Bert's Sign - New Additions

[BWS29128]

Hourly rate: $65.00/hr
Hourly rate with you watching $85/hr
Hourly rate with you asking questions $120/hr
Mobile service $400/hr

I swear I'm going to have a sign made up that reads exactly like this!

I'm also going to have another one made up for my shop that reads:
1. The Customer Is NEVER Right (because):
2. Customers never know what they want.
3. What customers think they want, is not what they need.
4. What customers need will always cost too much.
5. If you want your project completed as ordered, you'll wait for it.
6. If you want to send the very best, send Hallmark.
7. First come, first served.
8. Customer assumes all liability for materials' cost.
9. Original estimates on completion times are exactly that: estimates.
10. If #9 above is not okay with you, refer to #5.

I'm sooooooo made right now about a project I completed yesterday; Even after explaining all of the above, a customer didn't want to pay be because one of the brackets I made for his jon boat trolling motor didn't allow room for a trolling motor extension, even after he told me to build the new bracket IDENTICALLY to the existing bracket on the port side. Also, even after telling him that Rubber Cement was not the appropriate adhesive for attaching astro-turf to the seat of his jon boat, he got mad when his astro turf didn't want to adhere to the aluminum.

Okay...end of rant. If I didn't already have 7 hours tied up in the project, I'd tell the guy to kiss off. As it was, I almost "went postal" on his sorry butt. Alas, I controlled my infamous notorious temper and will return to his project on Thursday (I already have work scheduled for today for a different customer who, I might add, was willing to wait 2 extra days after calling me because he wants his pontoon boat sponsons welded in the manner he has come to expect from me).

[HMW]

Thats funny. Same story everywhere, huh? I gotta print that out

[SundownIII]

Hey Clint,

Here's an addition to your new sign:

QUALITY
SERVICE
PRICE

(Pick any 2 from above)

[fun4now]

you just cant make some people happy, no matter what you do.
and its always a bad idea to try to explain to that type of person where HE/SHE went wrong.
such is life, good luck with it and remember when he comes back.

[Bert]

Wow Clint, you have some "winners" huh??? I'm sure it's the same all over!
I would TOTALLY add SundownIII sayings to your sign!!! After you fix the guys stuff on Thursday, next time he asks for your help, just say "I'm busy" and let the next guy screw it up or charge him 2x more!!!

[jonnymag]

That's why I'm glad that written fee agreements are standard in my line of work. It really cuts down on the "misunderstandings" later. As well as the hemming and hawing, whining, backpedaling and outright reneging

[Jolly Roger]

I went to a written contract outlining exactly what is to be done for that very reason. I also require 50% up front as well. It only took getting stuck with $800.00 worth of material I never get a call for to stop all that. I know they really wish I only charged $65.00 an hour. They don't understand minimums either. After 5 pm it's a 4 hour minimum and $250.00 an hour. I pretty much don't get called out at night.

And why is it they all think they are your only customer?

I don't build many BBQ pits at $1500.00 for a starting price. I wouldn't be so bad about it, but they want 600-700 in work done for a case of beer. I must be the only welder in the world that has 4 BBQ's, and all of them came from wally world.

I did build my sister a fajita cooker for xmas one year, but she was really wanting one.

[dabar39]

Office signs

I put up a hand written sign in my office that states:


Labor Rates:

Your way = 5 x's the amount of doing it my way
My way = 5 x's less than doing it your way



They don't seem to question my way as much anymore. Dave

[ace4059]

I once saw a sign on the internet that read something like "cheap, quality, or fast- My service can be any of the two but never all three." Now I just forgot were I saw it.

[BWS29128]

That's why I'm glad that written fee agreements are standard in my line of work. It really cuts down on the "misunderstandings" later. As well as the hemming and hawing, whining, backpedaling and outright reneging

I'm going to have to go to this method...this is the 3rd customer who's screwed me over in the last 9 months and I'm tired of it. At least I got him to pay the $242 for a sheet of 1/4" 3003 aluminum...I really think he saw my right hand resting on my Benchmark switchblade and decided to do the right thing.

I finally ground all my 3/32 2% Th tungsten down too far today...ended up warping the collet on my gas lens trying to screw the cap down tight enough to bite with the back of the T clearing the top of the collet by about .001" of an inch. So, prior to going back to Mr B-Hole today first thing, as I'd planned, I'm making a trip 30 miles in the other direction to buy tungsten. I hope he stews.

Does anyone have any advice where I might be able to find a "canned" form for welding services? If anyone has a scanned or digital copy of their form, I'd love to see it. Feel free to email me directly at [email protected] if you'd like.

It's 3:59am and I'm once again stuck awake with all manner of things business-related. Mostly, today my mind keeps wandering back to me lessons at a place called Camp Mackall back around 1991....was it "knife between the 3rd & 4th rib" or was it "knife between the 4th and 5th rib" to do it quickly, silently, and keep the blood under the ribcage after knife withdrawal??? Sheesh....you'd think I'd remember something important like that, huh?

