yellowdogsvc
Platinum Member
that's how I took it but I see your point for sure. :thumbsup:
What burns me up!
- Thread starter denver 2
- Start date
- Views: 3636
that's how I took it but I see your point for sure. :thumbsup:
yellowdogsvc
Platinum Member
I just paid $750 to get my bobcat serviced at my shop! That's the most I have ever had to pay for a oil and fluid filter change and adjusting some belts. It's expensive but I let the dealer service it at the 1000 hour mark so that I get an extra set of eyes that trust to check things out. I have had enough downtime from rain and when I get back to work, I need my machine to be ready to go day in and day out with only minimal maintenance for at least another 250 hours.
It sucks, yeah. I guess I could have saved about $400 in labor and done it myself but I didn't know if I would have a rain day or not. They came out while I was gone and knocked out my service and I was free to do other things. Might have been nicer if I was off making money but this has been an awful week.
I try not to apologize for charging $87.50 an hour for regular bobcat work because I have experience and an awesome machine that can do anything. I ask for more when I mulch or run my big chipper and some people will happily pay for it and others want to negotiate. I usually give those folks my card too..."call me if you need the job fixed after the cheap guys leaves."
It's an expensive world. Insurance costs, lawsuits that raise our insurance, taxes, etc., all all driving our costs up. Some of you guys that don't charge much more than $30 an hour for your time, do you render your equipment and buildings to the appraisal district for taxing? Do you carry liability and workman's comp? Unless you have incredible volume and are very efficient, how do you stay open?
I understand that some of you mechanics are small operations, perhaps even mobile shops in which 100.00 an hour might be realistic especially if your from California, but when you have twenty employees making less than 25.00 an hour whom own there own tools I do not get it why one needs to charge such a high rate. I'm in the masonry business and my labors make around 18.00 an hour and my masons around 22.00 an hour, and on a time and material job the rate is 30.00 for a labor and 35.00 for a mason. Yes I pay taxes and workers compensation and liability etc., and have thousands tied up in trucks, skid steers, mixers, scaffold, saws, and the list goes on and I still make a profit and live well. There seems to be a disconnect from the corporate dealers and the people they sell to.
yellowdogsvc
Platinum Member
it's a supply and demand thing. They have the supply and we want it. I don't treat my customers like that, rather, I work with them but I don't think it's uncommon to see a 1000% markup. I have had vermeer do it to me on a $1 part and then rape me on shipping at $45 when the same shipping method across the street at Bobcat was $10. Not sure why dealers do it but it never sits well with me. Bobcat is the worst..some of their products are actually priced well but a $20 bolt costs upwards of $110 at the Vermeer dealer.
brain55
Veteran Member
Vermeer is pretty bad, I think John Deere and Case are the worst. Kubota is one of the better ones. I'm amused when I can get a Kubota part from Japan faster than I can get one shipped normal UPS ground from Texas and don't feel raped on the shipping. When it comes to shipping demand has a lot to do with it for sure. Bobcat has such a large market share they have worked the shipping companies for the best prices, same with Kubota. I can get any Kubota part in the country tomorrow as long as I order it before noon. I tryed to order a JD part the other day for the next day and was told flat out I couldn't have it for 2 days. John Deere parts have always been priced high same with Case. Case 570 lower link arms are $1000 apiece, nothing like ordering those for a customer and finding out after the fact what they cost.
Brian
Brian
dcyrilc
Elite Member
I called the Deere dealer last Wednesday at about 9am and told him to order me two parts UPS Red (next day). He called me at 10am Thursday and told me they had them (25 hours from somewhere in the mid-west, don't remember the state). It cost me about $4 for shipping. I can't complain, I expected it to be alot more.
