Septic Service and Billing

[nhcredit]

What is the name of your state? NH

I had to have some septic work done and schedule an appt, knowing that service would be $66.00 an hour, x a man crew. Fine.

After the service is complete (actual labor 1h 30m), I get a 3 1/2 labor bill!!

I call the main office and they say, "oh yeah, we bill for travel to and from your home". That was an extra couple of hours worth of labor billing I didn't know, nor was I informed I'd be billed.

Additionally, my scheduled appt was 5 hours late, which made me miss work all day.

I wrote the owner a letter nicely requesting a refund for the labor that never really happend. I have yet to hear back from him. Small Claims is out, as it's not worth the money and time. But what else can I say or do to make this owner realize that he should pay me back the $200 hundred that I consider "over billing". Thoughts?

 

[justalayman]

Why do you think it is overbilling?? The workers are getting paid while driving to your site. They are racking up miles on the truck, they are using gas (or diesel fuel).

I happen to be a electrical service tech myself. What I do is charge for drive time to the job and then when I am done, it starts the next job. The bottom line is that if I am at work for 8 hours, I get paid for 8 hours, whether I am driving or wrenching, I get paid.

If the contractor did not charge for the drive time, they would simply raise rates to cover this cost. It is more fair this way because if you live in the boonies, you should pay more than the guy right next door to the shop. It actually costs more to service your problem than the guy right next door.

 

[racer72]

I have a small limo service. If you call and rent a limo for an evening out, the billing starts when the limo leaves the garage, not when it arrives at your door. Next time choose a septic service nearer to your home.

 

[nhcredit]

It's more about agreed to terms

The shop in question was only 45m to an hour away.

If you're going to bill be from when you leave your shop or last job and the trip back, you need to inform the customer so that they can make a decision on service based on your actual rates. I had no idea I'd be billed for travel and/or work NOT actually performed. They even tacked on a $15 dollar fuel charge (not known to me until after the service).

I too use to supply road service. Our billing always started when I got onsite and when I left. If that means increase your hourly rates, fine. Billing someone for travel, especially when it's not agreed upon or told to the customer up front in wrong, period. It's bad customer service.

Not to mention my appt was for 10:30. They showed up at 3:30. Where is my pay for the 8 hours of work I lost? The bottomline is, they did not disclose their billing to me and showed up late by 5 hours. Paying an extra couple of hundred dollars for service (labor) that wasn't actually done isn't right.

As an electician and limo driver, wouldn't you tell people your full costs up-front? Additionally, if you have a date and time set, you're there to provide the service, correct?

I should of stopped payment on the check and recut a new check for the correct amount of labor actually done. Labor to and from a job site is nuts. I wish I could bill my employer in that way. I'd be rich!

 

[StickyFingers]

What is the name of your state? NH

I had to have some septic work done and schedule an appt, knowing that service would be $66.00 an hour, x a man crew. Fine.

After the service is complete (actual labor 1h 30m), I get a 3 1/2 labor bill!!

I call the main office and they say, "oh yeah, we bill for travel to and from your home". That was an extra couple of hours worth of labor billing I didn't know, nor was I informed I'd be billed.

Additionally, my scheduled appt was 5 hours late, which made me miss work all day.

I wrote the owner a letter nicely requesting a refund for the labor that never really happend. I have yet to hear back from him. Small Claims is out, as it's not worth the money and time. But what else can I say or do to make this owner realize that he should pay me back the $200 hundred that I consider "over billing". Thoughts?

I don't care if is septic...or A/C service.....There is ALWAYS a service call fee. (the charge they have to actually just drive to your home.... which in my experience typically includes their diagnosis).

Parts and labor after that are extra...Labor being the major fee.

As far as them showing up "5 hours late"...You may have cause to negotiate on the price of the "service call fee". But I am hard pressed to see how you do not owe them the price of the labor or the parts once they arrived.

I suggest you consult your contract you signed.

