It was your words and they look bad on you so dont act like you know me or anyone else that makes an honest living fixing cars thats how that looks. :laughing:
How is this not robbery?
- Thread starter J_J
- Start date
- Views: 26462
It was your words and they look bad on you so dont act like you know me or anyone else that makes an honest living fixing cars thats how that looks. :laughing:
That's only by assuming the factory warranty doesn't transfer from one person to another and to my knowledge they all do on cars and trucks by federal consumer protection laws.
For instance how many people have gotten a factory recall or repair campaigns in the mail on a used car that was still under factory warranty and even some that are out of the mileage limit but still are recalled that they didn't buy new? (I have several times)
So if that is the case then no it would be done at the dealer as a new car warranty same as the original owner.
I am not aware that add on extended warranty's bought with a used car will though a person would have to be careful assuming they transfer fwtw.
They may not on commercial vehicles but I may be wrong on that? hth :thumbsup:
My words were based on my opinion, I had hoped I made that part clear. My opinion of course can only be based on my particular experiences, which in this case does not include anyone from the Kansas area. I guess maybe choosing my words more carefully next time to be sure and not offend anyone would be the politically correct thing to do.
I am sorry if you took such offense to my words. I will be sure to stop into your shop if i am ever in kansas area to have you hook up your machine to my car, just to feel like I got a good deal from you.
Guess i will just keep my opinions to myself from now on huh?
irwin
Veteran Member
1st: You don't pay the lower cost, the warranty company or the manufacturer does.
The warranty time is not to help the shop make a profit..(and it needs a profit to stay open BTW). Warranty time is so the cost of doing a repair on a defective part is covered.. not designed to help make a fair wage.. only to help cover expenses.. period. If that doesn't help you understand, then I'm doing a bad job explaining.
JJ's real issue is he was lied to, the book time is 1.2 as per Alldata. I will not condone the dishonest business practice he was subjected to. I try to treat my customers like I want to treated.. fairly and honestly.. The book time system is normally a benefit to our customers.. because most jobs take more time then we are given by the book.. fact.
However some techs are slow and some are not slow.. we could use another word, but slow works. This works too: Some techs are exceptional, some aren't.
Last edited:
Jay4200
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2005
- Messages
- 2,054
- Location
- Hudson/Weare, NH
- Tractor
- L4200GST w/ LA680 & BX2200D w/ LA211
Book rate assumes close to a worst-case scenario - seized fasteners, etc. If it takes longer than book rate, either it's as bad as a job can be (at that should be obvious by looking at general condition), or the guy is just slow. I shouldn't pay extra because the mechanic is incompetent.
JayC
irwin
Veteran Member
I must disagree with your statement. Book time is the time the job takes for a competent mechanic for most part.. 30 years trying to help car owners take care of their vehicles.
Assuming worse case scenario, nope, not a chance. I've seen all shades of worse-case, no book time comes close. sorry you have such a incorrect image of repairers
wrenchturner
Silver Member
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2006
- Messages
- 175
I just have to wonder how many responders to this thread that have negative opinions of the pricing practice (flat rate) of the repair industry have ever made a LIVING working as a mechanic. I am willing to bet few if any. If you do not, then why did you not become one? If you are complaining you can always change careers and become one.
Yesterday I had a conversation with a fella that drives a truck for a regional grocery store chain. He said he earns $27.00 per hour on the clock and he said he had excellent benefits. No tools to buy, no technology to keep up with, no busted knuckles, no complaining customers claiming the radio does not work since he fixed the check engine light. I am sure somewhere his wages are figured into the price of groceries. By the way, he said he used to work as a mechanic.
I have the utmost respect for qualified technicians; they deserve every penney they earn.
Yesterday I had a conversation with a fella that drives a truck for a regional grocery store chain. He said he earns $27.00 per hour on the clock and he said he had excellent benefits. No tools to buy, no technology to keep up with, no busted knuckles, no complaining customers claiming the radio does not work since he fixed the check engine light. I am sure somewhere his wages are figured into the price of groceries. By the way, he said he used to work as a mechanic.
I have the utmost respect for qualified technicians; they deserve every penney they earn.
The Haymaker
Veteran Member
Can't read all the posts, but there are two options: Buy the tools (As I have done) or find a fairer repair facility.
Bird
Rest in Peace
:laughing:Way back about 1973-74, I served on a 6 man jury in county court, on a case in which a mechanic was suing a couple of young hotrodding cowboys who had a very small trucking business and wouldn't pay his bill. Their defense, of course, was that the mechanic didn't do a good job on the repairs, and the trucks broke down on the road and had to be repaired again elsewhere. It was absolutely ridiculous, because they had all the receipts for all the repairs done everywhere and there was no more relation between what the plaintiff mechanic had done and what broke on the road than in your comment. It was like he had done a brake job on an 18-wheeler here in Texas, then they got out in Arizona and blew a transmission. We startled the judge and attorneys by deciding the case so quickly. When we retired to the jury room for deliberations, all 6 of us agreed that the truckers needed to pay the mechanic and his lawyer without any discussion.:laughing:
You offended all honest hard working techs not just me!
