diagnostic charging

hey Paul, 

Can you give some advice with diagnostic charges? I am from australia, my hourly rate is $130in GST, should every diagnostic job be a minimum 1 hour charge? unless its a 5 minitue find? Are you able to give any advice when charging diagnostic fees? Thankyou in advance. 

I stay away from associating my fees with time. I do not sell "time". Therefore, I do not charge for "time". I sell "testing" and "repairs". Both have a cost but, neither are sold as increments of "time".

Likely, you would like to get at least "one hour" for your initial testing. Instead of selling "1 hour" @  $130in GST, sell "Level 1 testing" @ $130in GST.  If your testing uncovers a surface-level problem much quicker, say 15 minutes, the fee is, still, $130in GST. You sold and delivered "Level 1 testing" that produced the valuable information that was needed to make the repair, regardless of the time involved. The customer is paying for the information you uncovered. Not the time it took you to uncover it.

Now, say that you have done your due diligence of code reads, data scans, visual inspections, and surface-level testing but, still, haven't gotten to the root of the problem, you have a decision to make. Do you, still, charge $130in GST for Level one testing if you do not have any valuable information that your surface-level testing uncovered? I would not charge the whole $130in GST. I would apologize and offer to except 1/2 of my fee to compensate for my time. This is the only time that I would mention my time, ...when I have nothing to deliver.

On the other hand, if your surface-level testing has uncovered valuable information that has turned you in the right direction and set you on the proper path, you have fulfilled the "Level 1" testing objective, regardless of the time invested.That $130in GST has been earned.  However, you may need to dive down deeper, into the wonderful world of researching TSB's, schematics, and voltage tests. You should now let your customer know what you have found and what you have learned. If you can make them feel confident that you identified and understand the problem but, have not yet gotten to the source of the problem, they will, likely, approve "Level 2 testing" (use the word testing, not diagnostics).

Level 2 testing is when you know WHAT is wrong but, you don't know WHY, yet. You found something on the surface that tells you this is where you need to dive down deeper. Sell "Level 2" testing for an addition $130in GST (or whatever you like) . If they do not want to go farther, the fee is the whole $130in GST, for Level 1 testing.  You can charge them the whole $130in GST for level one testing with a clear conscience because you have provided them with GOOD information that they did not, previously, have.

Now, if the customer approves "Level 2" testing but, you do not produce any new information and cannot figure it out , are you going charge them for the Level 2 Testing? I wouldn't. I would admit defeat but, still, charge for Level 1 testing.

Let your customers know up-front that this is the policy and they will, usually, feel reassured enough to approve testing and the fees involved.