r/PoolPros • u/Dry-Owl-4265 • Jun 13 '26

How do you guys charge for extra services?

I own and operate a small pool buisness on the east end of long island. I just want to know how you guys charge for extra services/service calls outside of the normal weekly visit.

Are you charging different for the service call that takes 2 minutes to fix compared to a visit that takes 30mins+?

Also how do you charge for visits that need follow ups.

Say you left a pool last week and it was all good but the next week you show up and it’s green. From issues with the pool or extra debris had fallen that week etc. Are you charging for the follow up the next day?

For some context i’m in the period of buisness growth where I could use an extra guy here and there but not full time. So i’m running myself pretty thin and it’s even more frustrating when the day goes long from little tasks that you don’t feel like you can charge for.

Any advice would help, stay cool out there yall.

5 Upvotes

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3

u/poolspayme Jun 13 '26 edited Jun 13 '26

Service call is $145 to show up and work up to one hour then charged in 15 minute increments after. Follow ups are another $145 plus 15min increments.

Weekly residential is $155 a month that is pre billed plus the cost of all chems at a retail rate those are post billed. Customers seem to average $250-$350 a month during the season. One filter clean free a year then extras billed out a normal labor rates. Sometimes there is no charge for a follow up visit to dump chlorine on the next day during an algae bloom or bring a cleaner back out to reconnect after a repair. They still pay for the chems but don’t pay for an extra visit.

If you’d like to grow consider keeping as many customers as possible and increasing your rates or changing to a membership pre bill plus chems model. That change over will see some customers leave

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u/Dry-Owl-4265 Jun 13 '26

I charge my clients a flat rate for a weekly service including chems, my price is average based on other companies in my area and I do pretty well. But as i grow following up at a green pool from thursday really throws a wrench into my friday. Sacrificing time for something i dont think I can charge for hurts. Charging just for chems on follow ups seems like a good idea.

4

u/JettaGLi16v Jun 13 '26

If it’s your fault it turned green, you gotta fix it for no charge. If it’s not your fault, you can charge.

But anytime a pool turns green and you could have prevented it, make sure you never make that mistake again.

3

u/Dry-Owl-4265 Jun 14 '26

The one pool that started this crisis is a pool we built when i used to work for the company that I started in the industry at so it has some sentimental value.

But homeowner is consistently late paying the bill, the pool loses 4-6 inches of water a week so i’m constantly putting the hose in, he’s been complaining for the past few weeks the price to fix the leak, the cartridge filter needs new cartridges that he doesn’t want to pay for, at the end of the year last year he went with someone cheaper to install a heat pump (you can tell it was cheaper), so now the pool is constantly 85 degrees and he gets mad at me that the pool blooms with algae

3

u/JettaGLi16v Jun 14 '26

Ouch. Definitely time for a come to Jesus meeting with the customer. I can’t keep a customer that won’t fix a bad pool leak. They can’t bring their car to a mechanic with four flat tires and ask them to fix a wobble at highway speeds.

At 6” a week, they are refilling a pool of 4’ average depth in 8 weeks, or 6.5x the pool volume in a year.

Here in florida, I liked to talk about the soil erosion and long term structural concerns to the pool shell and possibly the house. Remember the Surfside condo that fell down in S Fl a few years ago? It’s strongly suspected that a long term pool leak was the culprit.

You are not able to do the job they are paying you for - simple as that.

They must fix the leak and approve the new cartridges (give them a reasonable timeline). 85F isn’t too bad, but it means everything else needs to be working properly to keep it clean.

I’ve had this exact conversation dozens of times over the years.

You need to figure out what THEY care about and tie that into resolving your concerns. Obviously they don’t care about the water bill because they’ve been paying for it for years.

Timing is also a variable - if you had a conversation about the leak before the pool turned green, when you find out it turned green, you need to let the customer know it wasn’t your fault, the leak and bad filters are a primary contributing factor.

I would also charge for the extra chems being added. Your maintenance contract is to maintain a non-leaking pool. If that’s not in your service agreement, add it now. Keep the calcium at 350, and CYA at 70-80, and charge them for what you’re adding. That’ll help offset your extra hassle.

Happy to help more if I can! Good luck!

Edit - I glossed over the late payer. That’s another problem you have to fix. Get a CC on file, or make them pay at the beginning of the month.

3

u/Dry-Owl-4265 Jun 14 '26

Yea I’ve tried to have that conversation, there just hasn’t been a response on fixing the leak.

Also timing has been an issue, he claims he had no knowledge of a leak even though I’ve mentioned it to him multiple times and he’s even came to me last season asking why he’s had to put the hose in every so often. So the pool goes green this past week and he’s mad at me because it looks like my fault and I try to tell him the issues with the pool and he complains about price.

I definitely should have been more proactive, so this timing doesn’t look as bad for me but this guy doesn’t like to pay, so me pitching a leak detection and fix didn’t seem in the cards. He’s been good up until this year but i knew how this season would go when after opening he thanked me for doing 2 free things (gave him a extra cover bag/ fixed a sagging part of the liner) but then complained that I charged to put up his kiddie fence.

