Call Outs and Standing Charges

[Deleted member 64964]

Hi Guys,

Sorry not been about for a long time now, life work bla bla bla

We are trying to make the 'On Call' for the weekends more inviting or acceptable for the lads.

We used to have it and then dropped it as everyone moaned about it and its been left to me and my business partner to do them and to be honest it can't continue lol

So my question is, how much do people get or expect to get for being available, do they get a standing charge and then a payment for each job or an hourly rate once out etc.

Thanks in advance,

Thermo

 

[jtsplumbing]

I used to do it for a company a few years back we used to get a stand by payment because you can go out cant have a drink then we used to get a higher payment but in most cases it was just a make safe until Monday (Insurance Co) if you have a family its a pain in the backside , Simple thing to do is Don't do it ! unless your desperate for work, leave it to the emergency Co , cos people will pay them over £100 pr hr to come out But you try asking for that amount ! No thanks I would rather have the time off.

 

[Welder]

I guess part of the answer is what's it worth to you as a business?

If it were my business, I'd be looking at how many calls you get first. Look at what those calls land you in profit when paying a double bubble rate plus overheads. Put another way, what would disappear from your bottom line if you stopped it?

If you historically get good rates and good work from it then perhaps you consider making it a part of everyone's contract but that would have to be done both fairly and profitably as its eating into family time. Keeping good engineers is more important than a few quid made at weekends in my view.

Remove the emotion. You have to learn to ignore the guilt we all have, cos this is business

Perhaps you could do a deal with someone who already does this and put those details on your answer phone message so a) you guys get your lives back and b) you give customers a viable alternative and don't leave em in the lurch when it really is an emergency

 

[oz-plumber]

I've got a plumber mate that runs a 24 / 7 plumbing business.

From what I can gather, he pays the person on weekend duty a days pay for each day plus 1/2 the labour on the job + 25% of the service call fee.
- He charges double service call rate and double labour rate on weekend work. ( minimum 2 hours labour )

Basically, while the plumber is on call, the business has to have minimum 2 jobs per day for the owner to break even.
Out of normal hours work is charged at even a greater rate, but the equation is still the same, minimum 2 jobs to break even.

His business makes good money out of being busy on the weekends, but also, there are may weekends where only 0 or 1 job comes through, so he loses out big time.

He is fairly strict (ruthless ) on payment terms, he wont send anyone out unless he has credit card details and payment for the service call and minimum 2 hours labour from the customer.
He takes the final payment from the credit card when the works are complete. The customer then gets a receipt for the works done.

He must be doing something right - he has 8 vans on the road.

 

[Welder]

You appear to have made up your mind.

Personally, I'd be looking at MY customers not his to see if that is a service they need, to ascertain its business case.

Have fun.

 

[mfgs]

I have a few mates who do it working for companies. They normally get a £30-50 standard on call fee for the day. Then paid per job, either a percentage of the labour on the job (normally 50%) or paid a fixed fee to attend and a higher rate if fixed at the time. Say £25 for uncompleted job and £50 completed.