Can't figure some people out

We've had a lot of rain recently, and when I was mowing along our fence line adjoining the road I hit a very swampy spot and utterly buried one of my tractor's rear tires. Since my truck was in the shop I called the local tow place (ten minutes away), and a massive tow truck (the sort of thing one would use to tow a bus) showed up. It took the driver under five minutes to winch me back onto the road. He called the owner, who said over the phone that the charge would be $300 since they sent the biggest truck they had. I pointed out that that the truck they sent was massive overkill and that I'd told them when I called that it was only a 5000-pound tractor and they could send anything with a winch. I offered $100 (which was still a ridiculous amount of money for what they did), and the boss took offense and said in a really annoyed tone, "Never mind, you don't have to pay anything."

The driver (who ended up with a super-generous tip) told me, "I'm glad you pushed back, as the boss is a royal pr***."

But it seems crazy that the boss was so annoyed he'd rather take $0 than $100.

Sounds like he should have listened, and you should have asked about price up front. The bad part is now you may not get him if you need him again.

Luckily he didn't stick you with a bill. I'd get a price next time. The lime truck got stuck in our field this spring. Wanted me to foot the semi-wrecker bill. Price was similar.

I would go talk to him in person and try to avoid any hard feelings you owe him something and he was good and sent a truck right out!!! They may have a minimum charge and the boss has to pay the bills and maintain the trucks!!!! AND YES ASKING WHAT HIS FEE IS UP FROUNT AVOIDS THIS. AS THEY SAY NEGOTIATION SHOULD BE DONE BEFOR THE SALE NOT AFTER!!!!!

I do owe him something and probably will do that once a little time has passed. The thing is, the last time I had a tractor problem (fuel line) they sent a small flatbed with a winch and flatbedded it all the way back to my barn a mile away for $75. So I wasn't expecting this.

I'm not totally stuck in any case as he has a couple of local competitors and in my experience they're more pleasant to deal with (if a bit farther away).

I know those wreckers cost a lot to keep on the road, but some do use "Highway Robbery"... Lots of trucks take a wrong turn here, and in a tight curve, they get their landing gear dragging... Takes a wrecker to get them loose. Last one I saw stuck, had to pay 600 dollars to get pulled loose. Took 10 minutes or less.

I own a shop and people have NO idea what it takes to keep a shop open. You got into trouble, you did not ask price in advance, and since you are in a bind you expect a business to work on the cheap.

At his price I wouldn't want him back. If he was told what the weight of the tractor. He should have known the proper wrecker to send.

We had a wrecker service in my town. Until the owner got greedy. Charged one lady two hundred dollars. To tow her car three blocks to her house.

I hope you don't need him again... because if you do... he ain't coming.
I don't know why he'd send a heavy wrecker for that. Mabey he had something different in his mind... but I can tell you that the price he asked was pretty cheap as heavy wreckers go around here. Half million dollar wreckers don't work for 50 bucks an hour.

Rod

Had a customers car that would not start in front of my business. Boy pulled his truck around in front and jumped him. Towing service went by and seen it. The next day or so the towing service guy said we was stealing from him when we did that. I never recomemended him to anyone again.

I would have had my driver drag it back in the mudhole. $100? Yeah, he sent the big truck. You have to be prepared for the worse case scenario. Obviously he can't rely on what you recommend if you think $100 is fair compensation for a business transaction that you have no clue about the cost involved.

A new BIG wrecker is over a million dollars. A little roll-off over a hundred thousand.

My opinion of most local tow companies is that they lick themselves as only my old dog would.
My mechani called one for a diesel pick-up I was afraid to drive due to strange noise.
He slide the bed down then got in my truck fired it up,put in 4wd and drove it on the tow truck.
When I objected and said unload it so I could call someone else,he said ok but he was charging the mechanic full price either way. When I discussed it with the owner and told him I would be satisfied if he wrote a check for price of tow to any church or non profit. He said the driver was "ONLY TRYING TO SAVE HIS EQUIPMENT". If I knew I was to die a sudden death tomorrow,I would take the 12guage and plaster his head to his office walls.

Like you said, you will never figure some people out, as evidenced by not only your story but also some of the replies.

