Emergency water extraction ....

[Tex Star Detail]

First off, I think I will be adding this to my list. Seems I am getting more calls for it. Just got off the phone with a guy that left his windows down in his Honda over night. The day before, the grass was cut by a company that cuts grass. I guess there is a prinkler system in the yard, because he said they come on around 3 in the morning.

I was told they ran over the sprinkler head, and when they came on, a water stream went right in his window......OUCH.

Lives in a Duplex...I know the guy that owns the land, road, and duplexes. He owns the lube shops I advertise in. Said to do the job and give him the bill. Good guy he is. This is the 2nd time I had done work for him, on customers' cars, that somehow, damage got tied in with his shops.

This is the 2nd water extraction I recieved a call for in the past 2 weeks. Anither 1 about a month ago. I low balled the first one, upped it onthe second one, and now, I believe I am going to have a rate set and go up depending on how bad it really is.

The last one, I had to remove the front and rear seats, console, carpet, pad, seat belts, and various trim pieces. Took abour 2 hours to get it all clean dried and put back together.

Now, doing this on an emergency basis, if not at another job, what would you charge???? I always heve my customers schedule appointments at least a day in advance, but this service, I would be there in a few hours time, depending on what I am doiung at the moment...LOL.....Like if I have to find a babysitter...hahaha

 

[justin30513]

I would do it on an hourly basis. Maybe in the range of 50.00+. This way you won't loose money. It would be really hard to state a flat rate because I wouldn't know what I was getting into. Plus, emergency services cost more. Customers expect it to. Don't loose money. This is an opportunity to make back any money misquoted over the regular details. Believe me, I've lost some along the way.

 

[Beercan31]

First off, I think I will be adding this to my list. Seems I am getting more calls for it. Just got off the phone with a guy that left his windows down in his Honda over night. The day before, the grass was cut by a company that cuts grass. I guess there is a sprinkler system in the yard, because he said they come on around 3 in the morning.

I was told they ran over the sprinkler head, and when they came on, a water stream went right in his window......OUCH.

He Lives in a Duplex...Said to do the job and give him the bill. Good guy he is. This is the 2nd time I had done work for him, on customers' cars, that somehow, damage got tied in with his shops.

He will most likely submit the bill to the landscaper's insurance Co.or his Homeowners Iins.

If your going to do this type of work on an EMERGENCY basic your going to have to charge your full detail rate or T&M (time and money) you will have to sit down and figure out what your hourly rate is rounded up to the nearest dollar and then charge that as an hourly rate, if you don't you will becoming up short at the end of the month in the payroll dep. Plus the time you have to take to reschedule the customer that was on the list first. Your time is money and any effort/time you spend should be added to the emergency job.

I also see that this "good guy" has given you a break and for some odd reason (it baffles my mind) he like you and you have to figure out where the priority are in your business Doing Details or emergency jobs? pricing the emergency job slightly higher that expected is what I'd do, with the full understanding that this will be submitted to an ins. clam. this should cover all your time and paper work involved.

 

[AL-53]

good advice Beercan...made alot of sense...maybe the guy at the oil place thinks you work cheap..so he calls you....give him a real life figure and not a freind figure and see if he jumps on it..do not short yourself...Like said..Time is Money...Money pays bills....

Al

 

[jdoria]

Has your detailing work picked up again? I see you are posting more and more jobs. Are you still working for the dealer?

 

[GregCavi]

When I have anything that is an emergency I charge double. For instance:

I got back from a weeklongs vacation today at about 1:45. After driving my GF home I got back at 2:00 and I got the message that someone had left a jug of cranberry juice in the back of their car, and it exploded... 3 days ago. So it was 100 degrees F and very humid but I went over immediatly and got the mess cleaned up in about 30-45 minutes (the mess was just the back right section of carpet. I charged $40 bucks for the time I spent and got a 5 dollar tip. So that was 45 bucks that I got when my usual rate for the job would have been 20-25 (it was a small mess).

Greg

 

[derek37]

When I have anything that is an emergency I charge double. For instance:

I got back from a weeklongs vacation today at about 1:45. After driving my GF home I got back at 2:00 and I got the message that someone had left a jug of cranberry juice in the back of their car, and it exploded... 3 days ago. So it was 100 degrees F and very humid but I went over immediatly and got the mess cleaned up in about 30-45 minutes (the mess was just the back right section of carpet. I charged $40 bucks for the time I spent and got a 5 dollar tip. So that was 45 bucks that I got when my usual rate for the job would have been 20-25 (it was a small mess).

Greg

Good Job!
Greg,what was your procedure for clean up?