Scheduled vs Emergency Visits: What You Need to Know

Hello from the Service Department of West Coast Robotics Ltd.

 We as a team are pleased to be of service to you and your business and strive to be there when you need us and bring our best effort every visit. We sometimes receive questions about the wording on our service invoices, so we'd like to take a moment to explain how our system works.

First, we try to do everything your farm needs on a scheduled basis. This is our goal. If we ever achieve it, there would be no unscheduled visits to your farm. In that case, invoices would only reflect regular maintenance intervals, typically several months apart:

WCR90003001: Travel Scheduled visit

This is our lowest call-out fee, helping to cover some of the overhead costs of having a service van available and fully stocked for the work required.

WCR90002001: Hours – Regular

This applies to work done during regular hours (8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.) and our lowest fee.

The above combination allows us to schedule efficiently, minimize travel time between farms, and keep the service costs as low as possible.

Any call that is NOT able to be scheduled to the next maintenance interval and requires a special dispatch have an increased call fee. This is to cover the additional drive distance and time between calls, and to help cover the cost of the additional components that are stocked on the van designated for On-Call week. Our goal is to have every part that could keep your machine out of service in stock on the On-Call van.  But, you can still keep your costs in your control.  If the call is for something that cannot wait until the next maintenance, but needs to be done within the next two weeks, tell your service tech it is a non-emergency call out but needs to be done with the next two weeks.  This allows the service tech to stop in and do the call when near, thereby reducing the cost of travel to your farm.

 WCR90001002: Non-Emergency Call Out

Used when the on-call van has to go to the farm, but it can be fit in around other calls within a 2 week time frame.

WCR90002001: Hours – Regular

These are for hours on a normal 8:00 am to 5:00 pm work day and our lowest fee.

Then, there are the “put your dinner fork down and get here now as my machine is down calls”.  These are considered Emergency Call Outs and we have strict response times that our techs are required to adhere to.  These are not scheduled and we make a special trip to wherever we are required to be.

WCR90001001: Emergency Call-Out Regular Hours

This is for any emergency call that comes to the service line between the hours of 7:00 am and 5:00 pm Weekdays.  The fee is based upon the time the call came in, not when the tech arrives.

WCR90002001: Hours - Regular

Once again regular hours if the call came in after 7:00 am and before 5:00 pm even if the tech arrives after 5:00 pm, the call is still regular hours.

After Hours:

WR90001000: Call Out Fee – After Hours

Our highest call-out fee, applied to any call received on weekends or between 5:00 pm and 7:00 am on weekdays.

WCR90002002: Hours – After Hours

As the name suggests, our highest hourly rate - applies to work on weekends or outside of regular hours.

We hope this breakdown helps you understand how service urgency affects cost and how you can plan accordingly. Please call the service line at 1 866 601 5532 and follow the prompts to speak directly with the tech that will be coming to attend to your issue. Call day or night, 24/7 if you have a machine down that needs attention, we will do our best to be right there. Please also call this line to just add an item to your next service. We maintain lists and if you have a part you want changed next time we are there, our service team is happy to add this to the list for you. BUT, our service team are all family members too. We respectfully request that the “add to my next visit” calls be kept to regular weekday hours. Some find it handy to make a note on their phone or whiteboard and then call after coffee on Monday for example.

We thank you for your business and look forward to serving you.

The West Coast Robotics Service Team.