I work on construction equipment for a living and run a BIG field service truck. When in the truck I charge $65 per hour, and another $1.50 per mile. That doesn't stop me from doing things like I did this afternoon. Had a good customer called telling me that he couldn't get his MF 135 tractor started after changing the fuel filter. I tried to walk him through everything but he simply couldn't get it to start. So, I was planning to be out and about in the pickup doing some running so I told him I'd run by and take a look. He had the needed tools there already, and it took us nearly an hour to get the stupid thing to ever prime and start (one of the biggest PITA's I've had the pleasure of working on here lately...LOL) but we finally got it. Then I took another 30 minutes or so to help him hook up his mower and get the belt adjusted.

Ultimately I could have charged him for at least two hours plus given my drive time, as well as mileage, etc, etc. and given some of the responses I would have been justified in doing so, and probaly should have because it costs me so much to stay in business.

What I actually did do was charge him $75, basically just the time I spent doing what he asked me to do. That netted me $75 cash money (and we all know cash is always worth more)for my time. To me, given the sitation I thought that was more than fair to the both of us. I mean I was already out and about, he provided me with the tools, etc to do the job, so all I had to do was show up.

I said all of that to say this. In my case I knew what I was getting into and took the appropriatre vehicle to do the job, NOT my huge service truck. As a result I was able to charge a fair amount to my customer and keep a good relationship with him. However had I been out and about in my BIG truck already and been by his place I'd have done the same thing. I belive there's an old saying to the effect that, 'You can shear a sheep many times, but you can only slaughter it once.' Basically be fair to a man and you'll have a customer for life. Do that and you'll make way more money from his continued business than if you screw him over just once.

In your case it sounds like they did their best to screw you over by asking for $300 for what they did. Given what you say it was a total of a 30 minute job for the operator,(approx drive time, and the pull to get you out) with an additonal $1.50 a mile for the truck, so say another $30 in fuel/truck expenses. If it were me charging you for my time and my BIG truck your bill would have been around $65. In other words I would have been thrilled to be offered $100 for a job that was "worth" $65 but really only cost me about $20 in fuel. That's what I call pure profit....especially if it's paid in cash....

Personally I think the owner knew he was screwing you, otherwise he would never have backed down. Many people will go out of their way to screw people when they are in trouble because they think they can. To me he had a truck sitting doing nothing, regardless of the size, and it wasn't your problem that he decided to send his biggest truck to so such a small job. If it were me I'd have sent whatever I had that could do the job, as long as it was going to make me some money, vs letting the truck sit and make nothing. In your case he took advantage of his own decision and tried to screw you, and you didn't just 'bend over'. Instead you stood your ground and offered a fair price for the work done. Wether the guy took it or not was his own problem, not yours.

But, that's just my .02 as a self employeed person that stays in business, and still makes money, by treating my customers right.....

I had a tow service come to my house with a roll back a few months ago and take my fully loaded F Superduty with a covered utility bed to a local mechanic. round trip probably 14 miles. It was all the truck would do to fit on the roll back. Total charge $ 85.00. I was a happy man.

You knew it had been raining, you should have walked the area to see if it was dry enough to drive on first. It was your fault you got stuck, not the guy who owns the wrecker. He was nice enough to send the truck right out, maybe he had the other trucks busy. I would have paid him. Ya, might be a little overpriced but at least you got unstuck.

If you watched the show Highway through Hell from Canada, the outfit had a top of the line wrecker worth $750,000.00. They charge $600/hr for it. His brother had one as well and the 2 of them picked up a loaded semi and put it back on the road in one piece.

HR-150
2012 Western Star, 600hp, 18-speed transmission and a 2-speed transmission. It has a 20,000lb front axle.
Tow Rating: 80,000 lbs (10x more than light duty tow truck)
Winch 60,000 lbs
Boom: Retracted 75 ton / Extended 36,000lbs
Underlift: Retracted 45,000lbs / Extended 15,000lbs
Has a tri-drive rear axle system. Rear End equipped with lockers. Both the HR-52 and HR-150 have arctic packages, which include heaters and insulated cabs.

