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?

[DeezNutz]

Since Sauto has owned his own shop for only the last two months, I'm worried for him. I wonder what that dude is going to be doing later this year for work?

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

i charge 30 bucks to put those intermediate shafts on a PU

That seems reasonable and I probably would have paid that as it was a bit of a pain to do.

[notorious]

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.

That is what I'm talking about.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by chiefforlife

This is getting out of hand.

Actual book time on that mirror is 1 hour. If you called my shop and asked, we would quote you 1 hour. Period.

We do install bulbs on most vehicles at no charge other than the bulb itself. If you are a good customer, we probably wouldnt charge you at all for that. I have made many a customer by doing this for someone in the parking lot and saying, there you go its on me.

I think exort is getting hammered here, a lot of shops do what he is saying.

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

[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?

[Frosty]

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.

That what I ran into. The TSB expired because I don't drive much and the problem didn't crop up until too late.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by Exoter175

You don't have the opportunity to "rip" them off, you lose one customer, you lose the whole town.

Also, which of these "busiest shops in kc" are you referring to?

honestly there are 10 other shops in this town

[Exoter175]

Originally Posted by Brock

Think the guy has been in business long enough to know what he's doing.

Not in a major metropolitan area he hasn't, which I specifically noted about 15 pages ago.

Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats.

so? You obviously have never performed a labor-intensive estimate for a business. I do similar in construction. I may know that installing a door takes my carpenters 24 minutes on average. But I can damn sure tell you I'm bidding it at 30 minutes because there are unknowns and unforeseen circumstances on every installation. They may find that the door is damaged or mis-prepped. This takes additional time to get addressed. They may find that the hardware set is missing screws, that takes time.

If you bid EXACTLY what a task "should" take, you will lose money, because there is no line item for "mistakes, errors, miscalculations, making phone calls, guys taking a shit, the power going out, etc.". There is no line item for "installing the cabinets took 7.5hrs but there was no way the carpenters were going home half an hour early, so they stood around and told jokes".

That is in no way unethical, screwing the customer, illegal, or anything of the sort. That is accommodating the nature of the business in an effective, manageable manner.

Great post

Originally Posted by Saul Good

I get my math from your post.

$80 per hour times 2.2 hours is $176.

176 / three quarters of an hour is $235.


Your math teacher must have also taught business ethics.

No, you are applying your bullshit to the post, there's a difference.

If a book time calls for two hours, I charge for two hours. The job gets done, and I get paid for two hours, simple as that.

My book times are scaled to add 10% to the labor required to account for thoroughness and accommodations I make for the customer.

Originally Posted by Frosty

This is what I am talking about. Raising the hourly rate it an above the board way to do is as the customer can see up front what you charge and can make comparisons. However, artificially raising the book hours and keeping the shop rates lower is unethical, imo. Customers don't have access to those books and may be getting charged more than they think compared to other shops.

And in many cases, the customers are, but in my businesses, I SHOW them exactly what they are paying for, as they watch me prepare the quote for them.

This isn't some behind the scenes quote job where I mask hours or apply scalers to the jobs being done, I simply point and click with the customer watching the screen so they know themselves.

[mikeyis4dcats.]

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

this is true, exorter is saying he MARKS UP THE BOOK LABOR TIMES.

so by the book it says the job pays 2.0 hours.


he bills the customer for 2.2 hours.


that is actually unethical

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?

[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.

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by Exoter175

This isn't some behind the scenes quote job where I mask hours or apply scalers to the jobs being done, I simply point and click with the customer watching the screen so they know themselves.

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

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by Exoter175

Then that's how you do business, god bless you, but I do a better job, more thorough, with better mechanics than you do. I know how to run a successful business, I've ran two back to back in the same field while pursuing various degrees and certifications as I've explained to you before.

Trust me when I say this, your good natured, "deals with a handshake" attitude of never marking anything up, will run you out of business.

You might be busy, but you won't be able to pay the bills due to rent and expenses. You'll either have to raise costs, or cut corners. If you raise costs, you're talking about marking up labor hours or raising hourly rate, if you don't, you have to cut costs, which means running a 1 or 2 man show, or not covering insurance.

All of which put you in jeopardy.

You can guarantee me anything you want Sauto, but I've owned and operated two extremely successful business in the KC Metro personally, you have not.

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.

[mikeyis4dcats.]

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)

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

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by Brock

Think the guy has been in business long enough to know what he's doing.

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.

[mikeyis4dcats.]

Originally Posted by Frosty

This is what I am talking about. Raising the hourly rate it an above the board way to do is as the customer can see up front what you charge and can make comparisons. However, artificially raising the book hours and keeping the shop rates lower is unethical, imo. Customers don't have access to those books and may be getting charged more than they think compared to other shops.

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.