Flat rate vs hourly billing - which one actually works better for you?

I've been going back and forth on how to charge customers lately. One guy I know only does flat rate pricing for stuff like refrigerator repairs and says it keeps things simple for him and the customer. But another repairer I talked to last month swears by hourly billing because apparently some jobs take way longer than you'd guess, like that whirlpool washer I had that looked like a 30 minute fix but took 2 hours. He said flat rate only works if you've done the same model a hundred times before and know every little catch. So which do you guys lean towards and have you ever gotten burned by quoting a price that was way too low?

2 comments

2 Comments

sarah_hart16d agoTop Commenter

Have you tried flat rate with a tough clause for tricky models?

mason_barnes16d ago

$900 flat rate with a kill clause saved me on a pain in the ass V10 last week, @sarah_hart.