I agree - I charge for 15 minutes even if the call only last a couple minutes (this is not a surprise, and they are aware of this way ahead). If the call last an hour I give a break (basically the price of 45 minutes).

>Todd,
>
>I do a lot of this myself and while it can be a pain at times, as long as you are getting paid for your time I think you're it's Ok to be the go to guy.
>
>Just make sure you make it clear a) that you are getting paid for answering questions and b) that there's a minimum time limit that applies everytime they bug you. The latter is important - it'll hopefully discourage the customer from constantly sending you notes and rather batching them together so they accrue at least the minimum time for your consulting.
>
>Finally make sure you count all your time in your billing including responding to emails etc.looking stuff up etc. - for real short term affairs like this you want to be sure you're getting paid for the full disruption time it causes to your day.
>
>If the customer is serious about getting answers from you they'll pay you without question. If they're being cheap you'll probably never hear from the them again :-)
>
>+++ Rick ---
>
>>I've got a client that is replacing my 15 year-old system with something new and has decided not to use me. "Nothing personal, just business" and we parted amicably.
>>
>>Once they made that decision, the Client has not used me for anything. They didn't ask for my help with an RFP, they didn't involve me in the data conversion, etc. They do however ask me questions - How does Table X relate to Table Y? What data structure do we pass the credit card processor and what format do they send back?
>>
>>Those questions are quick and easy to answer, but they are quick and easy to answer because of my expertise and years of experience. I feel like I'm selling myself short giving away that knowledge at my hourly programming rate. Also, and maybe it's petty, but I don't really feel like helping out the guy who's replacing me.
>>
>>So what to do? Suck it up, answer the questions, and charge the hourly rate? Tell them they are on their own at this point? Have a different hourly rate for this expertise? Tell them that if they want me standing by ready to help they'll have to pay me a retainer?