Installing a passenger side mirror?

[Exoter175]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

Good Christ man, are you a ****ing stroke victim? You've flat out stated that you bill for the book time plus 20%...you lying ****ing thief.

No, I've stated that my book time is increased by a percentage.

There is a difference.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Exoter175

No, I've stated that my book time is increased by a percentage.

There is a difference.

That's exactly what I just posted you goddamned inbred.

[chiefforlife]

In case anyone wants to know, an 02 Audi Allroad door mirror's official book time is 1 hour.

[Exoter175]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

That's exactly what I just posted you goddamned inbred.

No, that isn't EXACTLY what you just posted, you imbecile.

Originally Posted by chiefforlife

In case anyone wants to know, an 02 Audi Allroad door mirror's official book time is 1 hour.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Exoter175

Simply put, Labor Hour is what I'm going to charge you PER HOUR to fix your car. IT doesn't stop there though, because I'm probably going to pull up something like Mitchell or Alldata to find out how long it is going to take me to fix it, when you come in and ask for a quote, and I'm probably going to mark up the base labor hour by 10-25% on top of that.

Originally Posted by Saul Good

Good Christ man, are you a ****ing stroke victim? You've flat out stated that you bill for the book time plus 20%...you lying ****ing thief.

Originally Posted by Exoter175

No, that isn't EXACTLY what you just posted, you imbecile.

Wierd...I guess it can be as high as 25%. If they're lucky, you give them a discount and only rip them off by billing them for 10% more time than it actually took.

[Exoter175]

Originally Posted by Pestilence

So if you book for 8.....but your mechanic is slow and takes 12......the customer doesn't get charged those extra 4 hours.....correct?

You are correct, you aren't paying for my slow mechanic, I am.

Originally Posted by Saul Good

Wierd...I guess it can be as high as 25%. If they're lucky, you give them a discount and only rip them off by billing them for 10% more time than it actually took.

That isn't how it works, but you sure are trying hard to make me look like a bad guy here.

This is how it works.

You walk in, hand me the keys, My mechanic and I look at the car, noting what needs to get fixed.

I write up a quote.
I show you the quote.
You either agree or disagree with the quote.
If you agree, you sign the quote, I fix the car, you pay when it is done.
If you disagree, we figure out why you disagree (Probably because my quote has a service on there you don't feel you need to do just yet, like an oil change or something)
I write up a new quote, you agree, you sign, I fix it, you pay when it is done.

That is it. I don't charge you more when it is done, I don't charge you less when it is done. You signed a contract for me to perform a service. The hours are an estimate, the cost is based on my rate and the estimated time to accomplish the job.

That's it.

That is how it works in any lawfully established automotive repair shop, or shall I say, how it is SUPPOSED to work.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Exoter175

You are correct, you aren't paying for my slow mechanic, I am.



That isn't how it works, but you sure are trying hard to make me look like a bad guy here.

This is how it works.

You walk in, hand me the keys, My mechanic and I look at the car, noting what needs to get fixed.

I write up a quote.
I show you the quote.
You either agree or disagree with the quote.
If you agree, you sign the quote, I fix the car, you pay when it is done.
If you disagree, we figure out why you disagree (Probably because my quote has a service on there you don't feel you need to do just yet, like an oil change or something)
I write up a new quote, you agree, you sign, I fix it, you pay when it is done.

That is it. I don't charge you more when it is done, I don't charge you less when it is done. You signed a contract for me to perform a service. The hours are an estimate, the cost is based on my rate and the estimated time to accomplish the job.

That's it.

That is how it works in any lawfully established automotive repair shop, or shall I say, how it is SUPPOSED to work.

Right. Buyer beware.

You're just taking advantage of the fact that the old lady walking in the door doesn't know how long a job actually takes.

Why don't you try telling your next customer, "according to the professional estimating tool, this job should take three hours. I'm only going to spend two and a half hours working on it, but I'm going to bill you for three and a half hours."

[Exoter175]

Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats.

unless I'm mistaked the book is not binding, only a guide. There is nothing unethical IMHO about padding book times. If history has shown a given shop cannot complete the work in the "book time" then they need to bill whatever the actual time is.

You are not mistaken, book times are just rough guides on how long it should take a mechanic without breaks, without other cars, to finish the job. I adjust it by 10% to account for phone calls, working on multiple cars at a time, and making sure the work is done right, so that my mechanics don't have to rush.

I don't bill you more or less than what our contract states.

Originally Posted by Saul Good

What a great guy. All you're really doing is checking a book to see how long a job should take (knowing full well that it won't even take you as long as the book estimates), upping the number of hours by 10-25%, billing the customer accordingly, and calling yourself thorough.

No, that is not how it works at all.

When I pull up the book and add all of the services in it, it already has the scaling factor included.

More often than not, it takes every bit of the book time, if not more, to complete the task, and that is almost always due to my mechanics being thorough, making sure they don't rush, triple check their work, and even do a "check out" report that most shops do not do.

our "Check out" report is simply an inspect of the vehicle inside and out, to make sure we did or did not damage the vehicle in any way while we were working on it. We also do a "check in" report that most shops do not do, because it takes time.

I am incredibly thorough, and I like to cover my ass. In all honesty, when all is said and done, you might pay me for 2.2 hours on an estimated 2 hour job, but I probably had a mechanic working 3.5 hours on your vehicle.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by chiefforlife

In case anyone wants to know, an 02 Audi Allroad door mirror's official book time is 1 hour.

you are a guy whose opinion i trust in this situation.


do you mark up your book times by a percentage on every job?

[chiefforlife]

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

you are a guy whose opinion i trust in this situation.


do you mark up your book times by a percentage on every job?

No I do not. But I cant tell you how many shop owners have told me to do so. I just dont think its right, there are plenty of successful guys who do.

The first shop owner that told me about it, my response was, "I didnt know there was a gouge button." He wasnt to happy with me, hehe.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by chiefforlife

No I do not. But I cant tell you how many shop owners have told me to do so. I just dont think its right, there are plenty of successful guys who do.

The first shop owner that told me about it, my response was, "I didnt know there was a gouge button." He wasnt to happy with me, hehe.

thanks. i agree with you