The Rotator HR 150 has special characteristics that are similar to a crane. The unit has advantages over a crane as it can perform lift and drag functions. It can operate in any environments such as slippery snow type of surfaces. The Riggers have ice cleats for anchoring on slippery surfaces. It can also work on steep hills where cranes cannot, as they need to be level. It has helped in a variety of jobs: persons trapped in motor vehicle accidents or semi-accidents, confined space rescues, train derailments, air craft accidents and other scenarios requiring precision heavy lift. The HR 150 is sent out to all semi accidents along with the R-120.

Jamie considers the HR150 and the R-120 his Heavy Rescue Task Force. Together they can deal with any emergency the highways offer. Rotators are currently in use with Los Angeles City Fire Department, LA County Fire and other big city departments.

Thats what i would do if the tow is too high priced just put it back where it was. When you call for a tow you can always ask what the charges will be. Just buy a wrecker pay insurance, driver and other expenses then you will understand the charges.

Don't be too surprised if you get a summons to small claims court.

You'll find out why he didn't charge you the next time you need a wrecker. Hopefully there's another company nearby, because that guy will never send another truck to your place.

I know you always try and do right by your customers from reading your past posts. I did too when I had my shop.
But now since working for other people for some reasons I sure can't understand the guys makeing the most money and still staying VERY busy seem to always take advantage of the customers and they keep flocking back for more.
I just don't understand this ?

if that was my story I would have kept it to myself

I've noticed the same thing myself over the years, and your right, it doesn't make sense, at least on the surface. I say that for a couple of reasons. One is that being busy and working doesn't mean the guys are actually getting paid for the work they are doing. It's one thing to bill the work out, and another entirely to get paid for it. In other words they can send Joe Blow a bill for $5000 (for a $1000 job), and Jim Bob one for $10,000 (for a $5000 job) but that doesn't mean either of these guys are paying their bill. That's one of the reasons they have to charge so much is to make up for all of the money they aren't getting paid.

I know, many say simply go to court to get it, but it ain't that easy, especially with equipment. Dad went through this years ago with a customer. By the time he took the days off necessary to go to court, etc, etc and get a judgment, it had already cost him nearly as much as what was owed. To have taken even more time off to go back and ask the judge to excecute the order (ie-force the man to do as he was ordered or be locked up)simply wasn't feasible as we had real, paying work to do also. With the executed order Dad would have basically owned the machine. Then it would have cost to get it moved to actually take it into his possession. By the time all was said and done the cost to "get paid" was way more than what was owed, and the machine really wasn't worth the cost either. In the end it's often easier to simply write off the bill and keep moving forward. The same holds true going through a collection agency, BTDT. By the time everyone got their fees, etc, etc the cost and time involved to get the money owed simply wasn't worth the effort.

Unfortunately too many people know this and are unethical enough to take advantage of it by running up bills and not paying them. This practice forces many companies to charge way more than necessary to do what they do simply so they can make a profit. Thing is it also runs up their charges to the point that some who could/would pay a $5000 bill can't pay the $10,000 bill so they simply don't because they know the dealership/mechanic/etc can't really afford to take the time to come after them. On top of that said company already has two dozen other customers, that couldn't afford to pay their over inflated prices, on their list, so paying a lawyer to go after them all simply isn't feasible. In the end the ones who simply pay without question wind up paying for everyone. While this may sound great, all it actually does is to give the dealership/etc permission to keep overcharging because too many simply pay and never say a word.....nor do the recommend anyone else going there because of the high prices...

In my case nearly all of my customers come to me by word of mouth. Actually the one that came to me by some advertising I did several years back still owes me over $2000 for work I've done for him on two different machines over the past 2 1/2 years. Thing is I've got one machine here, but it would cost me around $1500 to get the part needed to repair it to make it operable/saleable. Takethat money on top of the time, etc necessary to get a judgment and take possession, and it would total up to way more than the $2000 he owes me.

