On Being Nickel-And-Dimed

  I belong to various online discussion groups, almost all of which concern lawyers and/or marketing. On one of them recently a hot topic was whether or not the law office should charge for faxes, photocopies, overnight package delivery, five minute phone calls, and so on.
    Some offices charge for everything. Some charge for outside hard costs (i.e. a FedEx package) but not for in-office stuff. Some include all such costs in their pricing.
    If you have a choice, I much prefer the last strategy. Some of those in the discussion maintained that clients liked and wanted to have everything broken out by item — but when I talk with the administrators inside law firms, they tell me that nothing ticks off the clients more than when they receive their invoice and see that they were charged 25 cents per page for five pages of photocopies.
    It put me in mind of an experience I had with a limousine company over the holidays.

 

    The situation was as follows: My son and his mother were returning from their Christmas trip to France. They were due to arrive at Miami International Airport, about two hours from my office. I couldn't get away to pick them up and wanted to hire a car to pick them up and bring them to my house. I called a limo company in Miami.
    "Yes sir," said the cheerful woman on the phone. "I am happy to quote you a price of $250 for that job."
    "Fine," I said.
    "And," she said, continuing her cheery tone, "your final bill will be $342."
    "Huh? you just quoted me $250."
    "Well, there are some extra charges. First there is a 20 percent STC."
    "What is an STC?" I asked.
    "Standard transportation charge," she replied.
    "Aha, and what is that?"
    "Well," she said, "it's standard."
    "Yes, I get that. But what is it?"
    I never recieved any kind of coherent answer to this question.
    "And then there is a five percent fuel charge."
     "You guys don't figure the cost of gas into your prices?"
    "And then there is a 20 percent gratuity."
    That one gave me pause.
    "My understanding of a gratuity," I said, "is that is a voluntary sum that one pays to reward good service."
    "Well...." she said.
    "Wait, don't tell me," I interjected. "It's standard."
    "Right."
    Suddenly, she introduced a new subject.
    "Will you be there when they arrive?"
    "Probably," I said, "But don't worry. If I'm not there, my housekeeper will be there."
    "You are required to be there so that the driver can swipe the credit card," she told me.
    "Look," I said, "if you're worried about your money, I'll give you my card now. Go ahead and charge it for the full amount, and then you won't have be concerned about it."
    "We can't charge you until we provide the service."
    "Well, I wish to make an advance deposit of $342," I said. "Go ahead and run it."
    "We can't do that. We have to have the actual card."
    "And why is that?"
    "Well, you might dispute the charges."
    "Miss, if I want to dispute the charges, I can do that at any time through my credit card company or my bank, whether you have my card or not. Also, this is a debit card. You can have the cash now."
    "Well, we can't do that. It's the policy." 
    "So," I said, "here I am, willing to pay you in advance for your services and you won't accept?"
    "It's the policy."
    By now, of course, this woman has me pegged. I am a troublemaker.
    "If you aren't there with your credit card when the driver arrives," she announced, "he will call the police."
    It was at this point, of course, that I hung up. I should have done so earlier.

    If this woman had said in the beginning "It's $350 and that includes everything" I would have said "Fine, let's do it." She managed to convert a good potential client, one willing to pay in advance, into a frustrated, angry consumer who will tell anyone who asks that they should avoid like the plague this limousine company.

    Is your law firm's pricing and invoicing giving your clients the impression that you are nickel-and-diming them to death? 

Comments

[David Goldfarb]

We provide many services for a flat fee plus charges for copying, fed ex, filing fees, etc.

Since some clients provide us with copies and don't requrire overnight delivery, it would seem unfair to build these charges into everyone's flat fee.