I had a problem with my home alarm system because I was painting and disconnected it to make the work look better. When I rewired the panel exactly like it originally was, I found that it wouldn't work.
Then I thought of my friend the internet and went to doityourself.com and presented my problem and it was answered by an alarm installer who told me exactly what I needed to do to "fix" my alarm. I did as he instructed and all was well. It saved me a service call when service calls were ahem...somewhat more reasonable.
Personally, if I called a company and politely asked why I was charged so much for a service call and was treated rudely, I would contact the company owner/president and advise him of his errant employee and that I was taking my business elsewhere.
And I don't care about the higher cost of doing business these days or any stories about remaining in business. Sure, Covid and Bidenflation has increased the cost of doing business these days but I am positive that it lends some businesses an excuse to increase their prices/profits.
I had an ignitor go out on my home furnace and called a repairman who charged $75.00 to come out and replace the ignitor and O trusted him after our conversation. The next year it reoccurred and I called him again and was charged $145.00 and he drove up in a new van with his name plastered on the side. So I bought a couple of ignitors and put them near the furnace and I'll do it myself next time. They cost me $15.00 each on Ebay. The cost of living hasn't increased to nearly 100% since Biden was selected.
Then I thought of my friend the internet and went to doityourself.com and presented my problem and it was answered by an alarm installer who told me exactly what I needed to do to "fix" my alarm. I did as he instructed and all was well. It saved me a service call when service calls were ahem...somewhat more reasonable.
Personally, if I called a company and politely asked why I was charged so much for a service call and was treated rudely, I would contact the company owner/president and advise him of his errant employee and that I was taking my business elsewhere.
And I don't care about the higher cost of doing business these days or any stories about remaining in business. Sure, Covid and Bidenflation has increased the cost of doing business these days but I am positive that it lends some businesses an excuse to increase their prices/profits.
I had an ignitor go out on my home furnace and called a repairman who charged $75.00 to come out and replace the ignitor and O trusted him after our conversation. The next year it reoccurred and I called him again and was charged $145.00 and he drove up in a new van with his name plastered on the side. So I bought a couple of ignitors and put them near the furnace and I'll do it myself next time. They cost me $15.00 each on Ebay. The cost of living hasn't increased to nearly 100% since Biden was selected.
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Yessir, When I was a tech, we had an initial call out then a four hour minimum at $200 hour. No one cared if it was a bad battery or a complete panel change. Time and a half for nights and weekends Triple time for major holidays which I worked several times.
We had a contract with several entities that when they called, I had two hours not to contact them but to get to their site. Wichita Airport was one of those.
Good on that technician to know where he was time-wise and geographically so he could be the right guy and do the right thing to take care of you. Bad on him for telling you he was really close.
We had a contract with several entities that when they called, I had two hours not to contact them but to get to their site. Wichita Airport was one of those.
Good on that technician to know where he was time-wise and geographically so he could be the right guy and do the right thing to take care of you. Bad on him for telling you he was really close.
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If you don't mind me asking, what was the fix, besides getting it wired correctly?
I don't mind at all, it was a code that he told me to enter into the keypad. Those folks on doityourself.com are professionals who are involved in a myriad of professions that apparently volunteer to help others.
I've asked them water well questions and even refrigerator questions! Got the right answer and did the repairs myself. I was raised very poor and had to do everything myself and I've carried this "do it myself"attitude all my life which has enabled me to help others in need.
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A code to do what? Turn on the door chime feature or something similar?
What was the alarm doing normally that it quit doing?
What was the alarm doing normally that it quit doing?
Think of it this way. I'm in the construction equipment rental industry. My location is out of McAlester. My tractor trailer delivers a skid steer to Talahina at 9am so we charge the customer $300 each way for deliv/pickup. If I get an order for a mini excavator for another customer in Talahina for a 9:30 delivery the same day my driver loads up both machines. Drops the skid at first customer then mini excavator next just a mile further down the road. Both machines are on the same truck being dleiver one right after the other and each pay $300 each way for trucking. THe second guy/delivery drop off doesn't get a break on his delivery charges because my truck was already in the area.
I understand the OP point but because the technician (or my delivery driver) was already in the area doesn't mean customer gets a break in the fees because he was "close". This is exactly why I stress to my drivers and dispatch to haul as many machines as legally possible to optimize trucking and costs.
Amen
Exactly the reply I would expect from you.
I haven't read all of the replies, based on the initial post, it sounds like the root cause of the rant is bad customer service rather than the charge for the service call. Unfortunately, poor support is now the rule rather than the exception. I don't deal with surly or incompetent first-level staff. I would recommend asking to speak to the site manager or company owner. On more than one occasion I've had to go to the parent company to get some kind of action. In cases in which they won't remove the service fee, you can often get discounts or free services to make up for the cost.
