11/15/2022
To service fee or not to service fee?...that is the question. Sometimes people ask us why we charge a service fee, especially if we're living in the same RV park. Logic would reason that if we're just up the road and barely having to travel to you, how can we justify the fee? Good question, and we have an answer that hopefully clears up some misconceptions about what a service fee is in general and why we charge it....and why it's more complex than just covering our time and travel costs to get to you. Read on.
In any industry that offers a mobile service or "house calls"..meaning they pack up their tools, equipment, inventory etc. and bring it with them to you to perform their work, is offering another service apart from their actual service they are performing for you. Simply put, bringing the service to you is a service in and of itself that has value in addition to the actual service. We don't really argue over this concept as it applies to goods. For example, we don't argue about paying a delivery charge in addition to paying for say a Cold Stone birthday cake that we want delivered. In fact entire service businesses have arisen in response to how valuable and in demand delivery of goods has become. Logic would reason that this same concept would apply to those delivering services, such as ourselves.
At lot of times, the service of delivering a service is much more than meets the eye and why it warrants a "fee". As a mobile RV Tech, for instance, we are bringing the shop to you, which behind the scenes means: investing in and maintaining transportation, investing in and/or making portable field ready tools, carefully considering and constantly refreshing onboard inventory, getting appropriate specialized insurance, and many other expenses and planning. And yes there is mileage and travel time to consider, but as you can see, it's not the crux of our expenses in being able to offer mobile services. This is only one half of the equation. How much is "us coming to you" worth to you, the client, in comparison to breaking camp and hauling your rig into a sticks and bricks shop for repairs that might not get to you for another few weeks after you drop it off? If you can't break camp and haul your rig yourself, the costs alone in hiring someone to do that are obviously off the charts in comparison to the typical industry standard $50-$100 mobile RV Tech service fee. How much are the relative time savings, hotel savings (if you're living in your rig), convenience and personal one on one attention with a professional tech in the comfort of your rig worth?....Priceless.
Still, we love being able to serve our immediate community and that's why we offer 50% off our service fee to ORPS residents only! Hope that clears up why we charge a service fee, but let us know how you feel in the comments.
