# What fees do you add to your contracts



## toptech72 (Oct 7, 2008)

I was asked to give a price today to plow a lot next year. And after i gave my price i was asked by the property owner if i had a contract that he could look over so i went out to the truck and printed him one up. After he read through it he told me my price was a little higher than he was currently paying. So i figured it was a waste of my time but hey you cant get every job you bid.Then he asked if he could sign the contact now for next year. So then i figure my price had to be better than he was paying this year. So i asked why he would want to change contractors if the other company was giving a better price. Was it because they were not providing good service? He said he was happy with the service but not with the contract. And i told him i really didnt understand what the issue was.And he stated he didnt like all of the fees they charged.So he showed me the other companies contract and couldnt believe all of the extra charges that were written into the contract. They had the price for plowing as normal ,which was $60 lower than the price i gave. But they also stated that in addition there was a $7 fuel charge added to the bill for every time they had to service the lot. This is the first time i have seen a fuel charge for plowing. We always had a fuel charge that was added to our bills for our towing and road service business but i have never thought about charging it for plowing. And then there was the $3 billing charge. I didnt understand what a "billing charge" was but the property owner explained that every time he was sent a bill it cost him $3. He was told it was to recoupe the cost of the materials it cost to make the bill ( envelope -stamp -paper -ink for the printer). And the one that always get me the " credit card processing fee" which i believe was 3%. And i do understand that it cost to take a credit card about 1/3 of my customers for my auto repair business paid with credit cards. I just found that offering a discount for paying cash cut down on the amount of credit cards that got used.When ever i bid a job i make sure i bid enough to cover my other expenses i just never thought about listing them all in the contract. And i guess this time the fact that i didnt list every fee and keep my contacts simple got me the job.


----------



## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

I guess this guy was taking a page from the utility companies ,The have a billing fee to. As for the 7 .00 fee what did it add up to every month? Depending on what it was your price may of been cheaper. Now if this guy wants to get back at him all he needs to do is call his credit card company and complain about the 3% fee ,that is against your contract with the cc company and a big no no!


----------



## augerandblade (Jan 17, 2009)

And why not a debt reduction fee/ how about a depreciation of equipment fee/ recruitment fees/ training fees. The other guy there is doing what is typical by some in this business Quote low, come with all kinds of BS fees. If there is a loophole in the contract for service, use it milk it for all its worth. I dont think so............ GLAD TO SEE THE DUDE LOSE HIS JOB THERE, HE IS GETTING WHAT HE DESERVES FOR HIS GREEDY BUSINESS TACTICS. Price your work (all of it ) in the contract. Live up to the specs, put in clauses then. Do the job well/ get paid and youll probably be working there for a long time.


----------



## RepoMan207 (Oct 7, 2008)

lmao, that's just messed up. 

I only put late fees and bounced check fees on mine. 

Fuel surcharge isn't a bad idea though.....hmmmmmmm :laughing:


----------



## Mike N (Dec 21, 2008)

grandview;976764 said:


> I guess this guy was taking a page from the utility companies.......


Nothing boils my blood quite like the monthly gas & electric bill. I love all the additional charges they tack on........ bill issuance charge, customer charge, meter charge, and (quite possibly the best) delivery charge. Really? A delivery charge?? I didn't see the truck back up the driveway and drop off my electricity! WTF?????? :angry:


----------



## mtk469 (Aug 27, 2009)

We have fees for late payment and bad checks but thats about it.


----------



## forestfireguy (Oct 7, 2006)

We have fuel surcharges if prices raise over $4US a gal, running around 2.55 GAL, and has been most of the season, 2 years ago was over $3.75 so I think it's reasonable. We also do late payments and bounced check fees, but rarely actually use the late payment fee.


----------



## the new boss 92 (Nov 29, 2008)

i see if there was a fuel charge on it if fuel was over 4 dallors a gallon but a fuel charge is crazy!


