Installing a passenger side mirror?

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats.

I don't think you understand the process.

Similarly in construction, there are Cost Books which give contractors industry averages for performing various types of work. Some bid straight off them, some adjust, and some (like me) only use them when dealing with something we don't have a grasp on. I DO THIS TOO

If the cost book tells me it will take 43 hours to install wood trim in a fancy conference room, and it only takes me 30, that's my windfall. It helps even out the next job when it takes us 70 hours instead of 43.

And again, as I understand it, he is using the "book" to quote repairs, then billing what he quoted. Nothing wrong with that.

but he is adding 10 to 20 % hours ON TOP OF THE BOOK TIME.

[mikeyis4dcats.]

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

but he is adding 10 to 20 % hours ON TOP OF THE BOOK TIME.

if you know for a fact that the "book" gives you 1 hour top replace a part, and in reality every time you've done it it took you 1.5hrs are you going to quote future ones at 1 or 1.5?

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats.

if you know for a fact that the "book" gives you 1 hour top replace a part, and in reality every time you've done it it took you 1.5hrs are you going to quote future ones at 1 or 1.5?

Then you probably aren't qualified to do that particular job.

[Exoter175]

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

but he is adding 10 to 20 % hours ON TOP OF THE BOOK TIME.

No, I am not.

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

he didnt.


but he charged them for more hours than the book called for. that is unethical in my book and in everyone's book i ever worked for. (even the big shops in kc)

I adjusted the book times to fit my business of going above and beyond what you could even THINK of as customer service, to guarantee that any work done, does not come back as a fault, or that I am not liable for any issue.

Something you'd be doing in the greater metro area if you had a business here ran purely by the customer service you offer.

But you don't.

You're a small town mom and pop shop that does as much business in a 3 months, as I did in ONE month.

Where I competed with the likes of Goodyear, Firestone, NTB, Calverts (who I later sold the business to), all 5 locations within 5 miles of me, on top of 150 other private, smaller repair shops within the same distance.

Originally Posted by Saul Good

What a stud. You must be the mechanic for every celebrity in Olathe, KS.

I'm a businessman who keeps tabs on EVERYONE, because I don't like to lose.

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

no. but you would have to understand that the price agreed to is the price paid no matter how long it took me.


i've never took longer than the book says unless i wasnt trying

Then you haven't worked on a fraction of the cars I have, because if you honestly can sit here and say that you've never taken longer than book, you haven't worked on shit by comparison.

No offense.

Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats.

what pisses me off are TSBs that expire. My Mercury had a TSB issued for a buzzing issue related to the speedo. I didn't know that until after the period for claims against the TSB expired.

And that's how it works quite a bit.

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

this.
but if he's inflating book time he's not doing a good service to his customers.

How so? If I'm offering the best services around with the best customer service?

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

honestly there are 10 other shops in this town

Wow? 10? A whole 10?

Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats.

no, he's never said that.

he said he QUOTES the customer 2.2 hours, and then bills them 2.2 hours. How is that unethical?

Exactly.

PS, I had to take off Sauto from my ignore list to answer his ****ing posts that he can't just put into one post.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by Exoter175

No, I am not.



I adjusted the book times to fit my business of going above and beyond what you could even THINK of as customer service, to guarantee that any work done, does not come back as a fault, or that I am not liable for any issue.

Something you'd be doing in the greater metro area if you had a business here ran purely by the customer service you offer.

But you don't.

You're a small town mom and pop shop that does as much business in a 3 months, as I did in ONE month.

Where I competed with the likes of Goodyear, Firestone, NTB, Calverts (who I later sold the business to), all 5 locations within 5 miles of me, on top of 150 other private, smaller repair shops within the same distance.



I'm a businessman who keeps tabs on EVERYONE, because I don't like to lose.



Then you haven't worked on a fraction of the cars I have, because if you honestly can sit here and say that you've never taken longer than book, you haven't worked on shit by comparison.

No offense.



And that's how it works quite a bit.



How so? If I'm offering the best services around with the best customer service?



Wow? 10? A whole 10?



Exactly.

PS, I had to take off Sauto from my ignore list to answer his ****ing posts that he can't just put into one post.

you arent actually offering anything.

you dont own a business anymore remember?


and actually you have said multiple times that you mark up the labor times.

