Installing a passenger side mirror?

[Hootie]

some dipshit kicked/punched my side mirror off and I had to go to ebay to buy a replacement...

I am not savvy enough (I'm a dipshit) to install it myself and I am getting a little bit of work done tomorrow at an auto shop and I'm going to bring the mirror with me and ask them to install it for me...

how much should I be expecting them to charge me for that labor since I have already bought the part?

[King_Chief_Fan]

Originally Posted by Steron

Please find the dude who ripped off your mirror and buy him a beer for me. This thread made my day.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Exoter175

I don't own or run a shop anymore, as you know full well before asking the question. My partner and I both sold out of that shop to take higher paying jobs at dealerships, spending way less hours for more money.

You knew that before you asked the question, but you believe that since I no longer own a business, that I am somehow discredited from discussion, right?

Or you attempt to use the fact that I no longer own the business, as a reason to attack me, slandering me along the way.

right? Thought so. As predictable as ever.

What the **** makes you think I would know this? I don't think I've ever had a conversation with you before today. I recognize Sauto, but I don't recall ever having much interaction with him. You're making up some bizarre narrative much the same way you make up phony labor charges.

Do the world a favor and spare us your morality lessons. There may be honor among thieves, but in the end, there are no honorable thieves.

[notorious]

All mechanics should just charge by the job instead of having a crazy "Labor Hours" system.

My local mechanic tells me how much the job will cost. He has it figured out. People get confused when they are charged 2.5 hours of labor when it only took 1.9 hours because the mechanic is a badass that is efficient.

[King_Chief_Fan]

Originally Posted by Exoter175

I would thank the plumber for doing a fast job, I wouldn't ask him to charge me less.

I show the customer exactly what they are paying for from every step of the job long before I even ask for a signature to grant me the permission to work and bill them.

I explain to them how long the job books for, that is it. I don't charge them less if it is done faster, and I don't charge them more if it takes longer. I charge them book.



Yeah, you can. Book Hours are not uniform nor standard, they are not a universal guideline for getting work done. They are just a suggestion for how long a certified mechanic should take. Every place I've ever worked for, ever business I've started, has a book markup to maximize profits.

It is simply business and how it works.

then I don't think I would call you a crook or a cheat...If I know what you are doing up front and I agree...then we have a contract.

[Exoter175]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

The ****? You aren't honest. You fabricate hours out of while cloth and bill your clients for time you never spent working on their vehicle.

I'm not honest? Am I not the one here telling you guys exactly how 99.9% of every business is ran except for apparently you butt buddy Sauto.

Listen, he works for a mom and pop shop in BFE, if he opened a shop in KC, he'd be out of business the next day. It doesn't matter how good his work is, or how friendly he is with customers, the sheer cost of business would drive him in the dirt, which is why most people will hire managers to oversee the business and make sure it is ran right. Simple minded folks like Sauto don't have the stomach for business, to crunch numbers night and day so that they can stay in business and provide their service to the public. I do, and I'm being honest and you are reaming me for it?

Sorry for educating the dumb-masses.

Originally Posted by King_Chief_Fan

we all know now!

Which is why I decided to post at length about this, so people know exactly how this field of business is ran so they know what to expect.

Originally Posted by notorious

I will let the mechanics answer the question about labor.


On flooring, I charge by the foot, just as a mechanic charges for "labor hour". I get the work done 2-3 times faster than a normal person because I have experience and great equipment.

A professional shouldn't get paid less because they are more efficient at doing the job.



Simply put, not all hours are equal.

This, somebody knows how business works. It seems like he's one of the few in this thread actively posting who knows the concept of "You get what you pay for" and knows that SPEED and turnaround factors into that.

Originally Posted by Old Dog

For ****s sake, why should I explain it. You explained it in the post I quoted below. You and I both know that most book times are not an accurate representation of how long it normally takes to do a job and to claim otherwise is asinine. Inflating an already inflated number is thievery.

As for the second part of your post, you're moving the goal posts.

