$500.00 repair???

[nasdaqsam]

The BBB only matters to a business that actually cares about their customers and anybody can increase their rating by "joining". It's not the service it once was. Years ago it meant much more than today. Did you know they actually have an active program that calls businesses several times a year until you sign up to be a member? You do not earn the right to be a member you pay for the right to be a member of the BBB.

It's going to boil down to what can be proven. Period. If you can not prove your claim the BBB will not put a blemish on their record. It's a he said she said. Legally they can not just throw that on their record unless they have solid back up. They can say there was a dispute.

Settling this face to face where both sides take a little hit is fair unless he has a ton of time to chase all the facts down with the slight possibility of some sort of remedy. Getting "competitors" quotes will do nothing to help as they do not know what the actual problem was. Besides most competitors if they are smart will not get involved because the same thing could happen to them some day. Besides how much weight would it carry coming from a business competitor? They were not there. What issues did they run into? Where the threads stripped? Did a bolt break off and have to be drilled and taped? All of which are labor intensive. I'm not trying to be arguementative, I'm just trying to put things into perspective on how things will more than likely play out. It's not cut and dry no matter how it's spun. Trust me there will be no exact right and wrong when it is all said and done.

It's best to work it out with the service dept. If the outcome is favorable go back, if not, don't.

 

[Bird]

Well said, nasdagsam.

 

[jlbota]

I do agree that they could have run into problems with an older machine especially one that was left outside. There could be rusted bolts and yes that could be quite a bit of labor.
I don't believe they ran into this problem as this area is fairly well enclosed and rusted bolts don't usually loosen.
My point earlier was that he doesn't have much of a leg to stand on without stopping the payment or at least contesting it right away...
If the labor was going to be that extensive due to some sort of difficulty like rusted bolts broken bolts etc Tim should have been notified ahead of time of the problems when he spoke to his dealer. I get the impression it wasn't anything serious by what was said...
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The service manager called and said it was just a loose steering column that needed to be tightened up. No real parts, just some labor and Hydro fluid )</font>
If someone said that to me I would think it wasn't going to be that big of a deal.....I mean how much does it cost to tighten some bolts and purchase some Hydro fluid?

I know dealers have to make money to stay in business but this seems a bit excessive to me... /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[gmsssi]

Think about this, it stll calculates to $60-$70 an hour rate. Unacceptable!!!!!!

New Dealer Please!

 

[tim71]

The service manager said $65.00 per hour is the going rate. I will let you know the outcome soon.
Tim

 

[B2400]

Shortly after buying my B2400 2 1/2 years ago, I had some issues with the power steering. The dealer picked up the tractor and told me that the steering box was time consuming to get to, so they would have the tractor for a few days. This went on a couple of times and the last time they had it for over a week. Apparently they needed some special fittings to test the pressure and preferred to keep the tractor as opposed to assemble and disassemble in between. Basically a long story to tell you that it is a longer than normal job to get at the steering box on one of these.
A labor rate of $65 per hour may sound crazy, but if they are a full service dealer with trained mechanics then that price is in line. Think about the overhead that the dealership has to invest in the service area to keep it up to date. I know most mechanics are required to have their own tools for the most part, but the dealership usually has to purchase the large ticket items( 3ph air compressor, diagnostic equip etc....) not to mention utility bills incurred by service area.Now add in wages, benefits and other governmental regulation tied into this area and you can see that it's an expensive thing to keep in operation. Unfortunately, it's the consumer who must cover all these costs.
I don't have any experience from an ag dealership but my father ran a motorcycle dealership for 14yrs and I remember what costs were incurred to run the business. Enough that when the economy in our area sagged in the mid 80's we were forced to close. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[8561]

$65/ hr shop seems pretty cheap to me. I just left my RV dealer and I happened to notice the shop rate sign there said $95/hr, my wife works at a marina, also $95.

 

[HGM]

My sentiments exactly. I dont know what its like in other parts of the country but in South Miami and Atlanta your doing good to find a car shop that will give you the cut rate of $65ph. I know the new car dealers are in the $70-100ph range depending on thier calculations. Some of them are on a grid pricing system. This means that as the labor required goes up so does the rate(sounds backward dont it?). You could end up paying $120ph for a trans overhaul.