Ultimately, what it all comes down to is that yes, many appear on the surface to be busy as heck and making tons of money, but scratch below the surface a bit and you'll see another side to the story. The real reason they have so many customers is that it's usually a revolving door of different customers instead of simply having a core of long time, good paying customers that keep coming back because they appreciate being treated fairly....Before anyone says anything yes, most BIG companies also have a core of long time customers that pay dearly for the service they are getting from said dealership, independent shop, etc, too. In those cases they usually get that extra service because they buy new machines with warranties, and for those out of warranty pay the inflated repair prices over and over without asking questions. Even then, there are still costomers, like one I picked up recently, that get tired of being taken advantage of (((ie over $800 to change a $15 thermostat))) and look for someone that will do the same or a better quality and variety of work for a much better price. In my case I now do much of their work on the weekend and am able to, and in fact was incouraged to by the manager, charge a little more than my standard rate for the work done because it helps them out being able to do the repairs during the weekend downtime instead of them having to stop production like the dealership always wanted to do.

So,when it comes to the equipment repair business you can find a few honest, good paying customers and try to keep them happy, or you can have hundreds that may or may not pay....I know which business model I like best.....

He sent the big truck because people tend to misrepresent how big the machine is, and how badly it is stuck.

He don't know you from Adam, so he has no idea if you know what you're talking about, or if you're just guessing, or if you're flat-out lying to try to save $$$ on the tow.

Reading your story and then reading the replies it's obvious different people are different.

I sell my produce retail, as such my concept of business is to price everything up front with a big bold sign. I know different business can't do that quite the same way, but from my perspective both parties erred, but mostly it seems people are just picking on Teakettle.

Yes, Teakettle should have asked the price up front. But the wrecker owner could have named the price structure up front. Something like, "I'll send truck 37 out. For that I charge $200/hr and $5/mile. From your location it will start about $300 and go up depending on the time" I know it doesn't usually happen that way, but why not?

Quite possibly both men are decent guys. They just have different assumptions of a reasonable price for the job. Same thing can happen selling retail, but it certainly helps all involved when the price is stated clearly and boldly.

It's a small wish of mine more transactions were like this.

Just as a follow-up, I talked to them today and they admitted that it was nuts to send that much iron for a job that could have been done by an F350 with a winch. They accepted a reasonable payment and we're all square now.

Thanks for your thoughtful contribution to this discussion. I'm reminded of the local auto mechanic who quoted me $1100 for a repair which required $150 in parts and twenty minutes with no tool more exotic than a Torx driver (I know 'cause I did it myself after telling him where he could park his quote). He lost a lot more than $1100 of my business as a result of trying that.

And now I guess I can expect to get beaten up by the garage owners (or their apologists) on the board telling me that I don't know how much it costs to keep a garage running and that I was stealing from him by not letting him do the job after he did the diagnosis. (I did pay him for the diagnosis, BTW).

(quoted from post at 19:18:38 07/31/13) At his price I wouldn't want him back. If he was told what the weight of the tractor. He should have known the proper wrecker to send.

We had a wrecker service in my town. Until the owner got greedy. [b:838330f9e9]Charged one lady two hundred dollars. To tow her car three blocks to her house[/b:838330f9e9].

Click to expand...

Nephew' truck stalled less than a 1/2 block from the dealers shop, Dealer charged him $300 on the repair bill for the towing. :roll:

I'm a retired mechanic. Still go out and work on tractors. Was out today and will be again tomorrow. People tell me I don't charge enough. I just say, I'm old, I'm slow, I work on what I feel like working one and I sleep good at night. The youngster that took my place at the shop when I retired has since went on his own. Only 13 years experience. No shop, works at the customers place. I hear he charges 65 bucks an hours. I hope he sleeps good at night. I couldn't.

(quoted from post at 06:35:44 08/02/13) I'm a retired mechanic. Still go out and work on tractors. Was out today and will be again tomorrow. People tell me I don't charge enough. I just say, I'm old, I'm slow, I work on what I feel like working one and I sleep good at night. The youngster that took my place at the shop when I retired has since went on his own. Only 13 years experience. No shop, works at the customers place. I hear he charges 65 bucks an hours. I hope he sleeps good at night. I couldn't.

Click to expand...

Can you tell why a mechanic is not suppose to make a decent living... If he were working a government job he would be costing the tax payer more than $65 hr. if he lived long enough to collect his pension/retirement and he would get it till the day he passed then someone will get some of it that did nothing....

If it were EZ everyone would be self employed...