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Topic: Service Tech's

Edward Jurich
Master Film Handler

Posts: 305
From: Las Vegas USA
Registered: Jul 2003

posted 02-21-2004 09:53 AM

Anybody care to share what they get per hour to do tech service, this probably varies from market to market. I'm toying with the idea of doing tech service.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-21-2004 11:50 AM

IMHO any tech/dealer that is afraid to post his/her rates is possibly hiding something or is charging each customer a different rate and so on.....

Claco charges 50.00 per man hour with a two hour(per man) minimum chage. Driving time and milage is extra. Milage is based on current gas pricing. Lodging, and meals are normally billed at even-Steven cost. Some of our customers are also in the lodging buisness and provide lodging and meals for us at no charge as it saves them money. Service or emergency trips farther than 150 miles or two hours driving time are charged for 8 hours min. since it blows your whole day.

We do lots of service contracts and we do have a base price for that but it also depends on how many screens and what type of equipment the location has. More screens in chain(not necessarily location) means less cost per screen. As for equipment, an example would be such that Christie P35 owners(high maintainance) generally pay more than Simplex owners(low maintainance) and so on.

I learned a long time ago that a flat charge usually means that you loose your shirt in the long run. Might seem ok at first, but not in the long run. We do some installs this way but very, very rarely. IMPORTANT!..... If your customer has no contract with you he needs to know what it is going to cost him/her to have you come out and work per hour including your expenses.

When I was back in the Midwest my rate was 65.00 an hour plus expenses. No over complained about the rate and no one ever will if you give them good service and quality work.

Mark @ CLACO

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Gordon McLeod
Film God

Posts: 9532
From: Toronto Ontario Canada
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-21-2004 11:57 AM

We charge $45.00CA time in /time out and a minimum of 4 hours (including travel)
Also on the road we charge meals and lodging at cost or the customer provides
If out of town then we negociate the travel time since it can sometimes be longer than the service call also often several theatres will pool there travel costs

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Manny Knowles
"What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???"

Posts: 4247
From: Bloomington, IN, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 02-21-2004 12:30 PM

quote:
IMHO any tech/dealer that is afraid to post his/her rates is possibly hiding something or is charging each customer a different rate and so on.....

Some theatres deserve to get charged a little extra for providing torturous working conditions. Offering varying rates should not automatically be construed as an indication of "fear" or having "something to hide."

I take offense at your insinuations. Serves me right for trying to help.

I stopped using an hourly rate two years ago. Instead I offer an all-inclusive service plan which includes maintenance, upgrades, repairs, etc for a monthly rate which was indeed based on the equipment, number of screens, etc. I didn't lose my shirt in the process and the client was very happy. Turns out that hiring me to maintain the equipment resulted in fewer breakdowns.

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Michael Schaffer
"Where is the
Boardwalk Hotel?"

Posts: 4143
From: Boston, MA
Registered: Apr 2002

posted 02-21-2004 12:52 PM

quote:
Christie P35 owners(high maintainance) generally pay more than Simplex owners(low maintainance)

I like that!
Here in Southern California a tech hour is $65. Most companies charge a minimum of 2 or 3 hours per service call, plus driving time. Some charge the driving time at half the hourly rate.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-21-2004 01:03 PM

Manny,
They are not incinuations...they are from my experience over the last 25 years. Charging theatres extra for difficult working conditions is also unfair at best. We don't follow that practice and I can't think of anyone that really does. All people should be treated equally [thumbsup]

. Its up to you to make your own working conditions as easy on yourself as you can. Sure some theatres are bastards to service at best...poor lighting...poor employees...poor equipment...poor everything. I have those customers too....I make the best of it...and give them the same good service and then go to the next customer where with a little luck I might have some "service releif" doing his theatre, get it done quicker and so on.