----------



## treemd298 (Jan 24, 2010)

$3.00 billing charge? I've never heard of that one before.I can't imagine what reaction i'd get out of my clients. :realmad::laughing::waving:


----------



## forestfireguy (Oct 7, 2006)

Sounds like my old boss, guy woulda charged his own mother for christmass dinner..........


----------



## NW Snow Removal (Oct 12, 2007)

In the fine print of our old bosses contract it had a 15$ lot checking fee. He checked every lot every night below freezing. 105/week / property. clients were not happy. let's just say I don't charge lot checking fees.


----------



## Pristine PM ltd (Oct 15, 2005)

It is all about keeping clients happy at the end of the day... that kind of thing would only piss 99% of people off.

Even a fuel surcharge is a bit much, the truth is that you really are not spending that much more per property when gas goes up like crazy.


----------



## augerandblade (Jan 17, 2009)

NW Snow Removal;978095 said:


> In the fine print of our old bosses contract it had a 15$ lot checking fee. He checked every lot every night below freezing. 105/week / property. clients were not happy. let's just say I don't charge lot checking fees.


And no one could verify if he was there or not............another loophole I say.


----------



## JMR (Feb 24, 2003)

All of things are a cost of doing business and should be taken in to consideration when you determine what you need to charge a customer to plow his lot.


----------



## LoneCowboy (Jan 2, 2007)

Pristine PM ltd;978153 said:


> It is all about keeping clients happy at the end of the day... that kind of thing would only piss 99% of people off.
> 
> Even a fuel surcharge is a bit much, the truth is that you really are not spending that much more per property when gas goes up like crazy.


this
I hope more people add little charges and surcharges.

means more paying work for me.

I got a couple good paying acreage mowing gigs (what we do) last summer, where the people freely admitted I was a little more, but they were so mad at getting boned by imaginary "fuel surcharges" the year before (that they had not agreed to) that they weren't going back with the others.

One price, that's what you'll pay, no matter how long it takes us, no games, no gimmicks.


----------



## Pristine PM ltd (Oct 15, 2005)

exactly, people are not stupid when it comes to you taking their money... most of the time anyway.


----------



## snowman55 (Nov 20, 2007)

fees are great. client thinks I'm cheap because they don't read the fine print. fuel surcharge, salt surcharge, billing charge, lunch break charge, delivery charge, putting my boots on charge, watching the weather charge, set up charge, phone minutes charge, pita charge, overtime/holiday charge, truck washing charge, my favorite- shop / environmental charge (I hate paying this at every dealer), plowsite chat time charge, new gloves because calcium ate them charge, loss of sleep charge, crappy diet charge and finally the .I didn't make enough money misc charge.

I only bill $15/hr for my blizzard plow trucks but make it up with about $150 in surcharges


----------



## Maine_Train (Dec 16, 2009)

snowman55;978488 said:


> fuel surcharge, salt surcharge, billing charge, lunch break charge, delivery charge, putting my boots on charge, watching the weather charge, set up charge, phone minutes charge, pita charge, overtime/holiday charge, truck washing charge, my favorite- shop / environmental charge (I hate paying this at every dealer), plowsite chat time charge, new gloves because calcium ate them charge, loss of sleep charge, crappy diet charge and finally the .I didn't make enough money misc charge.


Don't forget the battery-charge charge. That electricity costs money too, ya know. 



> I only bill $15/hr for my blizzard plow trucks but make it up with about $150 in surcharges


I like it. How much would you _charge_ for a copy of that "Make Big Buck$ With $ly $urcharge$" business plan?