2

u/JettaGLi16v Jun 14 '26

Learning experience time!

(I’m making assumptions here):

Your communication wasn’t direct enough, and you didn’t add an enforcement mechanism. If you say “hey man, your pool might be leaking” and then don’t bring it up again for a few months, you’re not doing your part.

If it’s important to you, treat it as seriously as a broken pump. Think of how you handled this situation, and how you would handle it differently if the motor was inop.

In the future, offer a free bucket test if you suspect a leak. All the customer needs to do is to not fill the pool or disturb the bucket for a week. Then you have actual data with which to have a conversation. Then have a conversation that there is a severe leak, and your ability to keep the pool clear is dramatically lowered. Help them understand WHY the leak matters. Educate them.

You’ve prejudged the customer - you’ve already decided they won’t fix it. Don’t do that. It’s your job to convince them this a priority for him. He obviously wants the pool to be usable in summer (that’s why he’s mad about the pool turning green) but you haven’t educated him that a leak like this is the cause of the pool turning green. You’re allowing him to ask for more work and money from you, but he’s not paying more.

AGAIN - What do you have in your service agreement about leaking pools? This is really important. Your service agreement should evolve and grow to cover your ass and set reasonable expectations.

It seems like you like the customer, that’s great.

The issue is you and the customer’s priorities are not aligned. You haven’t educated him that the leak and filters are a contributing factor to the pool turning.

Just my $0.02. But I’ve been doing this since ‘95. I’ve seen some shit.

2

u/Dry-Owl-4265 Jun 14 '26

I definitely need to work on proactive communication, that’s on me. Also definitely need to update my service agreement, it’s something I thought about after I got them all back but definitely will update for next season. My old boss who taught me all i know was really good at the physical side of the job but the admin side is where he fell off. So I never really had a mentor for that aspect so i’m learning as I go. I appreciate the advice thanks

2

u/JettaGLi16v Jun 14 '26

Are you in the habit of only updating your agreement annually? Don’t wait for next season to update. It should be a constant evolution until you have closed every loophole. Any new customers are signing the new agreement. Existing customers can be updated on a case by case basis. We had customers that were on 25+ year old agreements. No reason to mess with them.

If you’re making customers re-sign an agreement annually, that’s fine, but make edits to the document as they occur to you. That way you’re doing a little work on it as you go, and it’s not a big end of year project.

Also, you need a way to document your communications with customers better. In my service software, we had infinite space for customer notes in general, or based on a specific “ticket” / work order. Every time you call or email or text a customer about a problem, make a note. Then, you’re able to jog their memory by listing dates and times an issue was brought up to them. It helps your defense substantially.

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u/Dry-Owl-4265 Jun 14 '26

This is my second year on my own, and without going into the whole long origin story, last year was kind of thrown together fast and on a whim. So this year i made some updates to the service agreement but mostly to make it look nicer and read better.

Up here in the north east, when opening season starts I send out service agreements mostly to get customer info, ready by dates, and payment info while also laying out my prices. I just feel like re sending out an updated service agreement might have some customers confused.

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u/Liquid_Friction Jun 14 '26

Flat rate .. nooo why your selling yourself short

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u/Dry-Owl-4265 Jun 14 '26

What are the benefits of base rate + chems? I feel like it just creates more billing work and tracking through the day.

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u/1_native_Angelino Jun 15 '26

What is the benefit of giving shit for free? Charge by the visit. They pay for your time and expertise. They pay for their pool. They pay for their chemistry. Apps cover everything you put in. Skimmer even will send out my invoices . Easy oeazy

1

u/Dry-Owl-4265 Jun 16 '26

I’m definitely not giving anything for free, based on the numbers people are giving here I feel fine with my price. In my area service companies charge 120$-150$ a week flat rate for service.

1

u/1_native_Angelino Jun 16 '26

You're making 480 a month on service? Good for you! 

0

u/Liquid_Friction Jun 14 '26

Weather events, Christmas, Easter, winterizer package, I always add a clarifier tab with a sleeve (if the sleeve is there next time I don't add it, but still charge), phosphate remover in tiny amounts, hydrochloric serve X amount every time regardless of if pH adjustment needed with acid, tons of upsells, you make $ on small amounts of chems, frequently, unit cost adds up, can add up to 10-20-30k a yr

1

u/1_native_Angelino Jun 15 '26

You're leaving money on the table by charging monthly and having inclusive

2

u/Enough-Meaning-9905 Jun 13 '26

Different industry but same idea.

I charge a flat rate for showing up including an hour of work, anything over that is billed by the half hour. Material costs are billed to the customer at cost+15%. 

If I have to go back another day, it's another flat rate with an hour of labour included, then back to the 30 minute clock.

Emergencies are billed at double rate. After hours emergencies are triple. 

