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Rant: The 'flat rate' myth that cost me $300 on a single thermostat job
I used to charge a flat rate for thermostat swaps - $150, take it or leave it. Problem was, one took me 45 minutes at an old lady's house in Portland, another was a 3-story walkup in a 90 degree attic that took 4 hours. Finally ran the numbers and realized I was making about $12 an hour on those bad jobs. Switched to a base fee plus time, and now I quote $80 for the visit plus $45 an hour after the first 30 minutes. Nobody even complained yet, and my average per job jumped from $150 to around $210. Has anyone else had clients push back when you move from flat rate to hourly, or did they just roll with it?
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danielowens2mo ago
...and that old lady probably would have tipped me a cookie if I had showed up with a flat rate of $150 and then accidentally backed my van into her mailbox. I kid, I kid. But seriously, that math you did is the same reason I stopped offering a "budget friendly" flat fee for anything that involves more than two screws and a ladder. I had a job last month where the customer's thermostat was basically held together with hope and duct tape, and I ended up spending an extra hour just cleaning the old wiring before I could even start. Charging by the hour felt weird at first, like I was being rude, but then I remembered the $12 an hour attic job and suddenly I didn't feel so bad.
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wadejenkins2mo ago
Used to be fully on the flat rate train @danielowens, but reading that attic story flipped my whole take. Hourly makes way more sense when you start factoring in the hidden mess other people leave behind.
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nancyramirez2mo ago
Wadejenkins, your point about hidden messes is the exact reason flat rates don't work in most trades. That thermostat job with the duct tape wiring is a perfect example of how we all underestimate the chaos behind someone else's wall. The same thing happens with car repairs and plumbing too. People want a simple price upfront, but life is never that simple. You pay for the time it takes to undo the previous person's shortcuts, not just the final fix. I wish more customers understood that a flat rate just means the worker eats the cost of your bad luck or someone else's poor work.
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