How is this not robbery?

[chopped]

JJ thanks for posting this. Its good to get our minds working..and thinking...right or wrong

 

[wrenchturner]

Yea, thanks from me too. It takes some courage to post a question knowing you might receive a lot of flak over.

 

[whodat526]

i dont think its robbery because if the flatrate manual says it takes someone three hours to do a job that is what the factory determind not the mechanic and it is always able to be beat if the mechanic has had enough practice if they quoted u 3 hours and u agreed i dont see a problem

 

[Bison]

You get an estimate to do a job, and the labor is, say $45 per hour, and maybe the mechanic gets $18 per hour . They say that the time to install a wiper motor is three hours.

Now you watch them install the motor in one hour, and watch them work on others vehicles during your so called time.

The mechanic gets $18 per hour, and the business get the rest. Now, lets say that the mechanic installs 7 motors in an 8 hour day, one hr for lunch. 7 hours and charging 7 customers another 14 hours for work not done.

So, what that means is that the mechanic gets $18 per hour, times 7=$126 per day.and the business gets $117 per hour times 3 for the three hrs charged to do the job, and 7 times that for the day. .

Customer brings in his new motor.

So, for installing 7 wiper motors at 1 hr each, and charging customers 3 hr labor, the mechanic gets $126 per day, and the business gets $819.

I don't even want to hear about the mechanic that can beat the book time and therefore lie to the customer that he worked the full three hrs on his car. What else can it be called except theft by deception. He quoted you a time to do the job, but did not give you honest work time.

I never have liked those times to repair, they always seem to allow to much time.

If you hired someone to dig a ditch that should only take 1 hour, would you pay him for the 3 hours it took him to actually dig the ditch.

You have to consider this, or maybe not, was the book time for labor based on the dumbest low rent individual in the test group, or was it designed to take people hard earned money.

The time not worked on your machine is pure profit.

I also don't see where I should have to pay for all the little extras added to the cost either. Rags, lubricants, solvents, rubber gloves, safety shoes, etc. The labor per hour should cover everything. Business expense is just that. I will bet that they claim the expense on their income tax as an expense, although they have been compensated by the customer.

You don't even have to agree, it is a fact that has been proven.

Robbery...No....Dishonest practise...Yes.
Cause no one forces you to have the work done there for the price quoted.
If you you tell them to go ahead and do the job then you can blame only yourself.Call it education.

For this very reason i became a jack of all trades and learned to fix my own equipment and do the maintenance as well.

 

[bcp]

If the mechanic can better the flat rate time while still doing a good job, he deserves the extra pay.

But the shop also gets their portion increased, too, for doing nothing extra.

Conditions:
$100 per hr. labor rate. Mechanic gets 50%.
Two hr job, by the book. Cost = $200.

Average mechanic:
Mechanic does it in 2 hrs., gets $50 per hour. Shop gets $50 per hour.

Better mechanic:
Mechanic does it in one hr., gets $100 per hour. Shop gets $100 per hour.

What did the shop do better to double their portion?

Bruce

 

[Bison]

In simple terms, the price you quoted me for 1 hr of work is what the business figures is the labor rate per hour. If you work 1 hr, the business should get
paid for 1 hr work.

Call it what you like, it is a lie.

That kind of deal make me want to gouge someone else. Why should someone get that kind of money for nothing.

I guess that is why the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

I am thinking that the people that think the book rate is fair, is the people that is dong just that.

How is it that, say 2 or 3 transmission shops will quote a rebuild transmission, and have a money spread of $750 to $1800.

If you want to talk about overcharging!...When was the last time you needed your Dentist or a lawyer.

 

[Bison]

Well, it seems I did alright in my lawn service, pressure washing, sprinkler installation and repair, for about 22 years.

All were flat rate jobs.

I did a lot of free stuff also.

I am 71 years old, and the only reason I had to quit work was diabetic neuropathy in my feet.

And you have the gall to tell me I don't know anything about business after working 8 hrs a day in the hot Florida sun for 22 years. .
.

Big deal,only 22 yrs.
I been farming/ranching/wrenching in the rain,cold and heat for the better part of 45 yrs and still at it.

 

[J_J]

Don't brag to much, as I was in an orphanage for 15 years, US NAVY for 22 years, and landscaping/lawn service for 22 years. Yep, big deal. I quit working hard about 5 years ago.

If your health is good, and you have the know how, and the machines, there is no reason to just quit, unless you are just plain tired of it.

 

[johnrex62]

When I was young enough to get my first car, the mechanic my family used explained to me that his shop billed by book rate regardless of the time it took to do the job. Sometimes it worked in his favor, sometimes not, but he told everyone up front that was his practice.

I think if the shop is upfront with the billing practice and you agree you have not been robbed. If the shop says they charge the book rate and then charge you for the greater hours when the job takes longer then you have been robbed.

 

[Alan L.]

I really don't care what the hourly rate is, just what the repair will cost. If I don't like the figure they give me I can check out a competitor. Any time I have to estimate a job I go high because I know problems can arise. If I estimate the hours I expect the job to take, over the long haul I will not make any money because there is no allowance in there for the overages which will occur.

I don't think they are representing that they will spend x number of hours at all. Its just a way to figure what to charge for one repair vs another kind of repair.

It is a free market, if a garage charges everyone too much they will lose their customers and go broke.