Many people don’t understand the reasoning for trip or service charges on top of the labor and material fees. Whenever you are dealing with a mobile service provider, they have to price things in a certain way to absorb the cost of fuel, the vehicle maintenance, overhead, etc. Many companies are very honest with their pricing and write it out on the receipt so you know exactly what you are paying as a “trip charge” however many companies take advantage of the situation. They will right things up or advertise with a severely low trip charge to make you believe your getting a deal, but in reality, they just move the charges into labor or materials. Many companies, in the lock industry particularly, will use saying like “its $29 for the trip and the tech will asses the situation and quote you once he arrives” then they will overcharge on everything else knowing that youll either eat the cost for the convenience of the fact that hes already on sight, or youll pay him the $29 and he can walk away without doing any real work at all. Be sure whenever you speak with a service provider, that you get a clear estimate, or at least a range of possible total prices, and that they clearly explain why the price is what it is. Its unfortunate that as a mobile business we have to charge a trip charge at all, but we feel its very important.
here is a link better explaining the repercussions of allowing service providers out without a solid, set price.
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