If you didn't know about the service fee before....take this as your education in having someone come fix your stuff for you!

On a side note.....This is my first time encountering a person who didn't know that there was a base fee (service fee) to have some come out to your house...I thought everyone knew...that is one of the reasons you call around to get a good price!

 

[justalayman]

]
As an electician and limo driver, wouldn't you tell people your full costs up-front? Additionally, if you have a date and time set, you're there to provide the service, correct?

The rates are generally agreed upon but there are mistakes that require explanation. Additionally, While I agree that an appointment needs to be kept, there are extenuating circumstances that intervene with many time schedules. You need to realize that folks aren't just setting around all day just waiting for the time to head over to your place, they are on other jobs and if they run into problems, that is going to delay your service. Now I do feel they should have called you but sometimes things just don't work like they are supposed to. I would also presume you will not be using this service company again. As always, speak with your wallet. It can be heard better than anything else you can say.

I should of stopped payment on the check and recut a new check for the correct amount of labor actually done. Labor to and from a job site is nuts. I wish I could bill my employer in that way. I'd be rich

While you might have stopped payment on a check, you could have caused yourself more legal problems than you wanted. This can be seen as an actual crime in some circumstances. If you feel you were overcharged, take them to small claims court and get it settled.

Curious as to what you do for a living. Are you saying you do not get paid for all the hours you work?? Federal law states that if I am traveling from job site to job site for my employer, I am to recieve my normal hourly pay. That is the law.

 

[StickyFingers]

While you might have stopped payment on a check, you could have caused yourself more legal problems than you wanted. This can be seen as an actual crime in some circumstances. If you feel you were overcharged, take them to small claims court and get it settled.

Exactly. I agree...pay it..then seek it back in small claims. Or just as 'just' said...you may be in more trouble than you bargained for.

 

[nhcredit]

Bill was paid

I absolutely paid the bill in full. I am doing what I can to recover the travel time labor, not the actual service, parts, and even fuel sur-charge. I definitely own them money and paid them. My dispute is only in that travel time as it wasn't told to me, agreed upon, and they were 5 hours late making me miss my 8 hours of pay.

As for not knowing, when I called the company, I confirmed with the person who books appointments that service was $66 dollars an hour, x a 2 man crew, min of 1 hour would be billed. Never did she say billing started at their last site. If I knew that, I would of called around. There last site could of been 2 or 3 hours away, how would I know where there last site was? That would be a silly agreement for anyone to agree to.

As for work, I work for a large company. I am hourly, but I bill my company or get paid for actual time worked - not travel time to my office.

When my furnance went out at 3am during the Winter. I got billed a flat rate for service, which started when the guy showed up. Not when he left his last job and finished when he got home. That is ridiculous billing system.

When I did onsite printer and computer repair, we billed when we actually showed up. What's next, my car needs an oil change and the shop bills me the time it takes me to drive my car to them for service??

It all about customer service and letting people know their full billing policy.

 

[StickyFingers]

I absolutely paid the bill in full. I am doing what I can to recover the travel time labor, not the actual service, parts, and even fuel sur-charge. I definitely own them money and paid them. My dispute is only in that travel time as it wasn't told to me, agreed upon, and they were 5 hours late making me miss my 8 hours of pay.

As for not knowing, when I called the company, I confirmed with the person who books appointments that service was $66 dollars an hour, x a 2 man crew, min of 1 hour would be billed. Never did she say billing started at their last site. If I knew that, I would of called around. There last site could of been 2 or 3 hours away, how would I know where there last site was? That would be a silly agreement for anyone to agree to.

As for work, I work for a large company. I am hourly, but I bill my company or get paid for actual time worked - not travel time to my office.

When my furnance went out at 3am during the Winter. I got billed a flat rate for service, which started when the guy showed up. Not when he left his last job and finished when he got home. That is ridiculous billing system.

When I did onsite printer and computer repair, we billed when we actually showed up. What's next, my car needs an oil change and the shop bills me the time it takes me to drive my car to them for service??

