Now go and replace one for someone on the other end of town. Don't forget to load up all of the tools that you might need, ladder, shop vac etc. Plan for maybe replacing the whole fan housing because you don't know what the homeowner will show up with since he is supplying his own fan. Get a little liability insurance, an estimating and a bookkeeping program, answering service and everything else it takes to be in business and see if "$100 is a little high"....Getting someone to show up at your house and do anything for a $100.00 is super cheap.
Agreed 100%.
I've been a big DIY'er most of my life, but I don't begrudge what the pros charge for a "house call" (there are exceptions of course, and some "pros" aren't).
Many posters here aren't considering all you mention. It's not so easy to go into a situation cold, and many homeowners have unrealistic expectations.
One thing I do with repair people (home, car or otherwise), is to "chat it up" a little, and let them know that I have a pretty good understanding of the job, and what it entails, I just don't want to (or don't have the tools or time) to DIY (DIM?). I figure this probably helps me from getting ripped off, or having them take a screwy shortcut, they won't get away with it.
Like with my AC recently, when I called, I explained the compressor was running, the compressor fan was spinning, and the air handler was circulating air and the thermostat was calling for "cool" properly. So at least he knows he's dealing with someone with basic troubleshooting skills.
BTW, for my AC it was a coolant leak in the inside (evaporator) coil. He came out to diagnose, came back a few days day later and did the refill with dye (it was holding pressure short term, and the system ran OK with the recharge), came back a week later (mild weather, only ran the AC a few days), found the leak at the corroded coil, replaced the coil, did the vacuum/refill, and all is good (so far). I thought $1,500 was not out of line for 3 trips, and the the coil replacement took a good part of the day. Plus, he explained that if the compressor died (13 YO), that this new evaporator coil could remain, so I'm not just throwing that money away.
-ERD50