn't happened before.
Those companies want something for nothing. I retired and about 6 months later I got a call that some old equipment was being restarted and they needed some help. I told them I would come back for the short time they wanted but double what I was making while working. That is what they said I worth when working, benefits, 401k, insurance and such. They balked at that , so I did not go back. I did not need the money and would only be doing that just to help them out. I thought if I was worth that much before retiring, I would be worth that much if not more when they needed experienced short time help.
Most people don't expect to get screwed on parts prices nowadays. The parts costs are readily available, and they're not in the dark. Labor cost is take it or leave it. Car parts prices have been available for many years, and so has part costs on the final bill. Why go where you're going to get gouged on parts? Even 50 years ago a good mechanic working for my cousin took me aside and told me in a whisper I needed ignition wires. "Get them at the parts store down the street and do it yourself. Mike is gonna charge you twice what he pays for them." Even he didn't like that practice. That's what got me started doing most of my own repairs.
I had a couple things needed replacing on my car, so I bought the parts and took it in to the neighborhood shop for them to do the work for me. Got a call from them later, saying I also needed a new radiator (which wasn't a surprise), and there'd be a delay since they had to order it. I said, Wait, I'd found one online for ninety bucks. She said, We beat that, we found it for $75.
I'm with you, that some customers are a bit too much trouble.
In the above case, I hope you changed your bill, and only billed them wholesale plus labor rate for the time you took to drive the part to and from the parts house.
A minor point perhaps, but you may wish to point out the expense (and it is real regardless of what she or anyone else thinks) of you having that part, paid for, sitting on a shelf for two or three years to ensure that her refrigerator can be fixed RIGHT NOW instead of "I'll be back in two or three days when the new part arrives."
There's no pleasing some people. Hang them with a new rope and they'd still complain!
I have a friend who manages large parking lots in the city. Supply and demand rule that business. Some folks (talking some companies who lease a goodly portion of a garage (also general consumers)) complain about the manner of payment - Cash or Credit Card. They want checks, monthly billing, etc. Nope. Not their business model - and they are a very large, successful, multi-state operation so don't think they are being short-sighted.
They will make all sorts of demands and when push comes to shove, my friend will simply suggest that they call 555-555-1212. What's that number? the customer asks
Our competitor, maybe they can assist you. But we don't want to park with them, we want to park with YOU!
Suddenly, it somehow becomes crystal clear to them who holds the cards.
Some places the shipping charges are right there, eg Ebay. Other places, you can certainly estimate the online shipping charges from experience and if you really want to find the exact shipping charges, just put it in your cart and proceed to checkout. And IDK what shipping charges even apply. Typically a pro who orders online is going to order multiple items at a time, which can reduce the shipping cost a lot compared to ordering just one item. Sometimes they also show MSRP too . The idea of finding the price online doesn't sound like a bad idea. Especially since the lady may go look there too.
You have to consider that this bi.., er, customer may also suggest that since Stormy COULD have bought a quantity of "reverse frammits" at a discount, that she should only pay that quantity price. You know, 1 frammit at $16.95 but if Stormy had really been looking out for her, he could have bought a dozen of them and then "her" cost should have been $16.35!
Let's not forget that Stormy likely stopped to fill up with gas on his his way home from her place. Ergo, the service/labor charge (if any) must be appropriately discounted
That's a very good point. Getting the part right away, especially for a fridge, has a lot of value, at least to reasonable people. I just paid about $15 more for an $85 AC condenser fan motor, buying it on Amazon with two day shipping, so it would get here faster than other alternatives. For ~$45 more, they even claimed that if I ordered it on Sat, they would have it to me on Sunday. I certainly wouldn't be questioning a repair guy on a $25 part that he had in stock. I wonder what that woman does when she takes her car to the stealership for service?
Well, that gives me a lot to think about. Perhaps I ought to write the MSRP on the bag, and that way I can sound a lot more definite about prices. Good idea, thanks.
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