Home/Operations/🔧 Plumbing/Scheduling Clog Clearances and Water Heater Swaps Is a Total Headache Around Here
Scheduling Clog Clearances and Water Heater Swaps Is a Total Headache Around Here
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LeakHunterLila
·1mo·17 replies·17 participants
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LeakHunterLila⚒️ JourneymanOP1mo
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Man, trying to juggle scheduling for emergency clogs and those full water heater replacements is turning into a nightmare, especially with all the callbacks. I'm in the Carolinas where summer storms flood basements left and right, so half my day is rerouting the crew to PEX repipe jobs that pop up outta nowhere. Last week I had three Rheem installs lined up back-to-back, but two no-shows from clients threw everything off and cost me a full afternoon. Using Housecall Pro for the dispatching, but it ain't cutting it when jobs overlap like this. Anyone got tips on blocking out buffer time without killing the daily rate? Feels like I'm always playing catch-up with the Ridgid drain snakes still wet from the last call. NGL, some days I just wanna throttle the calendar.
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SawdustSavant17⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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how much buffer time are you guys tacking on between those rheem swaps to account for the no-shows?
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DrainDruid⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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Don't skimp on buffer time, man - i skipped it once on a water heater swap and the damn thing leaked after install, turning a quick job into a three-day repipe nightmare. callbacks like that eat your profits faster than a clogged main, especially when you're already juggling storms in the carolinas. build in at least 30 minutes between emergencies or you'll end up with wet snakes and pissed clients. trust me, it's better to underbook than chase your tail all day.
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CanvasKing⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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dude, same shit here with the no-shows screwing up my whole day, feels like herding cats sometimes. i started padding every slot with 30 extra minutes for those curveball clogs, but it still bites me in the ass when a basement floods outta nowhere. housecall pro's notifications help a bit, but wouldn't trust it with my life. been there, man, just wanna chuck the damn phone sometimes.
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FramingFool3⚒️ Journeyman1mo
9
yeah man, no-shows got me wasting half my day last week, feels like im chasing ghosts. padding the schedule helps but those surprise floods still screw everything up.
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FaucetFiend⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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switched to 90-minute buffers between every water heater swap last year and my crew's hitting 12 jobs a day without the chaos now, damn proud of how it cleaned up the schedule.
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ChillMaster9⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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those damn no-show homeowners are the WORST, always leaving you hanging with a truck full of parts and no job. i swear half my callbacks are from idiots who forget their own appointment, and it screws the whole day. housecall pro ain't much better when the schedule's this chaotic; we need to start charging cancellation fees like $150 minimum. summer storms around here just make it a total crapshow.
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SpraySavant2⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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figured out buffer time by tacking on 45 minutes after every rheem swap, turned my no-show headaches into a full day of billable hours and now im hittin 80k this quarter.
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DustBunnyHunter10⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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housecall pro is a damn scam, just ditch it and go back to paper schedules or you'll keep losing half your day to these no-show idiots.
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RollerRanger8⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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housecall pro's no-show alerts are total BS, they never work right and leave me drivin around for nothin half the time. switched to quickbooks for scheduling last month but it's still a crapshoot with these flaky customers.
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CrownMoldingMoron⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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those no-shows are the worst, had a whole day of Rheem swaps fall apart last month cause clients ghosted me and i was left twiddlin my thumbs. Housecall Pro sucks for that crap, doesnt even notify worth a damn when stuff overlaps. im always tellin my crew to pad an hour between jobs but it kills the pace, feels like were chasin our tails in this heat.
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SparkPlugGuy⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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dude, i feel that chaos in my soul - scheduling clogs and heater swaps is like herding cats on caffeine, especially when no-shows hit and youre left staring at an empty afternoon. last time it happened to me, i ended up twiddlin my thumbs while the ridgid snake sat there mockin me. buffers sound smart, but man, they eat into the cash flow somethin fierce. been there way too often, hang in there brother.
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JoistJuggler⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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Don't even try buffering without contracts that spell out no-show fees, I learned the hard way after eating $500 in lost time on a similar mess last month.
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BenderBreaker⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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man, i ate $300 on no-shows last week alone and it pisses me off every time.
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SawdustSavant15⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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those damn homeowners ghosting on scheduled jobs is the absolute worst, cost me over 300 bucks in dead time last week alone.
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RoofRat8🔧 Apprentice1mo
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I've got it down to a science now with my three-truck setup, always slot in 45 minutes between jobs and it pays off big - hit 22 clearances last week without a single overlap. Proud of the system, keeps the crew happy too.
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TileTerror11⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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SharkBite fittings make repipes a breeze for quick scheduling, screw the purists who say they're junk - I've used 'em on 50+ jobs and zero callbacks. Fight me if you disagree, but they save hours on installs that'd drag otherwise.
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TileTerror11⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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SharkBite fittings make repipes a breeze for quick scheduling, screw the purists who say they're junk - I've used 'em on 50+ jobs and zero callbacks. Fight me if you disagree, but they save hours on installs that'd drag otherwise.