I would definatley assume that you've done some good and fewer breakdowns is what its all about no matter how you charge for it, but flat rates generally don't help the tech/dealers long term profit margin in the long run. You do need to survive the long term. What you are offering is a service contract for a monthly fee just like everyone else that does service contracts offers. But most dealers contracts are generally only good for up to a certain number of servicing hours per location and do not cover upgrades or installations. What you are doing is fine but there are going to be customers that don't want this sort of monthly plan and they're going to want to know what you'd charge to do it hourly. Of the 400 plus screens we tend to about a third only ever do service when someting actually breaks down, another few do all the servicing themselves and only buy parts, the rest we service regularly. There are some theatres we would not offer a monthly contract plan to because the facilities are so far gone or they would have to be brought back up to some standard before we would consider a contract. RCA did buisness this way when they were servicing things. A booth had to be 100% functional before they would offer a contract. You don't want to loose your shirt taking on some piss poor operation.

Mark

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Manny Knowles
"What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???"

Posts: 4247
From: Bloomington, IN, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 02-21-2004 01:27 PM

quote:
There are some theatres we would not offer a monthly contract plan to because the facilities are so far gone or they would have to be brought back up to some standard before we would consider a contract. RCA did buisness this way when they were servicing things. A booth had to be 100% functional before they would offer a contract. You don't want to loose your shirt taking on some piss poor operation.

Yep. This is exactly what took place and I modeled it based on what I knew about RCA from "back in the day." There was a period of about six months where I was simply restoring the equipment to 100% functionality. They really wanted a flat fee and I didn't mind because it gave me a secure, predictable income. There aren't exactly hundreds of screens in the area down here.

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 02-21-2004 04:05 PM

While I generally agree that everyone should be treated equal, there ARE times where a higher rate does apply. For instance, a booth with really old abused equipment that has never been taken care of, "operators" who couldn't operate a VCR if their life depended on it, an owner who won't fix anything if it requires more than a roll of duct tape, one bulb for light and no functioning AC that keeps the booth at 100F...hell no. They get a special rate if they want me to deal with that nonsense, and it's not pretty. (In fact, the temperature is moreso an issue than anything else I just listed.) Perhaps in Mark's eyes that is not fair of me, but I'm past the point of being concerned about fair when it comes to such ridiculous working conditions and overly cheap owners. They can go elsewhere. Granted this is a rare situation, but there have been a couple of instances where I did instigate it, and I told them exactly why too.

As for everyone else, yes they all get the same rates. I do offer a discounted rate for non-emergencies if I can fix the problem "at my leisure" over the next month or two. That helps time management a lot because those little things that don't keep shows from running can be fixed when I am in the area.

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Jason Black
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1723
From: Myrtle Beach, SC, USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 02-21-2004 04:11 PM

Mark, Manny, Brad...

What woudl you guys charge, if anything, to work thru a situation over the phone? For example, troubleshotting to a bad diode stack and how to replace it. Or, how to change out a shutter belt and time it on a Christie P35?

I'm curious because, from my viewpoint, this svaes you the hassle of trip time for such an easily accomplished repair. It also allows the booth staff/managemnet/owenr whatever, the opportunity to 'fix' their own problem.

Anytime I can do the repair myself, I prefer to do so. I learn while possibly saving a little bit of money at the same time.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-21-2004 04:34 PM

For our current customers there is no charge for phone troubleshooting time. If a non-customer has one or two questions it is also answered at no charge but after that we request to visit and make a service call at the premises under concern. As for those customers that persist at really bad conditions we sometimes do not service them at all, but usually we would and at the same normal charge we do for everyone else. Of these sites are that bad then it'll take considerably longer and they'll still end up paying through the nose anyway.

"Ya gotta take the good along with the bad"

Mark

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Phil Hill
I love my cootie bug

Posts: 7595
From: Hollywood, CA USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 02-21-2004 05:19 PM

I have mixed feelings about this subject. While I generally agree all should be treated equally, in the "real world" that doesn't necessarily happen.

I certainly do not agree that if one doesn't have a "published" rate, that something is being hidden or not on the up-and-up. I would like to think that "us film professionals" are a step above the local auto repair shop with the hourly rates posted on the wall.

The "one-rate-to-all" does have some wiggle-room to "punish" the undesirable clients by working slooowly to fix a problem thus taking more time. But I still do not believe in that philosophy.

I do agree, that if there is less than desirable physical "working" conditions, there should be monetary compensation. Sorta like hazardous duty pay. I don't believe in adding a "jerk or stupid client" adder. That all seems to work out in the long run and all rates should be stated/negotiated up-front.

