How Do You Charge Your Customers?
I used to charge my customer by faxing to them and get their confirmation before proceed with the repair. After many years of practicing using this way I found it to be tedious and involve lots of work. You got to prepare the invoice and fax it to them (telephone charge). Some customers don’t even reply back and their Monitors really took up our working space. For the past few years we have developed a new method of charging a customer. For any 14″ to 21″ CRT Monitor we have a flat rate for them. Even if only a fuse or resistor spoilt we will charge a flat rate. Lightning problem in the Monitor, refurbish flyback transformer, replace of monitor blur buster or even changing a second pc tube we still give the same flat rate. In other words, we are practicing “give and take”. This save us the faxing confirmation and whenever a customer send Monitors for us to repair, they already knew how much we are going to charge them. This is also easy for computer dealers to charge their customers because they already know the maximum charge and they can straight away tell their customers how much the repair charge if the Monitor can be repaired.
At my side, we don’t need for the dealer’s confirmation and we can directly deliver the Monitor back to them. If we can’t locate a part such as a burnt flyback, defective micro-p, cracked pc tube and etc, we will just send the Monitors back to them. I found that lots of my customers were very happy about this charging rate. This is different for LCD Monitors and Printers where quotation need to be sends out first before repair. LCD mainboard and panel are very expensive and need to let the customers know first before repair. As for printers, the spare parts price fluctuate quite often and many times more than one component will get spoilt in printers. For example, a dot matrix printer that have printing problem might change the printer head, ribbon mask and need servicing too (removing the dust and lubricating the necessary area).
My way may not be the best way but i would like my readers to give comment about this subject so that those who are already in this repair business and those who are just starting out running a repair business can learn from each others. Thanks!
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Sean Gabs
July 1, 2007 at 6:53 am
I usually charged for the labor Only. The customers are the one's who would pay for the parts that are defective if found. Defective Ic replacement are hard to look for in our place. Even computer monitor flyback. What the customer would do if there's no parts replacement. They would not order it from outside international sources cause it would cost them much and there are many lots of surplus monitor that are being displayed. They would usually buy it rather than order for their defective parts. When I returned their defective monitor, they would usally say that I keep it.
rodali
July 1, 2007 at 10:01 am
Same here... I normally do hardware. When my regular customers brought their hardwares to be processed, I present the various quotations for each part, and that's that.
Morris Rushdi
July 1, 2007 at 6:39 pm
I developed my own software so that it can handle credit amount owe amount and give customer fly by points. So I charge my customer $200 for any repair and at the end of the job if the total amount is $150 it give the customer $50 + they fly by points and it's all printed clear on the receipt . This way the customer will come again cause they know they have $50 + the credit the earn from this job.
brian
July 2, 2007 at 12:51 am
We repair both monitors and tv's. I've been telling the owner that we should make up a flyer with prices. Instead we take the unit in for a free estimate and then call the customer later with the amount. I don't like doing it this way, we are spending time trying to get hold of the customer and if they decide not to fix it we get stuck with the unit. We are a small shop so don't have a lot of work space.
Toby
July 2, 2007 at 7:17 am
I have a flat deposit rate on each item which is non-refundable. After checking the item, the customer is notified as to the cost (labour and parts) of the repair. If they agree, I proceed, if not I return the item to them.
I have an additional charge if the item is not collected in one week. I think everyone will agree with me that the workshop can become crowded in a very short time.
This method works very well.
voit sylvester
July 2, 2007 at 9:01 am
I normally would charge a deposit fee when the customer brings in the faulty equipments,then after repairing I deduct that amount from the total charge,this deposit fee is not refundable.
if the equipment is beyond economical repair I simply return the equipment. and thats it.
Janne
July 2, 2007 at 3:42 pm
Mostly i just repair it and call the customer when its done. I charge between 100-200$. Most of the repair i charge about 110$ and the customer dont complain. If it cost more than 150$ i call them and ask if they will continue. I have a basic fee of 35$ for looking at it. This fee is then included in the total prize.
Agus Waluyo
July 2, 2007 at 5:11 pm
I just have the same way with Jestine about charge to customer , for example : dot matrix A4 size we have a flat rate Rp.75.000 ( about 7 - 8 $US ) , dot matrix A3 size Rp.100.000 ( about 10 - 11 $US ) thats include for the sparepart under Rp.10.000 ( abut 1 $US ) , but if the spare part more then that price , we will be contact the customer to ask their confirmation .
Richard
July 2, 2007 at 7:37 pm
First, I have sensitized my customers to the idea of an "evaluation fee". It turns out that being a starter, many people around are only beginning to realize "how good we are" and are dropping in repair jobs returned by others who couldn't fix them. Sometimes the repairs have been botched up, and therefore tend to be more costly. Second, the flat rate works well for us, never mind whether it is a fuse or not. I used to feel bad about it until a friend pointed out that there will be a repair job that will require that excess cash. What is more important to me though is to establish a good long term reputation that will have customers coming back (to spend).
jestine
July 3, 2007 at 8:06 pm
Thanks for all the comment and i'm sure lots of readers will appreciate these information.
Henry
July 8, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Many if not all repair shops in my country charge flat rates for labor. Different rates for 14" TV or for 21" TV. The customer shoulders the cost of the replacement parts. It is customary to explain to the customer how much the estimated total cost of the parts would be so that he could decide whether to proceed with the repair or not. If not then the unit is returned to the customer sometimes without charge.
Paul
July 9, 2007 at 6:42 pm
I have had Tv's etc repaired before and I was charged an inspection fee regardless of if it was fixable or scrap due to the damage which most people seem to be happy with.