Elk installer in Seattle

[tmbrown97]

Rolling the truck, the gas in the truck, the truck itself (maintenance/depreciation), insurance, enough margin to cover any callbacks or warranty issues or someone slipping and putting a whole in your ceiling; insurance on the truck and the tools in it, and the shop you keep it at; the cost of the specialized tools...  business taxes, bookkeeper/accountant, workers compensation; the list goes on...
 
Learning to do your own is great - if you know enough to do it right and can buy a friend a 6-pack to help, there's nothing wrong with that.
 
mcho3 - 2 more posts and you'll be upgraded... just don't make 'em spammy.

 

[jamieei]

Apologizes if I have offended anyone. I wasn't trying to judge the fairness of the quote I got from Maxtech, just to explain why I was recommending them even though I hadn't ultimately used them myself.

 

[Madcodger]

Apologizes if I have offended anyone. I wasn't trying to judge the fairness of the quote I got from Maxtech, just to explain why I was recommending them even though I hadn't ultimately used them myself.

No offense at all (I'm pretty sure others here will agree). Just gave us an opportunity to point out the need to pay a fair price for skill, experience and tools. Excellent that you did it yourself, and in fact I'm a DIY-er / hobbyist myself in HA with a small consulting company in another field and ownership in the past of a trades-based company. But much of my life was spent as a corporate employee and my verbiage describes how I thought at the time! Once I owned a company and had to worry about unbillable time and overhead costs I certainly got a big reminder of what it really costs to run a company and make a living. I try to point that out once in a while, and to pay a decent price when I do need help. Thanks, and enjoy your system. Lots of great advice here from some very good, very smart people.

 

[bucko]

I had my own service company in Seattle 8 years back. Now I'm retired and living in China.
But at that time I billed $300 hr for on-site calls. $75 hr is no doubt a very cheap price.

 

[Del91574]

Not offended in the slightest....being "trade" I was only pointing out the truth from the other side of the fence...
 
I tend to get a lot of tire kickers or people that bought XYZ and Iwhatever compatable widgets on Emazonay and then can't get them hooked up or functioning properly, then want a quote to configure, troubleshoot, fix or just get it working....not to mention those that don't pay attention to line items that differentiate your product and service from another vendor (PTC  or fuse protected products, surge and lightning protection, battery sizing, what have you). They only see the Iwhatever being sold and installed for a 24 point font price by vendor A, not what the other vendors charge, less contractual terms, minimimum service charges, whatever.
 
I always get the "I only spent $ for it, why is it going to cost $2X to install it and get it working, with no warranty on the hardware and I need to buy a clapper widget also, they didn't say I needed a clapper widget." "How come you got it working, but when I changed my (modem, router, PC, aircard, SIM, Iwhatever device) and now it's not working....what do you mean you're going to bill me at $X when it's determined it's not a hardware or workmanship issue?"

 

[narih1]

mcho3,
 
I think you need another post or two to be able to send/receive messages.  I tried to send you a message but the system wouldn't let me.

 

[mcho3]

narih1
i will get working on it. i am getting close to having roof placed and next step is walk through for electrical.
I would love to get your input before i start ordering parts. i hope i can get the status updated soon.    mike

 

[mcho3]

Do any of you guys know how i can get to status to send a message?

 

[Chukkie]

Do any of you guys know how i can get to status to send a message?

 
I would imagine there is a required number of posts to reach.  I'm in the same boat as you as I just purchased a system and had a nice long intro thread typed up the other day with questions and thoughts.  When I tried to post, the system alerted me to my newbie status.  Having attempted to run a forum before I completely understand the necessity to these things though.  My problem is I'm stuck between knowing very little about the topics at hand (so I don't have much of value to add) and having questions to ask but not wanting to hi-jack someone elses thread.  On the other hand, my Elk system is now installed and working and I managed to do it all with just the search button and some pondering here and there, so there was a benefit.
 
And this thread seemed to be off-topic from page 1 so I don't feel bad at all