I have recently been going through our expenses and trying to find ways to cut our expenses. I realized how much money we spend on gas. Do you think it is reasonable to have a trip charge? I know local AC repair people out here charge $60.00 for a trip charge.

There is this new car coming from India called the Nano car by Tata. It is $2500 new and it is a 2 cyl. and goes up to 65 MPH. I thought it would be great to have one for running all the errands and doing all the estimates. I can take a "sample kit" in the car with me to give samples to my customers, but this will eliminate the ability to do a job on the spot, which is rare anyway.

But I was thinking, until the Nano car is available later this year in the USA, I would like to charge a $20.00 trip charge for estimates within 40 miles and $40 within 80 miles. If we are hired we could credit that trip charge towards the invoice. This way my estimates are still free and I am not out of pocket so much in gas. But do you think this is something that would prevent a customer from finding out more about us? Or would that type of customer be a cheapster and not worth my time anyway? I go back and forth on this. What are your thoughts?