24hr Callout

ajdavies22 · Mar 25, 2014

HI guys,

I'm just after a bit of advice, do any of you have any experience with the online 24 hour callout companies. I.e are there any good ones to work for, do they set the cost rates and can you pick and choose when you want to be on callout?

Thanks in advance for any responses

Adam

applemac · Mar 25, 2014

I've been with two of them, the ones I did charge customer direct and about £90 ph. Got paid for first few jobs then it went wrong! Had a fight to get my money! Google company first to get some back ground info. Most of them are sat at phone and just ring and spark willing to go out, also some websites offer " electricians carry all parts and spares in there van"

Pete999 · Mar 25, 2014

Not ever worked for them, but I have had some experience of the aftermath left by some of these companies, watch out for the " we don't cover any damage caused by putting your problem right" by that it means broken floor boards, tiles, ceilings etc, they pay peanuts and subsequently sometimes employ monkey, not tarring everyone who works for these people with the same brush.

MDJ · Mar 25, 2014

Pete999 said:
Not ever worked for them, but I have had some experience of the aftermath left by some of these companies, watch out for the " we don't cover any damage caused by putting your problem right" by that it means broken floor boards, tiles, ceilings etc, they pay peanuts and subsequently sometimes employ monkey, not tarring everyone who works for these people with the same brush.

Hello

Plonker 3 · Mar 25, 2014

I would have thought 24hour call out would be, make safe then allow customer to sort it out properly once they had a chance. Not a full on repair at 3 o clock in the morning.

Pete999 · Mar 25, 2014

MDJ said:
Hello

Hello to you too

Knobhead · Mar 25, 2014

24 Hr callout, have fun.

I worked for a major multinational and callout was the norm. We did 1 week in 4. It paid well but there was a downside. So, I’ve just done a full day, get home and the phone rings. I had no choice, I couldn’t refuse to go. I held the record for callouts in one week twice, 21 calls. At one point my wife was phoning the other electricians to ask them to go in my place, I was in bed exhausted, one call had been 14hrs. A funny part of the 21 calls was the pay department asking if they could pay part of my wages one week and the rest the next. The pay computer had run out of numbers.

If A/ you’re young B/ the company checks out C/ you can turn them down. Try it, but don’t expect to be popular with the wife.

telectrix · Mar 25, 2014

think OP was referring to companies like homeserve and tradetek who get the work in, charge £90/hour to customer and pay you £30, but that's time on siter only. if you need parts you fetch at your own expense or if you have to wait for them to supply, your 1st visit is unpaid as you've not fixed the fault, also some of these firms are bad/slow payers.

ajdavies22 · Mar 25, 2014

Thanks for all of the replies and advice. I have experience in callout for a company at heathrow. But I now work for myself and was just thinking about exploring this avenue. Obviously if payment is slow or non existent it may not be worth the effort!

dan86 · Mar 25, 2014

I offer a 24hr call out service.
I charge £75+vat after hours.for that they get up to half an hours travel and half an hour on site.
if a permanent repair can be made from stock in van, I am happy to do this, but customer is charged double time up until start of normal business hours.
usually they opt for a temporary repair or isolation of circuit and book me for during the working day.
oh, and all parts are charged for and bills must be settled on completion unless prior arrangement is made.