The first charge on you bill is the ominous service charge, this covers the costs of doing business from day to day. The rest of the charges will vary for job to job and are outlined below.

If the service technician needs to order a part and return, some companies will charge you an additional 'trip charge' for the second visit. Be aware that this is not standard and varies from company to company.

Discuss 'trip charges' with the servicer in advance and do everything possible to describe the problem accurately (see the Requesting Service page) so they can ensure they have the most likely parts with them the first time. Be aware that it is not always possible to have every conceivable part that could fail for a particular job, with them. Sometimes a second trip will be necessary.

If you are located out of a normal service area, you will often also be charged mileage. This will usually be accrued for each visit that the technician must make to your home, through no fault of their own.

The cost of replacement parts will also be added to the bill. Some service companies will mark the parts up higher than the manufacturer's suggested list price. In many cases this is acceptable, however, you may be able to find a repair company that will not charge above the MSLP. Most factory authorized service depots will not.

You are entitled to retain possession of any defective parts that are replaced, that you pay for. There are some instances where the old part must be returned, these include rebuilt or remanufactured clocks, timers, transmissions and may include circuit boards or motors (rare). Any defective parts that are replaced under warranty are the property of the manufacturer and not the customer.

Any parts that are covered by a product's original limited extended warranty will usually only be supplied at no charge provided they are installed by a factory authorized service depot. This is another good reason that a factory service depot should be your first choice for repairs.

In most areas now, sales tax will be calculated on both parts and labour, including the service charge so be prepared and ask what the total will be, with the tax(es).