I had a dead animal removal call today. Something was in the wall or attic and stinking up the back bedroom. I was so eager to get the job I quoted no inspection fee and a $150 minimum removal charge. I explained that depending on what I found it could be much more than the $150. Well, long story short, I never made it into the attic. The cat urine and feces I found in the back closet explained the mystery smells. Good thing it was close to home and only wasted 20 minutes and a few miles on the truck. No more freebies!!! Lesson learned. On a positive note, I made decent money on my bee removal this morning. I guess batting .500 isnt too bad.

Good move!

Some services shouldn't include a free inspection. Dead animal removal is one of them. I would add live animal removal and snake jobs to the list. On DAR's I always explain the possible outcomes and get paid no matter what. A squirrel/raccoon/bat/skunk....ect job is different because there is a chance to make $500+ a DAR is rarely in that price range. The reason I charge for snakes is because I sometimes catch them during the inspection. I couldn't just walk past one. The free inspection topic has come up and it is interesting to hear the different opinions. I'll tell you this, if a customer calls me before the guy charging an inspection fee? I can pretty much guarantee I'll win the bid.

Great points Jake, I am new to this and learning some things the hard way. I am working on a minimal inspection fee to assure that I am not driving all over town or paying my Tech to drive all over town for free. The inspection fee will be applied to the service requested if they decide to use my company. I guess the customer will dictate if this idea works or not.

Why give it away? Why apply to service? I see the point....but call the bluff....people pay it if you are a good operator. They will want you more...

Inspection fee to be applied to service charges if job accepted.

Inspection fee is a service in its self. Any other service is additional. This is business, not a hobby.

so is a inspection fee and service charge different? please give an example

Exactly the same for us. If someone is going to come to my house, free of charge, at today's gas prices, the first thought in my mind is that this guy or gal has to make up a lot of expenses already.

Muddy those words are similies in this biz.

Well said Bud25

It's not a service call "and" a separate inspection fee, its one in the same

right on

What Wink said; I've never seen that fact explained so clearly before. I've always said that if you get a free inspection, it's really a hard sell - quite often by a salesman, NOT a technician - because the guy has to sell something at that point in order to make $$ or justify his existence.

In my experience customers LOVE the free no obligation inspection. I tell them to get multiple estimates and choose the best company for them. I'm not the cheapest or the most expensive yet I sell over 90% of the jobs I go to (when you close on that many jobs you can afford to offer free inspections without over charging). I do this by being honest and up front about what needs to be done and charging an industry standard amount. The guy who chooses to stick to his guns about a measly inspection fee might loose out on a very lucrative job. Dave a technician is also a salesman because you can't survive on inspections alone you have to SELL your service eventually. How can a customer find the best company if all of them want to charge them to come and give them a price?

Jake, I really did like your post. ( And knowing Jake personally, I don't have any doubt that he gets a 90% closure ) His post really did point out the difference between a service call and a free inspection.

Let's put it this way; I'm glad that Jake's in Colorado and we're in Wisconsin. I have enough great competitors without adding the Trujillo family to the list.

Personally I don't want the free inspection customer. Those are the tire kickers, broke or stupid customers that don't communicate or waste my time. I want the educated customer who understands that what I do is a specialty and I'm running a business not a hobby.

The only way we can afford to offer a free inspection is if it is very close to where we are working already. If we have to travel 30 miles or more it just doesnt pay.

We sell a high 90% of our bids as well after getting our inspection fee. As was stated there are many waste your time tire kickers out there anymore. Particularly the younger generation. If they cant understand the value of a professionals time to evaluate your problem then they many times cant afford the cost of a good job well done.

We have too many welfare and think it is free folks in many of our service areas or the I cant afford it folks but they will make you come out to waste your time anyways.No more of that for us.

If we run out of work then we may need to re evaluate our procedure however it hasnt happened for many years.

2:00 am calls in the morning from the state police to go remove a black rat snake from a ghetto house. You have to wake up and talk to them thru the 911 dispatcher and find out they dont have any $$$ but just come and get it for free anyways. Really, I dont think so. Click!!!

We all do some charity work at times but I have done my share. I need to make some retirement money now.:)

Free estimates over the phone are always quoted. I am not afraid of competition checking my prices. I am not cheap, but I am not overly expensive. For example,if I get a bee (or replace bee with your favorite animal) removal call, I tell them upfront the basic cost to start and ask a few questions to give a ball park estimate. I then explain if I come out to give a hard quote, there is a fee for this service. It will be applied towards the estimate if they chose my company. Maybe when I am a bigger company with a bigger operating budget I can offer free inspections, but I sure can not now.

I think I'm starting to understand this better now, Threads like this seem to help more than the ones titled "how much do I charge", even though there is no specific dollar amount mentioned,

Now to see if I learned anything: please critique me

Woman/man calls stating they heard something coming from the ceiling, and investigated it themselves and spotted a large raccoon in the attic, immediately called (sounding very excited and somewhat frantic) and requested your services for dealing with this animal. Despite the customers emotional state you talk and calm the homeowner and explain how you can help and fees associated with your service

Quote: $75 service call/inspection fee and between $100-$300 depending on how many coons are actually in the attic because you really don't know


Ok... Homeowner excepts and you head out


When you show up to the property you're immediately met by the couple that owns the house and they explain and show the the ladder to the attic, your inspection reveals not only one coon but a second and inform the homeowners that the cost of the removal will be $200 not including the service fee, homeowner excepts and you remove the offending animals

customer pays you $275 for services rendered THE END

AFTER THOUGHT: I am trying to take out most of the variables due to simplicity and asking if at least my mind is working in the right direction, please do not imply whether I have done this or not done that, the scenario is as is.

Some things that I may need to point out.

1. I did not collect the service fee after the inspection, I went straight to removal after getting permission, was it right or wrong for me to do that, I didn't want the owners thinking that I was just wanting money and not interested in helping them feel safe and comfortable in their house.

2. About the quote from $100-$300 was that what I should have done, Something tells me that I shouldn't take the word of the homeowner, Something I could have done different is Explained my service fee and then after the inspection quoted the Job?

3. Should I even charge a service call? because the owner seen the coon in the attic, then again that goes back to taking their word for it, because it could have been a squirrel or house cat or whatever. I imagine in this line of work there is no telling what you may find in some attics, and I'm sure some of you have been told one thing and it turn out to be another even being told by the customer that they seen it with their own eyes LMAO

I hope I'm not trying to be too complicated, I really tried to make this generic for learning purposes only, I do understand that no situation is generic, I just want ya'll to know that I'm serious about this business and not as you say "kicking the tires" as some of your customers do, now please give me your thoughts on the rights and wrongs or tell me what you may have done different, if you have a question and want me to clarify I will monitor and post a reply, please and thank you