That one Tuesday in November where every job went sideways

Honestly, last November I had a Tuesday that just broke me. The first call was a standard cleaning in the old part of town, but the damper was rusted shut and took me an hour with penetrating oil and a mallet just to get it to budge. The next house had a nest so deep I pulled out three grocery bags of twigs and leaves. The real kicker was the final job of the day, a new build where the mason had left a whole brick inside the flue. I had to call the homeowner and tell him his brand new fireplace was totally blocked and he needed to call the builder back. My 6-hour day turned into 11 hours real quick. Anyone else ever have a day where every single job had a hidden problem you couldn't see coming?

2 comments

2 Comments

ray2104d ago

Ever think about charging a flat "problem day" fee on top of your normal rate for those jobs? Like a separate line item for the brick-in-the-flue level of nonsense. I know some guys who just build it into a higher minimum call-out charge for certain property types, but I'm curious if being upfront about a potential extra fee ever backfires with customers.

nathanh444d ago

Man, those days are the worst. You gotta start padding your schedule when you roll up to an old property or a new build. I add at least an hour buffer for pre-1970s houses just for the rusted hardware alone. And for new construction, I do a camera check before I even unpack my tools, because you never know what got left in there. It saves the awkward call to the homeowner.