----------



## snowman55 (Nov 20, 2007)

I'll send you a copy for only $.01

+ shipping&handling + billing charge + paper charge + autograph charge


----------



## cda817 (Nov 20, 2009)

We only have a 6% fuel surcharge on our invoices if Diesel fuel exceeds 4.00 per gallon. I'm glad we had because when fuel went from 2.80 to 4.50+ a couple years ago it helped alot. Without it I don't know if would have been worth it to keep servicing alot of our clients. My annual fuel usage is somewhere in the $8-10,000 range at 2.80 per gallon approximately 3,571 gallons. I don't know about you guys but when I bid a year long contract you typically build in a 3-5% buffer for inflation. A 6% fuel surcharge may seem like a lot if you are just looking at your fuel bill but when it went up but we were getting hit everywhere mulch that we picked up had a surcharge, plants, our fertilizing sub added it to his invoices and it wasn't in his contract, electric went up, everyone you could think of jacked up there prices. All of those costs have to be passed on to the consumer.


----------



## the new boss 92 (Nov 29, 2008)

fuel should be round and abou added into the lot bid, unless fuel skyockets i dont see the need to add any charges like that unless fuel goes up tremendusly!


----------



## forestfireguy (Oct 7, 2006)

BOSS- More than 25% is pretty tremendous, don't you think. 

For a one truck operation may be or maybe not a big deal. But think of those of us running 20-30 trucks and skidsteers/loaders ETC. And as you run more equipment it only gets worse. We can't see the future and we surely can't bid everything worst case, how many bids would you win if you worked with fuel prices 3-50 % higher and salt at double normal, JUST IN CASE??????


----------



## toptech72 (Oct 7, 2008)

Ok so i just got my doctors bill and he charges a $5. billing fee. Its the first time i really looked at one of his bills. I normally have just my co-pay to worry about. But it sem that when i have to do bloodwork and x-rays my bills have what the insurance didnt cover plus a billing fee. Now i guess since i plow both of his offices there will have to be a change in my billing for him next year. With plowing we are anywhere from $15- $30 an hr higher than the new competition (the beer plowers). But this isnt a hobby for us and hasnt been for the 20 plus years we have been doing it. We have 7 trucks to maintain and insure. But they are also making us money as roadservice trucks. I understand there are cost to doing business. But i have always tried to cover my cost in my bids. I have had 1 truck totaled this year and 1 transmission go up. But that doesnt mean i should have a "my driver might wreck my truck charge" or a "my trucks ARE going to break down sooner or later" charge. But as someone said earlier let them charge away it will just help me get their customers in the long run.


----------



## LoneCowboy (Jan 2, 2007)

forestfireguy;982945 said:


> BOSS- More than 25% is pretty tremendous, don't you think.
> 
> For a one truck operation may be or maybe not a big deal. But think of those of us running 20-30 trucks and skidsteers/loaders ETC. And as you run more equipment it only gets worse. We can't see the future and we surely can't bid everything worst case, how many bids would you win if you worked with fuel prices 3-50 % higher and salt at double normal, JUST IN CASE??????


All I do is drive and move equipment both summer and winter.
My fuel costs were under 5% of my total revenue in both 2008 and 2009

Made less than 2/10th of a percent of difference. (despite paying almost $5/gallon in 08 just like everyone else)

My registration taxes were more than my fuel (and they go up every year like clockwork)
My insurance (vehicle, liability, equipment) was in the same range. (and they too usually go up, they never go down)

It's simply not worth worrying about.


----------



## the new boss 92 (Nov 29, 2008)

forestfireguy;982945 said:


> BOSS- More than 25% is pretty tremendous, don't you think.
> 
> For a one truck operation may be or maybe not a big deal. But think of those of us running 20-30 trucks and skidsteers/loaders ETC. And as you run more equipment it only gets worse. We can't see the future and we surely can't bid everything worst case, how many bids would you win if you worked with fuel prices 3-50 % higher and salt at double normal, JUST IN CASE??????


i didnt say 25%, i would think about a 15 dallor or 4% surcharge would be plenty, not to much but not to little and still able to get work out of it. as far as only running one truck and carging i wouldnt, but if i was running 5 i would throw a fuel charge in there for sure to cover me a little bit better.


----------

