Plumbing Companies?

Question

Is this normal business practice or is this someone whom is just trying to get to you for a few extra bucks?

I recently hired a plumbing company to come out to my house and do a pressure check on my natural gas lines. Do they normally charge for drive time and then charge for fuel on top of that? Just curious, not that I mind paying for there gasoline out here because I know how much fuel prices are these days. But he began his hourly billing from what he considered to be his dispatch time which included the time it took him to drive here and the time he spent in my driveway on the phone with a previous customer.

Any input would be appreciated, thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Travel time to the site is usual.
Charging a surcharge for gasoline is becoming more common.
Talking with another customer on your time is WRONG!

Remember, Business models are built on 8 hr days and 8 hrs pay per tech. It is unjust for some customers to think they should only pay for time a tech is at their residence and no one is accountable for their travel time. If that was the case, rates would have to double.

Newt

Answer 2

Sounds like he's trying to get the most outta you. My father owns a plumbing/construction company and we only charge for the time we are there, and we never charge for gas, unless jobs are more than 60 miles away. Not much you can do about it now :-/ it'll be too much work to hassle him outta a few extra bucks, just hire someone else next time. and NOT router rooter...those larger companies have made an art out of swiping customers money and have a serious quality control issue. I'm only twenty and I've been on jobs more than a dozen times to clean up a mess they've made.

Answer 3

The billing practises may vary; there is no standard. Usually it pays to hire someone from your locality. Did you deal with the service person or with the company's owner? In the first case you may have a chance to verify with the boss if there was a "mistake" made. Good luck!