Does a 10 minute diagnostic fee really cover the time or should we be charging more?

I stopped at a shop in Dayton last week and the guy at the counter swore he never charges less than $50 just to walk through the door, but I've always kept it at $15 - what do you all do for call-out fees?

3 comments

3 Comments

joseph_adams6626d ago

$15 was my old rate too. Then I spent 45 minutes tracing a short in a 90s Ford and realized I was basically working for free. Changed my mind real quick after that.

lily_singh226d ago

Blew a fuse in my own brain trying to figure out a house light switch that's been acting up for weeks. Thought I'd save a few bucks and do it myself. Three trips to the hardware store and a new multimeter later, I ended up paying an electrician buddy $50 to tell me it was a loose wire in the junction box. Your 45 minutes on that Ford sounds like a bargain compared to my idiot tax. I swear, the more I try to DIY, the more I respect people who actually know what they're doing.

ryanburns26d ago

Charge $15 for a diagnostic fee and watch that "10 minutes" turn into an hour while you stare at wiring diagrams. Threw a $35 call out charge on a guy last week and he acted like I asked for his firstborn.