I suspect that most people don't know. Certainly I do not.
It was in groats when you last had a service done ;)
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I recently had to have a key recoded on a Renault, the dealer quoted £37 for 1/2 hour work, thats £74 per our inc vat. I needed to wait while he did it and from the time he got into to the car, took it to the workshop and then did the job and drove it back outside was less then six minutes!!! needless to say I had a few words and only paid £15 for the job. It was daylight robbery, and they say they can't make any money!!!!!!
I always ask them the book time on a job before they start as well, and then if I have a problem ask to see the job card and have also asked in the past if it was a new guy doing the work. I won't pay for their training if it takes longer then the book time.
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I always ask them the book time on a job before they start as well, and then if I have a problem ask to see the job card and have also asked in the past if it was a new guy doing the work. I won't pay for their training if it takes longer then the book time.
So let me get this straight - you will only pay for the time it actually takes to do a job, if it takes less time then great but if it takes longer you start accusing them of swinging the lead and trying to rip you off?
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Yep, You got it spot on. They set book times so that we all get a fair deal. A good tech will get the job done quicker, a bad one will take longer, why should I pay for his incompetence? You don't have to pay like that in any other industry, so why should I when it is costing me £74 an hour? I wish I got paid even half that per hour!! (not suggesting that tech's do get paid anywhere near that) Garages are a licence to print money imho.
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What happens if something like a bolt is seized or something similar?
It's no-ones fault but it isn't included in the book time, it's on your car and therefore you have to pay for the time it takes to do the work.
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>>It's no-ones fault but it isn't included in the book time,
Fitter loses out on his bonus.Longer job takes less he/she earns in a week..Its rare a fitter wont finish a job under time.But it does happen.But thats his loss not customers
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Steve
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>>I always ask them the book time on a job before they start as well, and then if I have a problem ask to see the job card and have also asked in the past if it was a new guy doing the work. I won't pay for their training if it takes longer then the book time.
You will have been given a price before the work is done. Time the job takes as given them by manufacturer. This includes parts + the VAT..You will only see the invoice. not the jobcard/sheet that the fitter fills in.You have to pay amount specified by the service dep..You wont actualy see the true time it takes to do the job. But you need to realise some jobs can take longer than specified for any number of reasons.But those jobs completed before time Are fitters Bonus.An apprentice may get paid by fitter in charge of him/her for helping his bonus.But certainly only gets normal weekly wage *not bonus* from garage.Very often a trainee will be given a job that may take longer than usual but you are not charged for any extra time
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Steve
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>>It was in groats when you last had a service done ;)
Groats ? Plural !?!? Damn that inflation.
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I was recently charged £145 + VAT for "preliminary inspection" of a Ford Focus which had failed on the motorway, and was towed to them. I had the car removed from that garage as I wanted the cambelt replacement done under warranty by my friendly mech, who had replaced it about 8 months before - so I suspect they piled it on a bit as they didn't get the work.
My friendly mech said that to do what they had done (remove cambelt cover, remove rocker cover, look at cambelt, see it was OK but adjuster was bust, then put it back together) would have taken him about 20 mins.
So although my rate is a staggering £435 ph I was restricted to vote for over £70.
Needless to say, I have written to the dealer for an explanation of how they arrived at their cost...
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smokie. you are basing the rate on an independent.They opperate at lower cost than M/D.In most cases mechanics get a set rate of pay per week/month.Its different at M/D.Prices are set as to manufacturers recommendation..For instance.clutch job man/states 4 hours to change..Fitter does it in 2 hours.You still get charged for 4 hours labour + parts+ vat.Fitter gets bonus at his hourly rate.Rest of profit goes to garage..Right or wrong thats how it works...Or used to.I think it still does but anyone correct me if wrong??
"preliminary inspection" is an inspection to price specified.whether it takes 1/2 hour or 2..untill fault found!
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Steve
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