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Ever been ripped off by a car mechanic?

1,489 217 December 12, 2010 at 12:43 PM in Autos Yahoo! Web Hosting

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Joined Jan 2006
Piece of work
> bubble2 18,933 Posts
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Landers
12-13-2010 at 06:36 PM.
12-13-2010 at 06:36 PM.
Quote from Filet-O-Fish :
or be a mechanic yourself....i wish i was one!
I wish you'd stop posting pointless threads.
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Joined Jun 2004
L10: Grand Master
> bubble2 27,804 Posts
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Pig
12-13-2010 at 06:52 PM.
12-13-2010 at 06:52 PM.
Quote from Landers :
I wish you'd stop posting pointless threads.
Working hard to get on his ignore list I see! Stick Out Tongue
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Joined Sep 2003
Now Popular
> bubble2 19,372 Posts
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DNC
12-13-2010 at 06:57 PM.
12-13-2010 at 06:57 PM.
Quote from oynot :
Like the time I left my car at 9:10AM, picked it up at 10:20 and had a 2.5 hour labor charge??
The "shop charge" was for the lube they applied before they raped you.
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Joined Jan 2006
Piece of work
> bubble2 18,933 Posts
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Landers
12-13-2010 at 07:28 PM.
12-13-2010 at 07:28 PM.
Quote from Pig :
Working hard to get on his ignore list I see! Stick Out Tongue
Already there. laugh out loud
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Joined Jun 2010
IDC
> bubble2 277 Posts
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oynot
12-13-2010 at 07:44 PM.
12-13-2010 at 07:44 PM.
Quote from DNC :
The "shop charge" was for the lube they applied before they raped you.
It was for diagnostics and replacing a sensor so the check engine light would go away. Probably as hard as plugging a meter into the car and changing a light bulb. Don't those things just screw in?

Never been back there.
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Joined Nov 2010
CAPTAIN AWESOME
> bubble2 2,414 Posts
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drsketch
12-13-2010 at 07:53 PM.
12-13-2010 at 07:53 PM.
Had one attempt that once but I am big and can be scary to bad people, so they quickly corrected it.
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Joined May 2006
Boating
> bubble2 21,189 Posts
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Piccaboo
12-13-2010 at 08:14 PM.
12-13-2010 at 08:14 PM.
Quote from oynot :
Like the time I left my car at 9:10AM, picked it up at 10:20 and had a 2.5 hour labor charge??
Rates are based on the job and the hours according to the Flat Rate Manual - so if a Technician can work faster than what the hours say it pays - he makes more money that way - haven't you learned anything in life yet about car repairs - back before A/C's were automatically in all vehicles it would pay 10.5 hours to put one in - and my husband could do it in 6.5 hours - but got paid 10.5 hours - that's how a flat-rate Technician makes money - the faster they work - they more money they make. You have a really good Technician that can diagnose and fix it fast - he makes damn good money. The one's that do only Warranty Work don't make squat - cause Warranty Work doesn't pay squat - plus they don't learn anything either on the job - they only thing they learn is how to R&R a part that has been recalled - that is NOT the Technician you want working on your vehicle.
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Joined Jun 2010
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> bubble2 277 Posts
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oynot
12-14-2010 at 05:29 AM.
12-14-2010 at 05:29 AM.
[QUOTE=Piccaboo;35326581]Rates are based on the job and the hours according to the Flat Rate Manual - so if a Technician can work faster than what the hours say it pays - he makes more money that way - haven't you learned anything in life yet about car repairs - [QUOTE]



If I work on a project for two hours, I expect to get paid for two hours. I couldn't in good conscience work on a project for two hours and bill for three just because I can do something faster and just as well as the average monkey.

Why should car repairs be anything different unless you're out to rip someone off?
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Joined Jun 2010
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> bubble2 277 Posts
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oynot
12-14-2010 at 05:32 AM.
12-14-2010 at 05:32 AM.
Quote from drsketch :
Had one attempt that once but I am big and can be scary to bad people, so they quickly corrected it.
Good for you. I'm not that big or scary but had them do something about it, too.

There's a limit to this flat rate crap.
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Joined Mar 2007
L10: Grand Master
> bubble2 9,413 Posts
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handyguy
12-14-2010 at 10:08 AM.
12-14-2010 at 10:08 AM.
Quote from Piccaboo :
Bursting your bubble, any shop can supply old parts for you, doesn't mean they came from your vehicle
But if they aren't for your car, then they didn't come from your car.