It all about customer service and letting people know their full billing policy.

I understand your fustration...we all have it when we call someone to our house to fix something.

But we all have to pay the "service charge"..and it is not a charge depending on the last job or (in some cases) distance (however distance is a factor in my case..I live just outside a big city).

Check your contract...the paper you signed....I bet all you are bitching about is addressed there. ( whip out the microscope for the fine print too )

 

[justalayman]

My dispute is only in that travel time as it wasn't told to me, agreed upon, and they were 5 hours late making me miss my 8 hours of pay

. I don't totally disagree with you argument but their method of billing is not uncommon.

As for not knowing, when I called the company, I confirmed with the person who books appointments that service was $66 dollars an hour, x a 2 man crew, min of 1 hour would be billed. Never did she say billing started at their last site. If I knew that, I would of called around. There last site could of been 2 or 3 hours away, how would I know where there last site was? That would be a silly agreement for anyone to agree to.

Generally, since I do not charge an "service call fee" (which BTW is generally a charge to just chow up at the door, actual charges start from there) it is usually cheaper for me to charge the travel time. It ends up that the customer saves money. Now I suppose I could charge a service call fee, it would make me happy truthfully, I would get more pay but the customer ends up paying for the travel time one way or the other.

As for work, I work for a large company. I am hourly, but I bill my company or get paid for actual time worked - not travel time to my office.

I don't get paid for my drive to work either but by federal law, I do get paid for all my time AT WORK. That includes time driving or even waiting to go to another job once my day has started until it ends. What you suggest would be paramount to you not getting paid to walk across the room to pick up a file for your next "job".

When my furnance went out at 3am during the Winter. I got billed a flat rate for service, which started when the guy showed up. Not when he left his last job and finished when he got home. That is ridiculous billing system.

As I stated, my billing practice is very common and normal. Actually with the 3 am call, you would be (and legally I might add) be charged from the time you got me out of bed until I got home. This is an abnormal circumstance and allows different billing practices to come into play.

When I did onsite printer and computer repair, we billed when we actually showed up. What's next, my car needs an oil change and the shop bills me the time it takes me to drive my car to them for service??

You are mixing apples with oranges here. The oil change is obviously not the same situation but to bring it into the mix, consider this; if you had somebody come get your car to do the oil change and then bring it back, of course there would be some sort of charge for this, whether it was an itemized charge or nor is irrelevent, but it would be in the cost of the job somewhere.

Now when you did traveling repair, were you compensated for your drive time? If so, where do you think this money came from ?(BTW, unless you were a contract worker, you were legally required to be paid for that travel time)

It all about customer service and letting people know their full billing policy

I agree. That is why I do understand your complaint but be aware, your situation is not unusual. Your only real complaint is nobody told you you will be paying for all labor needed to complete your job (which does include the guys getting to your job) and you are not happy with that.

The thing is, driving to you location IS part of the expense of doing the job at your house. There is no escaping it. You do pay for that time in one way or another. This company is just dilling it directly rather than hidden in a "service call" charge, which as I stated earlier, in most of my work, would be more costly than a true hourly rate billing.

If you do not want to pay for the drive time, take your septic system into the shop yourself to get it repaired. Oh, you can't do that can you. Why do you think the workers are not due their pay for driving to your house. It costs the company money and it is time you did not have to expend.
As far as the waiting time, unless you had a guarantee of time, you have no claim there either. What you could have done is left after the agreed upn time and gone to work, thereby mitigating your losses. That way when the poop company should up and couldn;t do the work and tried to bill you for a service fee, you could argue that stating they missed the appointment. You didn't do this AND you allowed them to perform the job so you have to pay. Just pay the bill and be aware that you are now wiser to the ways of the world.


If you take these guys to court, you will lose much more (in not recoverable) money than the $200 bucks. Make an effort to get a correction and live with what you get. Just tell them you will not do business with them anymore because of the situation.