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Garage Doors Service Call Fee


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So, I am putting new garage doors in the shop. I called 6 garage door companies to come down and give me options and opinions on quality and to get estimates (estimates on how much I trust the person or company to do the right job and stand behind the workmanship, what their dependability level is, and professionalism). The one company I called apparently is a national company that was recommended to me from a neighboring shop that has used them. He stated they were not cheap but unbelievably dependable. They wanted a service call fee to come down and give me an estimate. I was pleasantly surprised by that request. The reason I was surprised is because it was the first time ever a garage door company asked me for a service call charge to estimate putting in new garage doors. I need 5 new garage doors, I felt that any company would jump to the opportunity to do the job and would just want to show up to have a chance. But what I realized was that this company valued it's time, all its time!

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That's great to hear.

 

My friend is a residential contractor. Kitchen remodels, bathroom updates, etc. I asked him ... "do you charge for coming to a house and working up an estimate?" He replied that most customers expected you to stop by for a few hours to measure everything out and provide a quote for FREE. Now that his business has grown, he is starting to charge $150 for quotes, which has eliminated all the tire-kickers.

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So, I am putting new garage doors in the shop. I called 6 garage door companies to come down and give me options and opinions on quality and to get estimates (estimates on how much I trust the person or company to do the right job and stand behind the workmanship, what their dependability level is, and professionalism). The one company I called apparently is a national company that was recommended to me from a neighboring shop that has used them. He stated they were not cheap but unbelievably dependable. They wanted a service call fee to come down and give me an estimate. I was pleasantly surprised by that request. The reason I was surprised is because it was the first time ever a garage door company asked me for a service call charge to estimate putting in new garage doors. I need 5 new garage doors, I felt that any company would jump to the opportunity to do the job and would just want to show up to have a chance. But what I realized was that this company valued it's time, all its time!

Another interesting point I noticed about the garage door company that charges. I had to cancel the appointment because I was going to arrive later than expected back to the shop. I did not reschedule, but the guy who is charging me for the estimate has followed up with me 4 times since. While the rest have not even called back once after giving me an estimate! Unbelievable! I guess they gave up. P.S. I did not quibble about price. I accepted pricing as fact, no negotiations, it is what it is. I'm typically an easy sell when I'm LOOKING to be serviced. Oh well.
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Remember that most garage door companies are independent franchises, so trust the guy not the name. I had some doors put in and the workers botched the job. Obviously I called and the owner sent the guys back to fix their mistakes a few days later. Then I got a bill for the service call. He wouldn't budge on the service call bill, even though it was on his new install a week old.

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      I recently spoke with a friend of mine who owns a large general repair shop in the Midwest. His father founded the business in 1975. He was telling me that although he’s busy, he’s also very frustrated. When I probed him more about his frustrations, he said that it’s hard to find qualified technicians. My friend employs four technicians and is looking to hire two more. I then asked him, “How long does a technician last working for you.” He looked puzzled and replied, “I never really thought about that, but I can tell that except for one tech, most technicians don’t last working for me longer than a few years.”
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