Who are you to say that the number is already inflated?

In all honesty, unless you are a top notch mechanic, you're going to run pretty close to that book time, if you do it right and follow every step. I've seen guys cut corners and half ass it and do it in half the time, but then again, I don't PAY them to half ass things.

My work is top notch, you get nothing but the best from me, and that includes my anal retentive ways of making sure everything is perfect. You're paying for the best service in KC, and you're going to pay for it. Not because I say so, but because my service is the best, my service comes with degrees and certificates, and because it comes with a work ethic second to none. It will never hurt me to have a mexican take a job away from me, lord knows I've always got work to do anyways.

The point is, every business marks up the book time so they can get 10% here or 10% there.

I've yet to hear you bitch to me about how we markup our parts too, because we make more in the markup of parts than we do in our book times.

Yet, I don't think you'll call that unethical.

Interesting how you argue one side of the coin here, and not the other.

[Old Dog]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

Mechanics don't punch a clock in and out on a job. From my understanding, most repairs have a "set time" in the books for how long they should take. If the mechanics finish early, customers aren't catching a break on cost.

Correct, but I don't believe anyone is arguing they should "catch a break".
What is being argued is that if I have a job that the book says should take 8 hours, is it ethical for Extorter to charge for 10. He may be able to get it done in 4, that's irrelevant. The book (be it Chilton's, AllData, or Mitchell) calls for 8.

So charging that extra 10-25% that he claimed is outright theft.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Exoter175

I would thank the plumber for doing a fast job, I wouldn't ask him to charge me less.

I show the customer exactly what they are paying for from every step of the job long before I even ask for a signature to grant me the permission to work and bill them.

I explain to them how long the job books for, that is it. I don't charge them less if it is done faster, and I don't charge them more if it takes longer. I charge them book.



Yeah, you can. Book Hours are not uniform nor standard, they are not a universal guideline for getting work done. They are just a suggestion for how long a certified mechanic should take. Every place I've ever worked for, ever business I've started, has a book markup to maximize profits.

It is simply business and how it works.

Give me a ****ing break. You might be able to slip that shit past old ladies who are easy targets for snake oil salesmen, but I'm not some ****ing rube. If you want to charge more, raise your hourly rates.

If you're so swift at twisting wrenches, you deserve to charge more per hour. What you don't get to do is bill customers for work that didn't get done.

I have a personal boxing coach. He charges me by the hour. If he trains me for two hours but bills me for 3.5 saying that he gets 3.5 hours worth of results in two hours, I'm going to tell him to go **** himself. If he's so great, he can charge more per hour. He doesn't get to bill me for work he never did.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by notorious

All mechanics should just charge by the job instead of having a crazy "Labor Hours" system.

My local mechanic tells me how much the job will cost. He has it figured out. People get confused when they are charged 2.5 hours of labor when it only took 1.9 hours because the mechanic is a badass that is efficient.

A lot of these jobs are paid for by insurance companies. I'd love to see him bill an insurance company for 2.4 hours on a job booked at 2 hours that can actually be done in 90 minutes.

He would never get away with that. Instead, he just rips off customers who don't know any better.

[mikeyis4dcats.]

Originally Posted by Exoter175

Right? I mean, the food costs like what? 3 dollars at the market? Why should I pay 20? I'll offer you 4 dollars for it since you spent 5 minutes to prepare it.

.

for the record, I'm a good tipper, and understand the need, was just trying to troll hootie

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by Old Dog

Correct, but I don't believe anyone is arguing they should "catch a break".
What is being argued is that if I have a job that the book says should take 8 hours, is it ethical for Extorter to charge for 10. He may be able to get it done in 4, that's irrelevant. The book (be it Chilton's, AllData, or Mitchell) calls for 8.

So charging that extra 10-25% that he claimed is outright theft.

Agreed.

[Exoter175]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

What the **** makes you think I would know this? I don't think I've ever had a conversation with you before today. I recognize Sauto, but I don't recall ever having much interaction with him. You're making up some bizarre narrative much the same way you make up phony labor charges.

