I am wondering how you can judge via an hourly rate. In my line of business, ( not pinball repairs) , if I quoted an hourly rate I would be compared with backyarders with no or little experience with no insurance..blah blah blah. E.g if I charged $140.00 an hour and I completed the job professionally and in less than half the time and stood behind the work I did would you choose me or Uncle Jim armed with an soldering iron and a multimeter? In my experience the fairest way to go is charge a call out fee...e.g $200.00 .This would included travel, initial valuation and even repair if is is a simple one. This also would filter out the time wasters. From there a competent person should be able to give an estimate of further repairs. Anyway ..there is my two bobs worth.

When I worked in IT as a consultant, my hourly rate (set by the firm I worked for) was $180 per hour, and was charged in 15 minute blocks. A minimum of 1 hour. But if I was send to a site for a day, it was not $180 X 8. It was a set see of $750 per day. If I was at the office, and a customer needed phone support, the first 15 minutes was for free, then after that, every 15 minute block was payable.

You cannot do that in the pinball industry. Every industry is completely different. I spend at least an hour on the phone or having customers in my workshop discussing problems and checking up on their reserved games etc. You cannot even contemplate charging a rate for my time.

The pinball industry is very different as we are mostly dealing with hobbyists. Pinball is "downtime" for owners. Even if they recondition and restore themselves.