If my going rate is $125/hr and someone calls me on the phone that is NOT a regular customer, I may not charge them full rate, but I sure the hell ain't gonna give away my expertise! They WILL get a bill. And if they call in the middle of the night from someplace like Japan or some other time-zone from hell, they damn well will get a "discomfort" adder on the bill ...and not necessarily listed as a separate item!

One time I had to fly to Japan ASAP cuz a big-time show was down. Flew there, went to the site and fixed the problem, and then got a plane back home. Spend 4 hours in Japan and about 40 traveling.

The "problem" was a switch in the "test" rather than the "operate" position. Two minutes after I showed up, they were running. The time & travel bill was over $5K. But my rate was charged normal.

The owners learned an expensive lesson in that their operators were flakes. They didn't take notes or pay attention during their 1-week of hands-on training. They were so incompetent that they couldn't even follow instructions over the phone for simple troubleshooting.

Moral of all this… I wish I knew! Just my 2-cents! [Big Grin]

>>> Phil

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 02-21-2004 05:54 PM

quote:
What woudl you guys charge, if anything, to work thru a situation over the phone?

For my regular customers, nothing at all. Never have, never will. In fact, when there is someone with a brain at the location calling, I am pleased when they can take care of the problem themselves and it also helps them to learn. However when there is a tinkerer who "decides" what needs to be done and does it, then I find out after the fact, more often than not it was the wrong thing to do and on many occasions that has caused other problems. That's frustrating. In reality it becomes an on-the-spot decision when the call comes in, depending on who is there as to how far I will troubleshoot things over the phone. Some people are better off with no assistance and my making a trip, others can follow instructions plenty fine to take care of it over the phone.

For people I have not dealt with before, I'll assist them on a call, and maybe a second call, but after that it's a matter of my time. Again, this is for non-customers.

Friends of mine, I help as I can. It's hard to troubleshoot something a thousand miles away with unfamiliar equipment though. (Dallas has a very limited array of equipment as compared to say any area that Gordon services.) It's also sometimes difficult to troubleshoot something if I can't be in front of a unit to describe what needs to be done. It all just depends.

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Phil Hill
I love my cootie bug

Posts: 7595
From: Hollywood, CA USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 02-21-2004 05:59 PM

Brad, thanks for putting into more precise words as to what I meant regarding telcos. I agree with that philosophy...all except the "friend" part.... for those I charge double...

Ummm.... whaaaaa...sniff. I have NO friends! Whaaaaa... sniff.

>>> Phil

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 02-21-2004 06:03 PM

quote:
One time I had to fly to Japan ASAP cuz a big-time show was down. Flew there, went to the site and fixed the problem, and then got a plane back home. Spend 4 hours in Japan and about 40 traveling.

My most ridiculous "service call" was because someone forgot to untape the tail of the film after a print move and the upper magazine roller got bent out of position. Literally, there was no one at the site who could understand how to realign that roller good enough to make the next show run, so I had to drop what I was doing and race across town to get them "back up". [Roll Eyes]

They didn't even have something else in the booth that needed me to look at, so the trip ended up being to just realign that one effing roller. By the way, emergency rate DID apply!

Something just occured to me based upon an earlier comment of mine, am I the only one who offers a discounted rate for non-emergencies that are taken care of at my leisure? I don't even charge drive-time for those. For those theaters that supply me with keys, frequently they will walk in one morning and VOILA there is a note on the equipment "fixed, etc, etc, etc" because I stopped by at 4am after working elsewhere.

As would be expected, they also get their non-emergencies taken care of faster simply because any time I am out I can swing by and fix it without having to coordinate with a manager or staff to meet at a predetermined time. (And no, I do NOT work in the mornings! [Mad]

No customers has even dared to ask me about my "morning rate" either. [Wink]

)

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Manny Knowles
"What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???"

Posts: 4247
From: Bloomington, IN, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 02-21-2004 06:24 PM

In theory, if there was someone who could follow instructions over the phone I would probably help if it was actually going to save time and if it could be done safely.

In my (somewhat limited) experience, those situations have been kind-of rare.

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