A HO called me about a repair because a few shingles had blown off his roof.
I quoted a price over the phone which he agreed to.
I told him that even if I could find the exact same shingle it would be darker because they fade. I also mentioned that it’s possible that a shingle could be discontinued.
I told him I would come out the next day and call when I was on my way, which I did.
I drove for about 20 minutes to get there. I told him I had never seen that color before. It was a cheap 3 tab. I told him it was probably discontinued but I would take a sample to my supplier to see if I could match it.
My supplier confirmed that it was a discontinued product and they didn’t have anything like it.
So I called the HO and asked if he wanted me to use something that was lighter or darker.
He said that he had another roofer coming out later on and wanted to see if the other guy could match it.
I got a little upset as you can imagine.
You may have stories of your own. People seem to assume that your time and expertise has no value. They can blow you off without a second thought.
Do you have a process that you go through to make sure you get paid for service calls?
Should I be asking for a credit card number before committing to drive over?
I’ve never been big on offering service calls because frequently they want to get estimates. They don’t want to commit to hiring me over the phone. It’s not worth the time that it takes to drive over unless they are committed to using me. -How do you handle it?
I quoted a price over the phone which he agreed to.
I told him that even if I could find the exact same shingle it would be darker because they fade. I also mentioned that it’s possible that a shingle could be discontinued.
I told him I would come out the next day and call when I was on my way, which I did.
I drove for about 20 minutes to get there. I told him I had never seen that color before. It was a cheap 3 tab. I told him it was probably discontinued but I would take a sample to my supplier to see if I could match it.
My supplier confirmed that it was a discontinued product and they didn’t have anything like it.
So I called the HO and asked if he wanted me to use something that was lighter or darker.
He said that he had another roofer coming out later on and wanted to see if the other guy could match it.
I got a little upset as you can imagine.
You may have stories of your own. People seem to assume that your time and expertise has no value. They can blow you off without a second thought.
Do you have a process that you go through to make sure you get paid for service calls?
Should I be asking for a credit card number before committing to drive over?
I’ve never been big on offering service calls because frequently they want to get estimates. They don’t want to commit to hiring me over the phone. It’s not worth the time that it takes to drive over unless they are committed to using me. -How do you handle it?