Mac, that makes you his adversary when, hopefully, you want to be creating things with the customer, not arguing about things.

I just whipped this out:

"I don't know how to say this, so I'll just come out and say it: having that question implies that there are a lot of things about business that you are not taking into account.

"First, I pay him. This involves bookkeeping, and I have to pay for that, too. Then there's our desire to have a place to meet at the beginning of the day (rent must be paid) to discuss the work for the day (this is time not billed to you) before he drives out to your place (the time for which is also not billed to you) (unless, of course, you have a "truck roll" charge).

"He drives a truck the company provides (if it does) and we never present you with a bill for the gasoline. He and we follow the employment rules of our state and he takes a couple of breaks every day. I pay for that but don't bill you.

"After work he drives back to the shop, leaves the truck (parking area is also rented) and drives home. After I work another hour or two but don't send you a bill for that), I set the alarm (for which you never see a bill, but it safeguards the stuff we bought for you) and I drive home. Oh, yeah -- I had to put some gas in the tank today.

"Along the way I pick up some dinner (the business pays me, too, you see, so that I can eat) and I go home (for which payments must be made).

"There are people who charge less than we do. They discover, often while going out of business, that they are not charging enough for their business to survive. If you were their customer, they would leave you in the lurch, with no further service down the road, and perhaps even unfinished work, also perhaps paid for. We don't charge less, and when you have a problem, we'll remember what we did and we'll have a leg up on anyone who just walks into your house fresh and uninformed. In fact, sometimes we'll be able to tell you which button to push, or something else requiring knowledge of YOUR setup, to solve the problem over the phone.

"So, does he make that much per hour? No. But that is what is costs to provide the service that represents not hours of his labor, but days, weeks, months of your enjoyment of what this entire enterprise of labor, equipment, travel, gasoline, payroll, rent, and salaries provides."

I'd be tempted at that point to say "any other questions?" but I don't think that would be nice.