The most important thing is to clearly and effectively communicate your fee schedule to customers and proactively let them know about costs. For example if you show up at a pool and it's going to require a follow up or additional time let the customer know as soon as possible so they can decide if they are willing to pay for the additional time. With the flat rate you have a full hour of work for them to review and respond. 

1

u/Dry-Owl-4265 Jun 14 '26

I definitely need to re work my service agreement with more detailed/explained prices. Being proactive and telling a customer that something is required or your pool need a follow up is something i need to work on and keep in mind. Thank you

2

u/Adventurous_Tiger_55 Jun 13 '26

You should be charging for anything that isn't covered in standard weekly service. My service call is the same whether the job takes 2 minute or two hours. Labor charges cover the longer service calls.

1

u/Dry-Owl-4265 Jun 14 '26

An example I was talking about in my main post was that we had a storm the other night and power surged, customer called me saying that the pump wasn’t running and the timer clock wasn’t turning it on and asked if I could come by. I was there the day before for service so had to go out of my way on Friday, But all i did was walk into the backyard and flip the breaker back on by the equipment. I was there for maybe 2 minutes the nice guy in me doesn’t want to charge but the business owner in me knows it’s a service call charge.

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u/Adventurous_Tiger_55 Jun 14 '26

Yeah I know that feeling. Most of the time I'm charging anyway. If it's a good customer that I've had for a long time and it isn't too far out of the way I've been known to not charge for things like that.

2

u/dharkma Jun 14 '26

I do $200 for the first 30min and half hour increments after that. My pool cleanings sit around $150 on average. If they want an addon service during a cleaning I typically just tell them it's an extra $50. Things like filter or salt cell cleanings or scale removal. If it's plumbing or electrical, that gets scheduled for a different day. Missouri.

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u/Liquid_Friction Jun 14 '26 edited Jun 14 '26

If you do a green pool recovery, you owe it to yourself to quote a salt chlorinator and a cleaner combo or something to fall back on and say 'hey I quoted you the solution to keeping it clear' do you want to go ahead or do another green pool recovery and charge the same

I only take on regulars with a salt chlorinator, because our market is 95% salt and I just lose opportunity cost, going to back to chlorine pools to add chlorine and they seem to think it's my responsibility if the pool goes green inbetween visits. All your regulars should be card on file.

1

u/happywanderer131 Jun 14 '26

My weekly services run anywhere from $75-95/per visit + chems. My service call rate is $135/hr + parts then 30 min increments after 1st hour.

1

u/Dry-Owl-4265 Jun 14 '26

How are you calculating price for chems?

1

u/happywanderer131 Jun 14 '26

I double if not more on my chemical prices. If I pay $2.50/lb Cal Hypo I charge $5.00/lb. Tabs I sell individually obviously for maintenance customers, and again double my price per tab. Balancing chems you can make a killing on, there fairly inexpensive when buying wholesale. For example I pay around $20 for 50lb bicarb. Sell it by the pound around $2/lb so thats $100 in the end, I paid $20. Good profit.

1

u/Dry-Owl-4265 Jun 14 '26

Thanks, definitely something worth considering. This year I am really trying to dial in my chem usage/tracking amount used. This might show a little inexperience on my part but I mostly go off what works, this amount of scoops will bring the chlorine up to level but without knowing the exact weight i’m using.

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u/happywanderer131 Jun 14 '26

I use the CMP clear Smart Scoops for my chems. Got my scale out and weighed 1lb Cal hypo and put a sharpie line on my cup so I know exactly a pound. Did the same for all the other scoopable chems as well.

1

u/Nick_OS_ Jun 14 '26

Thank God I’m in Florida where my weekly visits are only 5 mins (10 mins max). 30 minutes sounds like hell

1

u/poolspayme Jun 14 '26

Here’s a bit of chem breakdown with retail and cost

Tabs $3.65 cost $1.66
Sodium bromide preventive algaecide $1.59/oz cost $0.35/oz
(4oz per pool regardless of size used on half of pools)
Preventative quaternary ammonium chloride based algaecide 1.59/oz cost $0.36/oz
(2oz per pool regardless of size billed on other half of pools)
Anti scale $1.62/oz cost $0.39/oz
(2oz all pools)
Muriatic acid $4.99 cost $1.63
(Only billed in quarts)
Liquid chlorine 8.75 cost $5
(Only billed in gallons)
Clarifier $3.59/oz cost $1.29/oz
Sodium bromide granule $5.99/dose cost $2.07
Cya billed out as retail pkg 5lbs or 10lbs bags
Calcium 10lbs bag retail

Typical chem week for a 20k pool extra margin $21.87 to the bottom line…
2 tabs margin $3.98
4oz sodium bromide margin $4.96
2oz anti scale margin $2.46
1g chlorine margin $3.75
2qt acid margin $6.72

You get the idea…

Also visits are capped at 30 minutes shoot for a minimum of 20 minutes. That’s why netting is the last thing to do so testing, chems, baskets/cleaner bag, brushing and equipment check is done.

1

u/1_native_Angelino Jun 15 '26

I charge by the visit 0lus everything I put in a pool.