Air handler freezing

[Boatsb]

I'm sorry you don't value others time or efforts as much as your own.

I bill hourly and start at $95. A good day means I bill 8 to 10 hours and can go home with a customers systems up and running. I then have to pay all the costs of having a business. It's not all paid for by someone else. That $285 he billed is nothing compared to the $30k I'd be billed for a trip to the ER and some tests. Imagine if I demanded an MRI for $30, Surgery for $250 and meds and meals for $65 a day.

Put yourself in others shoes and maybe you'll feel a bit more generous.

[Reefgeorge]

The national average for the cost of an emergency room visit is $1,233 (source: Washington Post), so I guess there are examples of extreme deviations from the mean for healthcare and HVAC work. Luckily we at least have the option to come here for some industry data and a method of comparison and can select our "service provider" to make sure we don't pay a higher hourly rate than a life saving emergency room doctor. Getting stuck with a $30,000 emergency room bill (ouch!). Luckily in the case of HVAC work, free market forces continually recalibrate pricing, quality and dependability. The market pays what the market will bear. Apparently in some emergency room markets, not so much.

I have worked with a number of service providers, or have been the service provider where the provider and customer mix and match parts and services. Again, market forces figure out where and how this can work.

[Briankinley2004]

The $90/hr service fee includes the replacement& repair cost of the truck he drove to your job, yes he has to pay someone to repair it just like you had to pay someone to repair your a/c. Do you want to pick him up and bring him and his tools to your boat? It also includes replacement of his tools and equipment. Some wear out, some get stolen and some get obsolete. It includes the cost of the office people (or him at home at night) paying for the supplies he used, balancing the check book, writing invoices. It also includes the time he spent at the supply house buying your freon, parts, etc. waiting in lines for various supplies. It also includes the time spent at the CPA's office or doing his own taxes, getting permits, licenses, EPA certifications and other necessary documentation to be able to legally come work on your boat. The $90/hr also includes the cost of his secretary or answering service to answer your call and schedule your appointment because he is busy working. Or it includes his cost to do this and the cost he incurred sending a service man out to do the work in his place because he is swamped managing the business. It also includes his retirement contribution, his serviceman's along with some money to offset the rare time he takes a week or two off without pay for vacation. It also covers his contribution to social security, a retirement fund (if he is lucky) and his health insurance he must purchase. It also includes a fee for his liability insurance on his truck, office, self and any of his employees. Other things he has to cover that he probably forgot include toll roads, those people who he spent a day on their boat that didnt pay, parking fees, an occasional helper, days lost cleaning up the truck, unpaid holidays and waiting on customers to show at their boats. Was a profit made at $90/hr? Maybe maybe not. So lets double the cost on parts to help with that. Yes that works good but wait. A $10 part went out that he sold for $20. Yes its covered under warranty but we now have a trip to the job to diagnose, one to the parts house and one back to job to replace under warranty. The part was free but we are out 2-3 hours of time. At $90/ hr he just lost over $200 doing a warranty claim. No the parts people dont pay labor on most miscellaneous repair parts. Possibly on a new system but on replacement parts nah. There is a reason why there is not a long line of people wanting to get into this "lucrative" business.

[Briankinley2004]

BTW did he fix he leak? If so you got a bargain. If not you need to be looking for someone to do it cheaper next time, be prepared to pay another $300 or learn how. Unless its a very slow leak you will be looking at 3# again sooner or later. If he found and repaired the leak I for that price I would make him my a/c man

[Boatsb]

Don't forget the fact that an er doctor does not need to pony up for the hospital or its equipment, other healthcare workers and medications. The service provider has to go it alone to start his company and risk his startup capital and many times is not successful.

By the way there's no determination of how much that owner should make. He usually lives off the leftovers of what the company and employees don't get first. Sometimes there's no paycheck for the owner. Just a fact of life. How many doctors live that "dream".

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

Don't forget the fact that an er doctor does not need to pony up for the hospital or its equipment, other healthcare workers and medications. The service provider has to go it alone to start his company and risk his startup capital and many times is not successful. By the way there's no determination of how much that owner should make. He usually lives off the leftovers of what the company and employees don't get first. Sometimes there's no paycheck for the owner. Just a fact of life. How many doctors live that "dream".

Socialism is alive and well. That boats are luxuries is the justification for charging more? Medical example is class warfare. Why should I pay the man’s price who only invested his time and money in medical school? He saves lives, but I save boats! And I have to buy tools and that’s just like an MRI in every single way except none. Robin Hood with a key board.