[mikeyis4dcats.]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

Then you probably aren't qualified to do that particular job.

if the mechanics "book" is anything like a construction cost book, some line items are spot on, others are WILDLY inaccurate. I can't imagine it's any different.

[Exoter175]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

Then you probably aren't qualified to do that particular job.

Most people aren't "qualified" to do most jobs. Sauto isn't qualified for 1/10th the stuff I am, but here he is barking up my tree looking for a biscuit.

Originally Posted by Frosty

But you aren't showing them the same hours that another shop might.

Every shop is different, in all honesty, my hours were probably in the bottom third of the shops in the area. So I adjusted my labor hour to compensate so I wasn't flooded 24/7/365

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

LOL. my way has kept this shop open longer than BOTH OF YOUR FAILED BUSINESSES. i've got plenty of insurance. pay all bills. hell even have plenty of money in the bank LOL

trust me buddy i know what im doing. i do it by the book and have great mechanics that work under me.

I never failed at any business, we closed down or sold our business to pursue a higher paying, less hour intensive career. Where I get paid three times as much for half the work.


Running a profitable business is not a failure, selling your business to a larger company, is not a failure.

Those are wins, you moron.

Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats.

perhaps he does that instead of charging the 28% for shop supplies....

I don't charge for shop supplies, I charge for disposal if I need it though.

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

wait, maybe i need advice from a guy who has ran two into the ground.


and now is posting that he wants to start another.


i see guys like that quite often.

they take as much money from people as possible then they skip town for a while, then here they are back under a NEW name and do it all again.

I've lived in Olathe all of my life, I still keep in contact with my customers on a daily basis, and I didn't run two into the ground. I closed one down and sold the other.

That isn't running them into the ground, and for the record, the next business I plan to open, isn't automotive related, it is distribution related.

Nice to know you are full of assumptions and false accusations today, must have drank a ton of haterade down there in booneville.

Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats.

you people must go to different auto repair places than I do. I never ask the labor rate or the book time. I ask for a price. Period. 2 hours at $80 and 2.2 hours at $72.70 is STILL $160. That's all anyone should give a **** about.

That's how the business works, but sometimes people want to know where the price comes from, so I show them.

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

i dont charge for shop supplies either.

what i use is listed on the ticket. if we use supplies they are listed right out and charged accordingly.

no shop supplies line on my invoices

Something you do right, shocking!

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

and that would still be dishonest and illegal.


shop supplies are taxed. labor isnt.

Dishonesty is in the eye of the beholder.

Because I do a better job and charge for it, you call me dishonest, yet my customers would disagree with you.

Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats.

if the mechanics "book" is anything like a construction cost book, some line items are spot on, others are WILDLY inaccurate. I can't imagine it's any different.

It is wildly inaccurate, which is why half of our jobs were priced on a "per job" basis and not labor hour, but were created with labor hour and book hour in mind, as all are.

[Exoter175]

Originally Posted by Frosty

I already said all I care about is bottom line price. However, I have run into a lot of mechanics that bring up the book hours. Also, I know a lot of people that shop by shop rates, which are usually prominently displayed when you walk in the door. Shop rates don't matter if there isn't a standard way in which they are applied.

What I've been trying to preach here, is that there is NO STANDARD to apply, though I have a feeling you mean it for a singular business, but I'll use it abroad.

There is no standard book time, of 9 different software companies who produce books, none of them are the same. I used a book time that was one of the industry's lowest book times, and applied 10% accordingly for my business purpose. It doesn't cost the customer much, but in the end, helps me pay for the "extras" i do for my customers. Its not like I'm adding 10% to the whole bill here.

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

you arent actually offering anything.

you dont own a business anymore remember?


and actually you have said multiple times that you mark up the labor times.

I don't personally mark up labor times, my software is setup to add 10% to labor times to account for our services. And no, I don't offer anything because my business is sold in the hand of a major company doing business out of the same location I was.

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.

Adding 5 dollars to your labor hour ends up costing the customers more than 10% to labor hours, just an FYI for the time when you might decide to up your labor hour because you need to make money or you need to lower your customer intake.

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

and 10 shops in a town that has less that 3000 residents is a pretty crowded marketplace

There's like 115 shops in Merriam alone, 10 shops per 3,000 people is at or below the metro average buddy.