Why do Service Costs Vary Between Companies?

Our flat rate labor structure is designed to protect you from overcharges. Regardless of whether we send our newest least experienced technician, our fastest most efficient tech at his peak, or our oldest most experienced tech who is slowing down from years of this kind of labor, you pay the same price rather than an open-ended hourly rate based on how long the job takes. This insures that you pay only for the time it should take, on average, to complete your repairs. These rates are carefully and constantly monitored and compared to national averages to make sure we are being fair to both ourselves and our customers.

Our Customer Service Representatives will happily quote you our current minimum charge. This amount covers the trip to your home, a basic diagnosis and verbal estimate of the repair cost. 

Be very careful anytime you ask a company for their charges. Many will quote you a false, low figure to get you to let them in the house and then once they are ‘in’ the REAL costs start to add up. Watch out for the, “no trip charge when we repair” promise, especially if it comes with a low ‘minimum’ service charge quote. See what goes into a service charge.

Our industry has an image or a reputation for sloppy, slow and irresponsible “servicemen” who are famous for not showing up when promised. Our policy has always been that we were not going to conform to this image and we were going to do our very best to provide the kind of service customers expect and deserve. The primary way we are able to achieve this is by hiring and retaining the very best people we can find. As with most small businesses, payroll is our single largest expense. Finding and keeping good service technicians has become an even bigger challenge since Washington State has elected to regulate our industry. Our company must now be a licensed specialty electrical contractor with a licensed administrator and our technicians must be licensed specialty electricians.

Appliance service today has become more expensive as the legal and technical requirements continue to reach higher. Finding and keeping good technicians is a challenge in our business as in many others. 

What Goes Into the Cost of Repair?

Here are just a few of the factors that go into the cost of appliance repairs:

Dispatchers and Phone Operators to take your calls.
Personnel to handle parts ordering and receiving.
Facilities (Office and Warehouse space).
Two way communications in the field. Computer Equipment and Software
Special testing equipment.
Truck Maintenance and Fuel costs.
Up to date Phone Systems
Medical Insurance
Liability Insurance and Bonding
Cost of Parts Inventory
Employee Benefits
Office Supplies and Postage
Advertising
Technician Training and Certification.