As for the core thing, you're certainly allowed to see the core too.
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Joined Jul 2005
L10: Grand Master
> bubble2 10,159 Posts
z2g
12-14-2010 at 12:10 PM.
12-14-2010 at 12:10 PM.
Wasn't the Jiffy Lube scandal in the news like 2 yrs ago? I think about the same time as the Sears scandal.
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Joined Aug 2007
heartless
> bubble2 9,258 Posts
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noungning
12-14-2010 at 12:15 PM.
12-14-2010 at 12:15 PM.
Sadwalk Plenty.
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Joined Sep 2006
skinny2by4
> bubble2 8,318 Posts
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Me
12-14-2010 at 12:27 PM.
12-14-2010 at 12:27 PM.
Quote from noungning :
Sadwalk Plenty.
Ha ha you paid asian girl prices
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Joined May 2006
Boating
> bubble2 21,189 Posts
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Piccaboo
12-14-2010 at 01:17 PM.
12-14-2010 at 01:17 PM.
Quote from oynot :

If I work on a project for two hours, I expect to get paid for two hours. I couldn't in good conscience work on a project for two hours and bill for three just because I can do something faster and just as well as the average monkey.

Why should car repairs be anything different unless you're out to rip someone off?
I take offensive at the word "monkey" when it comes to qualified Technician's whom continually go back to school to keep up with the advancement in changes in the automotive field.

If you think you are that fabulous at fixing automobiles - try it yourself and see how far you get when the problem gets intricately involved and you have no machines to help you diagnosis the problem.

The Flat Rate System was developed eons ago - so go bark up some other tree. Technicians are paid a flat fee per week, and the faster they work, they more money they make, which makes a Technician better and better at what they do. As stated the one's whom do Warranty Work are the one's whom don't learn anything, except how to R&R a part determined by the Factory.

It isn't ripping anyone off - it's called FLAT RATE BY THE BOOK - or don't you understand that. Otherwise, you car repair bills would be much higher - as they would need to pay the Technicians far higher wages in order to cover what they should be making by not working as fast as they learn to do so. Would you rather that shake head

Quote from handyguy :
But if they aren't for your car, then they didn't come from your car.

As for the core thing, you're certainly allowed to see the core too.
Your entitled to see the core, but the Business Owner is also required to turn that core in for credit ASAP as well - so if you don't pick up your vehicle by a certain time limit - the core gets returned for credit. See it's not all about you as the vehicle owner, they are running a business, with others involved as well, parts people they buy from, that they have obligations to as well.

Honestly, 98% of the average person out there wouldn't even recognize the old part that came off their car - and I'm being honest about that - nor would they know what it was - trying to be honest and putting the old parts back in the box to the best of our ability - gives them the chance to see what was replaced. But not all person(s) even know half of what is in their vehicle - part wise.
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Last edited by Piccaboo December 14, 2010 at 01:21 PM.

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Joined Jun 2010
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> bubble2 277 Posts
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oynot
12-14-2010 at 01:41 PM.
12-14-2010 at 01:41 PM.
Quote from Piccaboo :
The Flat Rate System was developed eons ago - so go bark up some other tree. Technicians are paid a flat fee per week, and the faster they work, they more money they make, which makes a Technician better and better at what they do. As stated the one's whom do Warranty Work are the one's whom don't learn anything, except how to R&R a part determined by the Factory.

It isn't ripping anyone off - it's called FLAT RATE BY THE BOOK - or don't you understand that. Otherwise, you car repair bills would be much higher - as they would need to pay the Technicians far higher wages in order to cover what they should be making by not working as fast as they learn to do so. Would you rather that shake head
From the internet:
Unfortunately, there's a dark side to flat rate billing, and it comes from the top. Many mechanics will be paid based only on how many billable hours -- what the flat rate book says -- he accumulates. On top of this, management puts lots of pressure on the technicians to bill as much as humanly possible. If they fall below a certain number of hours per day, the techs have problems. And it doesn't matter why the day went slower. Left in a position where one slowed repair can put him behind, lose him money, and get the bosses breathing down his neck, some mechanics will rush the job and take short cuts. That's when the flat rate system can fail.

So a slow mechanic is in trouble? And a speedy mecanic wins? I'd rather pay whatever it takes for a job well done than pay these fat rate plans.

Let's agree to disagree.


but the Business Owner is also required to turn that core in for credit ASAP as well

When does ownership of a part taken from my car go to the repair shop?? WTF? They charge a disposal fee and turn around and sell it!! Ha.
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Last edited by oynot December 14, 2010 at 01:44 PM.
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