Quote:
Originally Posted by Hersbird
I saw the book time, the billed times, and I knew the approximate actual times for the jobs.
...I jokingly questioned him about something he fixed for me in 30 seconds we got a bill for 1/2 hour on, and he replied he charged me $45 for the 30 years knowledge of how to do it and $5 for actually doing it. He also would teach me those easy common fixes which technically screwed him out of more work, but he had more than he could do anyway.
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I don't know how to reconcile the fact that a less skilled person takes longer to complete a task, yet is compensated on the time to complete it. That must be what book hours are meant to resolve.
When I first started this job, I probably took 5x more time to do anything compared to now. I had to read every technical document top to bottom first before doing anything, then read it a 2nd time going step by step. Fortunately nearly all of my customers are under contract, so they don't see a bill for my hours, but paid service would have received a huge bill.
A locksmith recalls that his first call to unlock a car door took him 90min, and the owner felt bad seeing how difficult it was and tipped him $100 for the effort. Now he unlocks a door in 30 seconds and people are angry to be billed $100 for 30 seconds of work.