Giving flat rate rather than by the hour benifits both pro and customer. The customer knows exactly how much its going to cost ahead of time. The Pro does not have to Justify the price , it is what it is. I can see if its hourly the customer would never really know .. "did I really get what I paid for?". On the other hand LA quilters can end up spending lots of time with a poorly constructed or prepared for quilting quilt top , that they had not anticipated. Many will call the person prior to starting the quilting to discuss the condition ( delicately) and explain why extra effort and charges are in order.
I send out many tops and doubt I would ever feel completely comfortable in a hourly unless there was a "not to exceed" dollar amount in the contract. Having said that I did have such a agreement and ...well it was exaclty the top do not exceed $$ and the quilting was less than what I expected for that price. It was a very generous amount and I had expectations of it being "competition" worthy when done. It was not.
My best experiences have been with LA'ers here on this board . I have seen their work which is consistant in what I look for in design and technical , I trust they will have a vision , and I let them do what they do best. Consitantly both of them , have given me a good indication of what they have in mind for the quilt top , and yes I am always pleased that they exceed my expectations.
In the end if you are looking for LA services , find one that you want to have a long realtionship with because you have confidence in their work and the way the run their business.
If you are thinking of starting a business learn from the best practices of those LA professional whom you respect.
People who use LA services go back again and again to the person they trust. And the old saying in business for every lost customer .. it takes 10 new one to replace them.