Oh well....gonna surf the welding web a little and see what I can find. Thanks again for anyone offering advice and also for everyone offering condolences.

~Clint

PS: Okay...rant was over yesterday, now the Pity Party's over...

[jonnymag]

It doesn't have to be fancy. It just needs to state the major terms. Basically, there are 3 ways to go:

1. Work order: write down what the customer said the problem was, write down your diagnostic results, get the customer's approval to continue working, record that, then write down what you did and what you replaced and how much each part cost. If you take your car to a repair shop, you can look at how their work orders are set up.

2. Fee Agreement: formal legal contract

3. Summary letter

I generally use the Summary Letter, which includes:

1. relevant facts you gave me

2. what we discussed

3. what my recommendations were

4. what services we agreed on

5. estimated fee range: I like to give a low-to-high range just in case it turns out to be more involved than anticipated.

6. how long it'll take and when I expect to get complete it.

Then I attach my boilerplate billing policy, which includes:

1. my hourly rate & what kind of time I charge for: basically, it's any work I do for you, PLUS any time I spend talking to you or anyone who purports to be acting on your behalf, no matter if it's in person, one the phone or in writing.

1a. my expedite fee for rush orders and after hours

2. costs & expenses

3. payment schedule: whatever works for you. My preference is to bill people whenever I give them something they can touch -- 1/3 upfront when you sign, 1/3 when you get the draft, and 1/3 upon completion.

4. retainer deposit: I always collect a cost deposit. That really helps the cash flow. Whatever's left over at the end is applied to the outstanding fee balance or refunded.

5. what happens if you don't pay: I stop all work. If the work is already completed, then late fee, service charge, collection fee, attorney fees, etc.

6. what happens if you terminate the agreement before completion: you pay for the work completed up to that point. But once you get a draft, you pay 70% of the fee.

7. disclaimers (what's not covered by the agreement, what I'm not doing for you, etc.)

Then I make you sign it before I do any work. AND I receive date stamp it. I keep the original and give you a copy. I like to avoid all the misunderstandings that usually come up once the work is already done.

If I agreed to prepare a draft, then I have you review it and sign it too. That way you can't turn around later and claim that it wasn't what you wanted.

You can probably download a sample fee agreement or fee letter from any business agreement form site like FindLaw or ElectricLaw. Then adapt it for your own purposes.

Or if you carry malpractice insurance, your insurance company would be happy to provide you with a sample form because something like 90% of all customer disputes involve stuff that should have been covered by a fee agreement.

Or you can have your lawyer draw one up for you.

Have fun

[SundownIII]

Hey Clint,

Knives are "so messy", but quiet.

If you still stay in touch with some of the old "operators", mention a SW Mod 41, reduced tension recoil spring, sub-sonic .22 long HP, and silencer.

Bet it brings up a lively discussion.

Not that I'd know anything "personally" about that sort of thing.

[welder_one]

i work for the interstate highway sign corp. an di made a sign that i put in my shop at home. it is 6 ft by 10 ft. reads: "good work aint cheap, cheap work aint good" i have another that reads with 12 inch legend: "why?" that one gets alot of comments...lol

[fun4now]

"good work aint cheap, cheap work aint good"
that about covers it. yet it seems every one still thinks they should get your work cheap if you are not a huge corporation ?? or maybe too many people are just cheap.

[BWS29128]

Hey Clint,

Knives are "so messy", but quiet.

If you still stay in touch with some of the old "operators", mention a SW Mod 41, reduced tension recoil spring, sub-sonic .22 long HP, and silencer.

Bet it brings up a lively discussion.

Not that I'd know anything "personally" about that sort of thing.

I've fired that Smith...the tube always seemed a little too long, even for what it was. For that type of mission I carried a JMB Buckmark IV spray painted black. 3 Threads lock-to-lock for full-on so it was quick. I only went on about 4 of those missions....maybe 5; that wasn't my specialty. My normal rig was the Beretta 96G in .40 (as opposed to the 92F/FS in 9mm) in a thigh rig and then a quick-action sling for a M4A2C w/203 slung under. RedDot and Holo-equipped. Without getting too graphic, most of my stuff was LR Intel/Relay via SATCOM. Some TASE stuff for the guys upstairs, not much. I'm still jealous of you, though....I managed FF school after 1/502 and a tour, but never got to HALO or HAHO. I got into the wind tunnel once at JFK but that was it. My highest was 12k from a 141 FF with an MC-5 (early RAPS/SOFTAPS version) and lowest was after a LAPES at 450 AGL with a -1B/C). Of course, those missions were for Dorks In Area (as opposed to Christians In Action) so it's not like I got stars in my wings or anything. Not that it matters; I never got the tab I wanted anyway. But hey! Lots of fun along the way, huh? ROFL!!! I don't think I'd trade a single second of it, but I'm too old to worry about it now. I do miss Blackwater, though...not far from you and D*MN THOSE GUYS ARE FUN!!!!!!!!!!!! Ever been through a kill house with newbies and SIMrounds? Oh it is TOO FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh well. Thanks for bringing up good memories and ending my week on a good note.