I had a debate with a younger tech about flat rate vs hourly and it got weird

I was working on a busted Samsung dryer in Greenville last Tuesday, and this kid maybe 25 years old starts going on about how flat rate is a scam and we should all just charge hourly like mechanics do. I told him flat rate keeps me honest and I can make $80 on a simple belt swap in 20 minutes, but he said that means I'm rushing jobs and missing stuff. He showed me a repair he did where he spent 3 hours tracking down a loose wire on a dishwasher because he took his time, and I actually had to admit he caught something I would have skipped over. So which is it, are we paid for speed or for actually fixing things right, because I still don't know what's better for a small shop owner like me?

2 comments

2 Comments

charles_green11d ago

Tell the kid to come back in twenty years when his back hurts from crawling under dishwashers and see if he still wants to charge by the hour for a three hour wire hunt. I made $60 today on a 12 minute fridge ice maker fix, but I also spent 45 minutes last week wrestling with a washing machine that just needed a reset button pushed. That kid's got a point about flat rate making you skip stuff, but I bet he's never had to explain to a customer why a $45 part turned into a $200 labor bill because he took his sweet time.

ryan_stone10d agoTop Commenter

Is it really that serious though? I mean yeah flat rate can be a scam sometimes but you're acting like the kid is trying to overthrow the whole trade. He just said he'd rather not spend half his day fussing with a wire for the same pay as a quick fix.