Do the world a favor and spare the world your morality lessons. There may be honor among thieves, but in the end, there are no honorable thieves.

You claim ignorant now? We've argued in probably 3 or 4 threads Saul, you might want to fix that memory before you call an honest man providing a public service announcement, a crook. It looks bad for you.

Originally Posted by notorious

All mechanics should just charge by the job instead of having a crazy "Labor Hours" system.

My local mechanic tells me how much the job will cost. He has it figured out. People get confused when they are charged 2.5 hours of labor when it only took 1.9 hours because the mechanic is a badass that is efficient.

In all honesty, 50% of the jobs done on a daily basis are flat rate, I'm charging you X dollars to do Y job. That figure, of course, is based loosely on book hour and labor rate, and then discounted slightly to a good looking number, so that I can inspect the car for any other faults so I can make more money fixing more stuff.

Now, when you come in with a Jetta that has a Dual Mass Flywheel that is prone to disintegrating and you want me to A. find the source of the problem and B. fix it, you're going to get book hour.

Originally Posted by King_Chief_Fan

then I don't think I would call you a crook or a cheat...If I know what you are doing up front and I agree...then we have a contract.

This business is a contract business, I won't charge you more if I take longer, and I won't charge you more "just because".

I'll inspect the car and its issues and write up a ticket, show you the ticket, and explain to you everything about that ticket so you are comfortable with it before any signatures are done, before any cash is in my bank.

In all honesty, when I had my own shop, I went out of my way to explain exactly what it was that was wrong, why I was fixing, and made every effort I could to get across to my customers what was being done so they were comfortable with it.

Sure, it took a little bit more time, but I NEVER had a case of "WHy did it cost this much" or "Is my car ready yet" after or during the job. My customers dropped off their cars and were 110% confident it would be fixed on time, and that I'd bend over backwards to get it done so.

[Old Dog]

Originally Posted by Exoter175

The point is, every business marks up the book time so they can get 10% here or 10% there.

On this point I'm not going to beat around the bush or try and sugar coat anything.

You're a Goddamned liar.

[notorious]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

A lot of these jobs are paid for by insurance companies. I'd love to see him bill an insurance company for 2.4 hours on a job booked at 2 hours that can actually be done in 90 minutes.

He would never get away with that. Instead, he just rips off customers who don't know any better.

Like I said, it should just be a "By the job" bidding system, similar to windshield replacement.


That way you don't get ****ed by a slow mechanic that runs up the clock.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Exoter175

You claim ignorant now? We've argued in probably 3 or 4 threads Saul, you might want to fix that memory before you call an honest man providing a public service announcement, a crook. It looks bad for you.



In all honesty, 50% of the jobs done on a daily basis are flat rate, I'm charging you X dollars to do Y job. That figure, of course, is based loosely on book hour and labor rate, and then discounted slightly to a good looking number, so that I can inspect the car for any other faults so I can make more money fixing more stuff.

Now, when you come in with a Jetta that has a Dual Mass Flywheel that is prone to disintegrating and you want me to A. find the source of the problem and B. fix it, you're going to get book hour.



This business is a contract business, I won't charge you more if I take longer, and I won't charge you more "just because".

I'll inspect the car and its issues and write up a ticket, show you the ticket, and explain to you everything about that ticket so you are comfortable with it before any signatures are done, before any cash is in my bank.

In all honesty, when I had my own shop, I went out of my way to explain exactly what it was that was wrong, why I was fixing, and made every effort I could to get across to my customers what was being done so they were comfortable with it.

Sure, it took a little bit more time, but I NEVER had a case of "WHy did it cost this much" or "Is my car ready yet" after or during the job. My customers dropped off their cars and were 110% confident it would be fixed on time, and that I'd bend over backwards to get it done so.

Why don't you show me one of those threads, you lying ****ing thief?

[notorious]

Well, I have learned a lot in this thread.