Sunday, Oct 19, 2014 at 09:11
Have to agree with TTTSA...... around the $100 mark is what is classed as industry acceptable, many dealership use apprentices to carry out the majority of work and only have a few senior technicians to oversee the work.
These apprentices are charged out by so called "job placement agencies" for around $10 an hour dues to the BIG incentives these job placement agencies get from the government.
We have been approached many times to take on their apprentices but refuse to for the simple fact many of these apprentices have not got their heart and sole in the profession and only look at it as a way of getting off the dole and in many cases being forced to do it by family or social security.
Back when I started you wanted to do a trade in a given field because you were passionate about the industry and all it involved.
In my main industry of heavy mechanical/electrical the going rate is around the $120-$140 per hour for field service as it is more a specilised field..... for light vehicles in our workshop it's around the $100 per hour mark.
So yes $150 per hour is quite steep and you friend would have a good chance of fighting it and getting it reduced.
The issue with dealerships these days is profit derived from new car sales is down, new car sales in general is down for many and to keep there large overheads in shape the only income they can make is through their workshop....... it's called survival for many.
But like everything your friend did not have to use them and it was you friends choice.
But then it comes to the other side of the fact..... we get so many mums and dads customers asking us our hourly rate, then they base who gets the job from that..... it's not a real good way of getting quality work done by trained experienced people...... a workshop who charges out 3/4 of our hourly rate may not have the capable staff, training, the equipment or the quality of workmanship....in the end it may take them twice as long to diagnose and repair a fault so in the end the customer is paying more then if the came to use in the first place.
Many seem to be experts on what the job involves, how long it should take and what they should be charged.
QUOTE"Oh! and to top it off he was told to take it back the following
week so they can have another look!!."
That means very little, in some instances not every part of a fault can be repaired on the first occasion or it may of developed another fault that wasn't present when they did the original work...... it could also be something as simple as a new part they fitted failed or a workmanship issue....... yes just like you others can a do make mistakes occasionally.
So does that mean if you had surgery and complications set in after the surgery..... the surgeon is not very good at his profession...... or your TV failed again after having it repaired..... the service tech is not competent...... have tiling or painting done at
home and the tile or paint starts lifting in a small section...... is it a
sign of a bad tiler or painter.
The answer to all above is NO.
But with automobiles the customer expects the mechanic to get it right the first time every time...... if they don't then according to them the mechanic should change his/her job to something like flipping burgers at the local HJ.......... yes things customers forget.
No matter how perfect we our selves are...... we should be considerate to those who are not as perfect as our selves.
The biggest thing is how the act and address the new problem and how the customer gets treated.
AnswerID:
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