Roger, one of the things you will learn, as the rest of us have, is not to undersell yourself. Right now you are learning the in's and out's of windshield repair. As you become more experienced and confident you will also becaome more able to state your price with a 'take it or leave it' attitude, especially with clients that have the insurance but for whatever reason are unwilling to initiate a claim. You did a wonderful job for that man, and I am happy for you that he recognized the quality of your work and tipped you. Even so, he got a $45 repair for $25 + the tip. It is very important that you not let the clients set your prices for you. For one thing, it confuses people. Your price is what you tell them it is. If you settle for less one time, you will find yourself dickering with everyone that is referred to you from that client. "Why are you charging me $45, when you charged him $20 less?". You dont negotiate pricing with the dentist, do you? Can you bargain with the Post Office when you want to mail a parcel? No, and neither does any of your clients. You will learn this as you go along. When a person has insurance, but is reluctant to use it, they disqualify themselves for any kind of break (in my opinion). But because you are new, you havent racked up a bunch of testimonials from satisfied clients, so you are hard pressed to justify charging the 'going rate'. As soon as you are confident that you are doing consistantly excellent repairs, name your price and hold to it, especially if you have mobiled out to the job, and then they want to haggle over the price once you get there, they still owe you the trip fee. I dont know about the other techs in these forums, but I settle the price issue before the appointment is even made. I am in a rural area. I dont go anyplace for free any more. When someone one calls and wants to know what I charge, I tell them. We talk about insurance, and if they have it, that is the way we usually go. If they dont have insurance to cover, I tell them what my price is if I go to them and what it will be if they come to me. They almost always will come to me if they dont have insurance to cover. But I have controlled the situation from start to finish, and that is very important. Keep up the good work. Grace

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