The electrician who referred Helen Marsh to us had a simple complaint: “I charge sixty-five dollars to show up, but it costs me more than that before I pick up a screwdriver.”
She was not wrong. Between fuel, vehicle wear, insurance allocation, scheduling admin, and the jobs she drove past to reach a distant suburb, the true cost of dispatch was closer to ninety-five dollars.
What a call-out fee should cover
A call-out or service fee is not a penalty for the customer. It is prepayment for mobilisation — the cost of putting a qualified person in a vehicle and sending them to a specific address. It should include:
- Travel time at a loaded labour rate, not just fuel
- Vehicle costs — registration, insurance, maintenance, depreciation
- Scheduling overhead — the phone call, diary entry, and invoice preparation
- Opportunity cost — the nearby job not taken because the van went the other direction
A straightforward calculation
Take your annual vehicle and travel costs. Divide by the number of billable site visits. Add thirty minutes of loaded labour for mobilisation and handover. That is your floor — before any diagnostic or repair work begins.
Most trades we review set call-out fees by matching the competitor down the road. Matching without costing is how an industry trains customers to expect unsustainable prices.
Communicating the change
Helen introduced the new fee with a one-line explanation on quotes: “Service attendance fee covers travel and initial assessment.” No apology, no lengthy justification. Two customers questioned it. None left.
Your call-out fee is a line item that protects every hour of skilled work that follows. Price it like one.