Time and material may work for an independent plumber who operates as a one person operation, but for a legitimate service company, it would be unfair to charge customers “by the hour.”
All plumbers work at different speeds and have different levels of skill, personalities, and experience. For these reasons, charging “by the hour” would cause one customer to pay more than the other for the exact same work.
It is also unfair to the more experienced plumber. Because the more experienced plumber may be able to perform the work at a faster speed than a less experienced plumber, the more experienced plumber would actually earn less money while the less experienced plumber would earn more. This is also why you can’t reduce the price into an hourly rate since the goal is to provide the fastest, most efficient, and convenient service possible.
In today’s marketplace, most reputable plumbing and drain service companies in and around Toronto charge using a method called Upfront Pricing. Upfront Pricing means that all customers pay the same price for the same work regardless of how long the plumber takes to complete the work. An average time is taken between all of the plumbers, so it’s fair for everyone.
Another benefit to Upfront Pricing includes knowing the price before the work starts so that you don’t guess what the cost will be. This way, both the customer and the plumber can eliminate the stress of “watching the clock.” After all, you might think that it’s unfair to have to pay for the time that the plumber spent answering a call from his wife telling him to pick up some milk on the way home!
Upfront Pricing also allows the customer to budget accordingly prior to commencing the work. With Upfront Pricing, once the price has been agreed upon, the plumber can then focus on doing a great job and not worrying about the time at all. Since we are all human, one plumber may be nursing a sprained ankle or is generally having a slow day. If they were charging “by the hour,” this would cause one customer to pay more than another for the same job.
Another factor includes start times. A job started at 8:00 a.m. will get done a lot quicker than a job started at 3:00 p.m. The plumber may be tired towards the end of the day, thus causing him or her to work a little slower. The plumber may also have used a certain part earlier in the day that is required for your repair and needs to drive to the supplier. If the plumber was charging by the hour, you would pay for that time spent driving to the supplier.
With Upfront Pricing, there is no additional cost and no surprises. Therefore, this is why Upfront Pricing has become somewhat of the standard pricing model used by most reputable plumbing and drain services companies in the Toronto area today.
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