Charging part of an hourly rate?

[peterhyper]

I realised that I was being too kind (or stupid) and not charging customers any extra when I went a little over and into the next hour, and I am now charging them half of the next hour's labour charge if I go over 10 minutes into the next hour but work for less than 30 minutes.

I am curious if others on here immediately charge when they go into the next hour's labour, and if they charge the full hour even for say 20 minutes labour into that hour.

I am more referring to callouts when I go into the second or 3rd hour of labour as opposed to working for 8 hours for someone and worrying about charging for 5 minutes extra labour?

 

[Octopus]

If you do decide to charge by the quarter hour make sure the rate is easily divisible by 4 - E.g. £36 rather than £35

 

[Deleted member 104825]

If you do decide to charge by the quarter hour make sure the rate is easily divisible by 4 - E.g. £36 rather than £35

Price needs to be quarter of the second hour rate or somewhere between 1st/2nd hour prices or you're effectively just charging 1st hour rate twice for a 119 mins.

 

[elsparko]

I thought you worked for someone? Post #2 gives that indication.

i do

 

[Octopus]

Price needs to be quarter of the second hour rate or somewhere between 1st/2nd hour prices or you're effectively just charging 1st hour rate twice for a 119 mins.

Read post #5 again!

 

[peterhyper]

Thanks for the feedback, I must admit that I hadn't thought about charging by the quarter hour but that is worth considering as it all adds up over the year.

My second hour charge is less than my first and then my 3rd hour and subsequent hours are the same hourly rate.

I know someone mentioned they don't have a stopwatch, in fact neither do I, but I can't fairly charge someone for my labour if I haven't noted what time I started the job.

 

[HandySparks]

As some above, I charge by the quarter hour (or part), minimum of one hour on site. Fixed price per hour, but I charge travel at the same rate on top, even if it's only a short distance. It means that, in effect, the first hour gets more expensive the further away the job is.

 

[dmxtothemax]

I charge a minimum of 1/2 hour or part there-of.
So 5 mins or 10mins = 1/2hr charge.
But if the customer is genuine then I may let it slide.
gotta look at the BIG picture cause a happy customer
becomes a potentual repeat customer which is good.

 

[EbolaSideRoom]

I charge per hour, or part thereof. i.e. anything over an hour and it's another hour. I only make exceptions to that when I am replacing lamps where I may charge by the half hour or part thereof. If you think about what you have paid out just to be at the site in training, tools, petrol, insurance, book fees, pro. membership (CPS) and on the list goes, how can you afford to charge less? You won't be making a profit if you do anything else.

I’m with you. I charge by the hour or part thereof.

 

[elsparko]

1 hour and 5 minutes = 2 hours pay

 

[Deleted account]

I make it up as I go along.

I have set rates, but if it's a quicky job where I just need to flip a switch on the board because a bulb blew i normally say to the customer " I cannot charge you the normal £65 call out rate for this, whatever you think"
Most people will give me £20, but I'd be happy with £10

The customer is happy and will remember me when they move house and need a full rewire.

Other factors are -
Do I need to go in loft or under floor
Is the issue accessible
Is it a pain in the ar*e job
Did I get offered a coffee
Did I put my hand in dog sh*t on the carpet.
( this has happened to me)

Any of the above and it's the full charge as per website rates. If not I am generous.

 

[a-z electrics]

I charge 50% more for the first hour of a job regardless of actual time spent and prorata for part hours thereafter.
Travelling costs is another issue, I have always absorbed these costs by way of above but I recently travelled a few hours and back for a job 120 miles away, which is a first, (usually time to a job is within 30 mins) and had a bit of an issue with client for claiming travelling time at my hourly rate, however I didn't charge vehicle costs on top.
What do others do for travel costs? One suggestion was 40p/mile but this wouldn't cover time plus vehicle costs in my estimation..

 

[peterhyper]

I make it up as I go along.

I have set rates, but if it's a quicky job where I just need to flip a switch on the board because a bulb blew i normally say to the customer " I cannot charge you the normal £65 call out rate for this, whatever you think"
Most people will give me £20, but I'd be happy with £10

The customer is happy and will remember me when they move house and need a full rewire.

Other factors are -
Do I need to go in loft or under floor
Is the issue accessible
Is it a pain in the ar*e job
Did I get offered a coffee
Did I put my hand in dog sh*t on the carpet.
( this has happened to me)

Any of the above and it's the full charge as per website rates. If not I am generous.

Fair enough if you would be happy with just £10 for a quick call out, but I wouldn't be as the time to get the bits together and drive to/from the customers house wouldn't be worth it. I appreciate that we want to keep our customers happy, but I try and talk them through any tripping mcb/rcd over the phone which usually sorts those issues out with no cost to them.

I have done customers favours in the past by charging beer money, and I've had them paying by cheque for £20 and even a customer wanting the invoice sent to them before them making payment for me charging them beer money.

 

[Midwest]

Ditto, charged one customer £25. He asked if I had change, which I hadn't. So he went off to the shops and bought something for change, instead of giving me 3 tenners. Tight arse.

 

[Deleted account]

Fair enough if you would be happy with just £10 for a quick call out, but I wouldn't be as the time to get the bits together and drive to/from the customers house wouldn't be worth it. I appreciate that we want to keep our customers happy, but I try and talk them through any tripping mcb/rcd over the phone which usually sorts those issues out with no cost to them.

I have done customers favours in the past by charging beer money, and I've had them paying by cheque for £20 and even a customer wanting the invoice sent to them before them making payment for me charging them beer money.

Agree with everything you said, the £10 thing is normally reserved for the little granny with tripped switch if she is close to home or on my way to somewhere. There are limits.
I just don't have a set rule as I price jobs based on the difficulty and time spent. And the issues I mentioned earlier.

 

[happysteve]

My rates are £XX for the first hour or part; after that, it is 2/3 of £XX per hour, charged by the half hour (or part, but I don't count 5-10 minutes as over, particularly if I'm packing stuff into the van and/or chatting with the customer by that point). If it turns out that the job is really trivial and very quick to sort out (and doesn't require any certification) I will usually - at my discretion - offer a discount on the minimum £XX charge. I charge a little extra for travel outside my nearest postcodes (anything more than about 15-20 min away), just to cover my time and diesel. I rarely give fixed prices for jobs due to the nature of work I do, I give estimates based on time and materials and the customer is usually happy with that for small jobs.