Question for pellet stove owners...

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Lousyweather

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Ok, a tech makes an appointment to fix (non-warrantee) a pellet stove, and gives the stove owner a window of time to expect him...say, 11am-2pm. The homeowner agrees on said time. The customer isnt close to the shop, maybe 45 mins away or so (1-1/2 hrs of travel time). Tech shows up at 11:10am, and noone is home. Tech waits until 11:30am, noone shows. What do you folks feel is the best course of action here? If the tech sits in the driveway until 2pm, and noone ever shows, he is out 3 hours of work time, plus 1-2/2 hrs travel time. What do you folks feel is FAIR in this instance? Im curious to hear what the other side (customers' side) of this issue is. Time is money.

Thanks in advance!
 
Tough question, I would take lunch wait till noon and move on.
I also would have gotten a contact phone number to see if he is running late.
Customer may have trouble getting out of work.

Its a tough economey out there for the Customer and the service tech.
 
Not even a full professor gets the privilege of having an entire class wait on them even 30 minutes.

Go to your next appointment after taking a picture of the house with the techs face in it, send them a bill for the time wasted and enclose the picture, then write them off as a customer.
 
Either call beforehand, or send out a courtesy post card to confirm the time and date of the customer made appointment.
Always have a customer contact phone number(s)
Call customer when you arrive if they are not home.
Bill them for the "To" and "From" travel time plus a service call charge.
Remember, the easiest way to train your customer base is to make them pay for your time when they are irresponsible/inconsiderate.
 
Do what the big box stores do, on the day of appt. call ahead to confirm.
What does the company policy state on missed appointments ?
 
The customer might not have been there because something unexpected came up, and they should have called and canceled. IMO charge them for a service call which "includes" the time to get there. If I call for service from my dealer they charge me a flat $65 just to show up in my driveway and do nothing (that includes the time it takes them to get there).
 
Guess it depends on company policy. Does your shop have a minimum charge just to show up?

Time is money on both ends and communication is important.
If the customer is home and the service techs don't show up during the scheduled timeframe, they normally
have no recourse other than complaining to the office.

Some businesses I have dealt with (not hearth related) call the night before to confirm the appointment.
Their techs will also call directly when they are in the truck ready to head in my direction.
 
Note on company letterhead stating that "We missed you" giving arrival and departure times. Note should also state that future missed appointments without notice will incure a service fee.

Both your time and your customers can be saved by setting up the techs with a call ahead number.

Aaron
 
Call ahead and confirm that they will be home.
If they are not home within a reasonable time frame, oh say 30 minutes and you do not get a call.

Send them a bill for a minimum service call plus the travel time.

If they groan, tough.

Time is money and you can't eat that stuff.

It only takes a second for the customer to drop you a call and explain that they had an emergency, are held up in traffic or ???? Only takes a second to make that call.


Flakes are everywhere.

Snowy
 
If I call a tech to service anything in my home I make
sure I'm home or if an emergency comes up I'd call
them to reschedule. If they arrived and I wasn't home
I wouldn't expect them to wait but I would expect
to have to pay something, especially so if I was that
far out of their normal service area.
 
wait 5 min, try a cell phone, if no answer leave a message and try a house phone, and if no answer, move on.
Charge them a $15 fuel surcharge on their next appointment.


My Dentist makes you pay FULL COST ($125) if you miss an appointment for a cleaning without 48 hour cancellation notice.

Why can't you?
 
appointment made night before, called house phone while in driveway. No answer.
 
Have to agree with the previous posts. Your time is your income; they should respect that. If the shoe was on the other foot I'll bet they would agree.

By the way I want to thank you for all of the times you posted help on the forum. You are appreciated here.
 
I would tend to agree, They made an appointment and didn't keep it you should bill them with evidence you were there and they should pay you for your time.

In the same respect, If I make an appointment with you and you do not show or let me wait 3 hours then show..... I have to take that time off work well my time is money too. If you are outside your commitment then I have every right to charge you for my missed time.

I'm the bastard who sent his Doctor a bill when he kept me waiting 3 hours for a scheduled appointment because he is habitually and doesn't like to come in to work till after 10:30 but makes appointments for 9:00. If I have to wait till noon to see him then he pays for my missed 3 hours of work.
 
What if?
The shoe was on the other foot here. Say your guy was busting on a stove that was kicking his butt and you missed the appointment for a home owner that missed a 1/2-day of work to be home for you.

Would you pay for his/her lost wages? (Just saying!)

Maybe the poor soul had an emergency/stuck in traffic or something. Call him/her and talk it out. Explain that this can't happen again. And if he/she gets pissy? Tell them your sending the the service call fee.
 
I agree with j-t.....call the customer and give them the opportunity to explain (which they should have already by calling you, but...) sometimes things do come up. Depending on the response you get you can chose the appropriate course of action. A good question is; what is your company's policy for keeping appointments? Is this policy relayed to a customer when they make an appointment? If not maybe you should think about adopting one. Maybe getting a deposit on a credit/debit card for out of area appointments would at least cover your expense of showing up. I think you are more than generous to wait 3hrs when nobody is there, that's unheard of around here.
 
Prompness should be respected on both sides. Usually I call to confirm that I will be home and they are planning on fixing my stove. That way everybody knows what to expect. Or if the people are people I trust I tell them where the key is and to walk in and fix it. leave the bill on the table.
 
Here's an angle for you......I would be eternally grateful to any technician for any type of service call if he was able to make arrangements with me to call me a half an hour (my travel time from work) before he showed up at my house. This way I wouldn't be sitting at home waiting for HIM.

I know this wouldn't work with everyone, but good communication between the service tech and the customer should make something like this totally avoidable in MOST cases.

Also......In the age of cell phones something like this should never happen.

Just my two cents...
 
Probably the most useful information here is Everyone needs to have the others cell phone number so that they can make a call.

If the tech is getting his butt kicked he can at least call his next client and tell them that he/she will be a little late.


Just a thought.

Snowy
 
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