[Boatsb]

It's the opposite of socialism. And if I can't fix something I don't charge for trying.

If I choose to open a business and work on boats, cars houses or whatever it's my choice. A doctor working for a hospital has no outlay compared to one in private practice which is by the way similar to opening a service business. It's the doctors choice to go on his own or hire on somewhere.

I don't charge more for working on a boat but my costs are higher than if I only worked on land based systems. Boats are a luxury for some, a workplace for many and fire and police boats are a necessity. I have a $2,000,000.00 liability policy to work on government vessels. It's not cheap but if I don't do it someone else will have to. And they also would charge a pretty penny for the work. Most marinas require at least a $1,000,000 policy by the way.



I see all too often people of education and means minimizing the value of others because they don't want to pay them what they are worth. I don't get to haggle with my doctors and I don't expect to haggle with customers. These are the same people who pay $150 an hour to get their luxury car serviced. They just seem to think they can get a deal on fixing their boats. If they don't want to pay for the services dont call someone to perform them. I'm sure there no issue living without the AC.

Socialism is more like when you go to the er you get treated just as slowly as the guy who doesn't pay $3k a month for insurance. In the end I lay out another grand or two and the other guy gets a ride home and free followup care.

[Reefgeorge]

In the last chapter of my working life (after the trades) I worked in an industry where costs went down and capability went up every year since the industries inception 60 years ago. Customers didn't care what our capital outlays and expenses looked like. If we offered more value and we were reliable, we thrived. Not those things, not that outcome. Where we could demonstrate superior value that was defensible and figured out how to constantly drive cost out of the business, we made more margin and grew the business. The trades are no different in that quality, dependability and value survive, the market does the voting. Unreliable, lousy work and prices have to be lower to survive. More perceived value and prices can be higher. Cranky old rich guys who don't pay their bills don't set the market. If your one of the best in your area you always have work at a worthwhile profit. If that's not possible then your offering has to evolve. Been through all of these things on big industry and the self employed trades. Almost always did better than the competition but did walk from some customers/prices and made sure my attitude and work was top notch. You want all your word of mouth references saying, Ya he is a little more than some guys but he shows up on time, is easy to work with, stands behind any issues, and his work is excellent. Easy peasy.

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

It's the opposite of socialism. And if I can't fix something I don't charge for trying. If I choose to open a business and work on boats, cars houses or whatever it's my choice. A doctor working for a hospital has no outlay compared to one in private practice which is by the way similar to opening a service business. It's the doctors choice to go on his own or hire on somewhere.I don't charge more for working on a boat but my costs are higher than if I only worked on land based systems. Boats are a luxury for some, a workplace for many and fire and police boats are a necessity. I have a $2,000,000.00 liability policy to work on government vessels. It's not cheap but if I don't do it someone else will have to. And they also would charge a pretty penny for the work. Most marinas require at least a $1,000,000 policy by the way.I see all too often people of education and means minimizing the value of others because they don't want to pay them what they are worth. I don't get to haggle with my doctors and I don't expect to haggle with customers. These are the same people who pay $150 an hour to get their luxury car serviced. They just seem to think they can get a deal on fixing their boats. If they don't want to pay for the services dont call someone to perform them. I'm sure there no issue living without the AC.Socialism is more like when you go to the er you get treated just as slowly as the guy who doesn't pay $3k a month for insurance. In the end I lay out another grand or two and the other guy gets a ride home and free followup care.

Clearly, one’s gift of mechanical aptitude is sometimes matched by one’s ignorance of how other fields operate. Anger is emotion and usually light on truths. Frequently running down others with seemingly more opportunities for education or having been successful in their own right sounds like a Bernie man down deep. BTW, if you (speaking in general) don’t haggle with your doctor, lawyer, accountant, mechanic, hospital, cable company, airline, hotel, broker ... you ain’t really trying. West Marina didn’t invent the price match. Doing a poor me is easier and there’s always a few friends’ shoulders available for your tears.

[Boatsb]

Poor me for not having more time. I don't complain about lousy customers to change them. I have good ones I'd rather spend my time on. I don't have much spare time to begin with.

I don't careabout their wealth or success. I dont want their money because I'm lazy. I want to be paid as agreed and im not working my but off for nothing. I just find more wealthy people are hard to get paid from for some reason.

As to the haggling. I dont buy things without knowing the cost and I do pay what I agreed to. Yes I do sometimes get a better price for cash with service or prompt pay but I will always pay the price I agreed to.

It's hard to be an honest man in a world where deception and unfair behavior is rewarded.