I am not saying you have to say any certain thing just dont be so specific and lump groups of people in one pile and then label them when you dont know anything about them other than an opinion you have formulated.
We all have an experience with a bad business and we all do the same thing about it we get satisfaction on the problem or not and we dont go back and we dont recommend them when someone asks about a good business to use.
That doesn't mean every business is bad because of one certain one.
We could easily say the same thing about your career of choice what would you think about that? I promise we can formulate an opinion about it does that make us look good to you and how would you like it!?
Exactly right I have been wondering the same thing!
I bet as soon as most average joe hourly and salaried people had to actually be tied into the cash flow of a business good or bad by their individual production numbers and had to bring a huge part of the "tooling" at their expense into the equation and did all that at a small percentage of the actual cost of sales they would run out the door with their hair on fire.
Now with that said I know lots of jobs in our world that pay absolutely insane wages and are not at all tied into an individuals personal production so the people that get paid that way this doesn't reflect you just the little guys that get by paycheck to paycheck but the thought of that make me want to laugh out loud.
Last edited:
Well put sir and agreed 100% by me at least. :thumbsup:
beppington
Elite Member
You mean because they recognize a bad deal when they see one?
Or because they wouldn't want to be subjected to feeling the "need" to charge somebody 3 hours time for a <1 hour job?
beppington
Elite Member
That may be one issue JJ has, now that he knows the real book time, but I'd bet he'd still be P.O.'d if they quoted 1.2 hours & the guy did it in say 30 minutes, which a "gifted" mechanic can prob do in some cases ... less P.O.'d, but still P.O.'d.
What?
You miss read my post I am talking about you making your living on commission. :laughing:
That is JJ's issue period they quoted him a price but they made the mistake of telling him the hours which they got wrong also and they are charging some off the wall low ball shop rate that defies explanation.
They FIXED his truck thats the fact and they did it at the price they told him it was like it or not.
What is so fascinating to me about this thread is how everyone is stuck on the time he was charged or said he was being charged for but they dont want to pay straight time and they dont agree with the book so what do you charge and what do you use as a reference?
Tell us how would you level the playing field pray tell?????
(and dont say what you want to pay)
quoted from irwins post and I agree: The book time system is normally a benefit to our customers.. because most jobs take more time then we are given by the book.. fact.
So if we are expected adjust the ones down that we do faster why cant we adjust them up by the same token who is defining that dynamic and how could it be done fairly? Still hate the 'book"?
Leejohn
Elite Member
When you buy parts at a auto parts store it's a DIY deal, not take to some shop. Lets see him take it to Ford or Chev dealer and have his own parts. And he didn't even want the shop have anything to do with a core charge. How much could that be, even if you didn't get the part back, on a windsheild motor?
The guy helped him out for putting his parts on. He just made his mark up on the parts. He was told XXXX$ and he said OK.........
The guy helped him out for putting his parts on. He just made his mark up on the parts. He was told XXXX$ and he said OK.........
orezok
Super Member
I build schools for a school district and because of that we must pay prevailing wage and are subject to taking the lowest bidder. That means we have to pay from $45 to $80 per man hour.
Because they are schools and the size of the individual contracts (up to $10M for a single trade like HVAC, electrical or concrete), we typically get only the best contractors with the most productive workers. Remember, everybody gets paid the same wage no matter the size of the contractor. This results in separating the wheat from the chaff very quickly.
Given all this criteria, we still only count on getting 5 to 6 hours of actual production out of a worker in an 8 hour day.
I don't think automotive repair has a significantly different efficiency.
Because they are schools and the size of the individual contracts (up to $10M for a single trade like HVAC, electrical or concrete), we typically get only the best contractors with the most productive workers. Remember, everybody gets paid the same wage no matter the size of the contractor. This results in separating the wheat from the chaff very quickly.
Given all this criteria, we still only count on getting 5 to 6 hours of actual production out of a worker in an 8 hour day.
I don't think automotive repair has a significantly different efficiency.
BINGO sir you are exactly right it is 5 hours is the target and its rarely done!
And as an employer and an educator I can promise anyone it is unbelievably hard to teach common sense let alone micro electronics and hydraulics and hvac and on and on and still make a productive employee.
They need 15 years of experience at a minimum to survive alone let alone pay their way and make a decent living at it in the mean time.
This is my last post I am out of here folks btw good day you guys!!!!
:thumbsup: unsubscribing at this moment
OP
J_J
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2003
- Messages
- 18,973
- Location
- JACKSONVILLE, FL
- Tractor
- Power-Trac 1445, KUBOTA B-9200HST
I had ask that this thread be shut down, but no one honored my request.
Where are the moderators.
Where are the moderators.
Here are some similar links:
