Electronics > Repair
Charging by the hour is unfair!
voltsandjolts:
--- Quote from: Haenk on July 01, 2024, 11:00:52 am ---In automotive repairs (manufacturers workshops), there are fixed repair costs.
--- End quote ---
IME they only provide fixed cost quotes when they have high confidence in the estimated costs of doing the work. Go to the garage with intermittent type problems and you'll be paying hourly for them to try and find the fault.
m k:
I've done fixed price stuff.
Those were Verifone card terminals, so plenty.
But even there I didn't have an obligation to fix them all.
That was modem era, so lightning was also there.
Don't know how beer over terminal is nowadays.
SteveThackery:
--- Quote from: Haenk on July 01, 2024, 11:00:52 am ---
In automotive repairs (manufacturers workshops), there are fixed repair costs. Every possible repair has a standardized repair time, timed in minutes or fractions of an hour, resulting in standardized repair costs. So it is in the best interest of the workshop, to have their mechanics well trained and acting fast. If a 2 hour job is done in 1:45 that's free 15 minutes of working time for the shop (the mechanic probably gets a bonus for working faster than expected).
--- End quote ---
This is an interesting example. The manufacturer (usually) determines a certain time to do each job, and the dealer is obliged to charge that many hours labour to the customer. Because the hourly rate is known up-front, the customer gets a firm quotation which they can take or leave, and the dealer gets a fair price for the job. "Cam belt change: 3 hours x $200 per hour = $600", and so on.
Best of both worlds? Only if the repairer is able to categorise the job up-front, which for electronics gear is more difficult than for a car.
Electronics repairers could do what I do for trade clock repairs: just charge a fixed price regardless of the actual fault, and make sure that fixed price is high enough to generate the required income. Oh, and of course it has to be no fix/no fee - that is only fair.
janoc:
--- Quote from: SteveThackery on July 01, 2024, 04:53:22 pm ---Electronics repairers could do what I do for trade clock repairs: just charge a fixed price regardless of the actual fault, and make sure that fixed price is high enough to generate the required income. Oh, and of course it has to be no fix/no fee - that is only fair.
--- End quote ---
Sure they could. Then you would receive a 4 figures quote for everything because when you turn up with an (to me) unknown device at my desk, I can't know if that fault will take 20 minutes or 20 hours of work to fix. Or you will get a quote for e.g. 2 hours of work - and if it can't be fixed in those 2 hours, too bad for you. Either it won't be fixed and you get your device still broken back - or you will have to pay more for me to continue working on it. It is only fair. I am not a charity but a business. My bills won't pay themselves only because you think it isn't fair.
Fixed price works only when the scope of the work is well known ahead of time - such as for those auto mechanics when doing standardized repairs. When a customer comes asking for a tire swap or oil change, you know how much effort is that normally going to be, so it is easy to give a fixed quote. But even there you typically pay an hourly rate + cost of parts and consumables (oil, etc.), just the time how long the task should take is often prescribed by the manufacturer of the vehicle.
If the problem is open ended and has to be identified first (which most electronic repairs are), good luck. But feel free to open an electronics repair shop working with fixed prices if you think this is economically workable. :-//
watchmaker:
My business experience is timepieces, not electronics. I think there is a distinction because there is a greater diversity in electronics than there is in timepieces. Even watches 200 years old operate on the same principles as a Rolex.
I charge by the job with the caveat of needed parts that may not become obvious until after the cleaning process (hole jewels, etc). But I have a very specific niche: aircraft clocks (about 10 models), marine chronometers (3 real variants), and railroad watches.
After 40 years, I have a pretty good idea what to expect. My charges are known to the customer up front. They are not the cheapest, but it has always seemed to yield a competitive advantage.
Psychologically, this makes me want to go the extra mile in terms of "no charge" corrections and wanting to do my best for the customer. It seems watchmakers who charge by the hour tend to want to rush the current job to get to the next, which results in cut corners.
However, in reality my fixed charges are calculated in the usual business manner: what I want for an hourly rate, materials (cleaning solutions, lubricants), amortized equipment, and other overhead. My hourly rate includes the value of my education and experience.
My caveat on parts includes the possibility of corrections due to major vandalism. My end result is a timepiece that meets or exceeds its standards for precision when it was manufactured. (A 1910 railroad watch exceeded the factory tolerance for modern Rolex). I make minor corrections and aesthetic corrections (polishing steel work and reblueing screws) at no additional charge.
In electronics troubleshooting is much more complicated. There are significant variations across everything from amplifies to oscilloscopes. But I suspect those in the business of electronic repair also create a niche where they restrict the universe of devices they service. But even so, given the many different ways a device can fail, I cannot see how fixed charges would be a sustainable practice.
How would a fixed rate apply to a DOA that is a blown fuse vs blown regulator? I would think estimates are the best option with charging fairly if it turns out to be a blown fuse. Surprising how well honesty gets around.
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