Customers think in dollars and cents, techs think in hours and tenths.
Disgruntled after ford service visit
- Thread starter blackbolt2003
- Start date
The rep did mention that they may have to replace the wheel cylinders and it would be at least $200 more than his initial estimate.
Over under that at least 75% of the posters that responded work at a dealer?
I'm so thankful my dad is a mechanic and MADE me work on my first car at 17. Yes he made me and now I only take my car to dealers for recalls.
I'm so thankful my dad is a mechanic and MADE me work on my first car at 17. Yes he made me and now I only take my car to dealers for recalls.
I still don't really see a huge issue. $437 - $79 flush - $50 parts (guess) = $308. Now since he got charged 4 hours labor, that would put the labor rate just under $80/hr. I don't think that's that crazy.
Yes, book time is the norm, but some shops/dealers will give you a break:
I just had my broken window sliders repaired in the Impala, and they quoted me for 4 hours labor, but when I picked it up they only charged me for 2 hours as the technician finished earlier than expected.
Same thing when I had my 1 5/8" shorty headers installed in the Mustang, it took the guy almost 2 1/2 hours to finish and the manager said it should have only taken him 1 hour, so that's all they billed me.
I just had my broken window sliders repaired in the Impala, and they quoted me for 4 hours labor, but when I picked it up they only charged me for 2 hours as the technician finished earlier than expected.
Same thing when I had my 1 5/8" shorty headers installed in the Mustang, it took the guy almost 2 1/2 hours to finish and the manager said it should have only taken him 1 hour, so that's all they billed me.
I agree. That's why I said he got screwed, but it was a standard screwing for using a dealer.
The total was $53x. Their labor rate is $125/hr.
I have more of an issue with $125/hr labor rate that I do with them charging book rates.
I don't have an issue with them charging book rates as a general rule. I understand that it can be a practice that protects both parties. However, there was a flaw in the method they used to estimate this job. I think the service rep entered in a gross overestimate (to cover the dealer) in the computer and stuck with it. As soon as "worst case scenario" did not apply the bill should have been adjusted to reflect the change in the job.
As others have said it is flat rate/book rate whatever your fav term is, this applies to body shops to (works in the insurance field). They have software that tell them it should take x amount of time to do a certain operations so they charged you whatever it says even if they can do it in 20 mins because they've done so many of them they can do it blind. It is what its, which is why people go to independent dealers so they dont have to pay a dealers high mechanical rate. You can usually save at the minimal 25% off labor rate or more if you go to an independent and they are likely to do a better job anyway because they want repeat service. Dealerships dont care because they will always have a ton of cars to work on.
In this case, I believe the service rep wrote in a custom job code because the job codes were not broken down like they normally are. i.e job code 1-543 Remove and replace rear hard brake line. job code 1-544 remove seized brake bleeders. The only job code was customer. He overestimated and the dealer won.
BS. Most (good) independent shops have almost as high of a hourly rate as a dealer. Not to mention they almost exclusively use cheap aftermarket parts store parts. Everyone wants repeat customers, especially dealers. Customer service is a huge priority due to surveys. Surveys will murder a dealer. Are you going to pay more at a dealer, yes you will. But you will have OEM parts not autozone parts not to mention a technician trained to work on your car. They know the ins and outs and known issues with the exact car you take to them. You get what you pay for. That being said $125 is outrageous and you should find another dealer with a more acceptable hourly rate. ($85-100)
No, I've taken cars to other Ford dealers as well as small shops over the past 20 years.
Agreed, repeat customers and referred customers are a dealer's bread and butter. Especially, in an urban area such as this. There are plenty of Ford dealers with an hour drive.
I will never go back to this dealer for any service because of this incident. I will also rank them very poorly on their survey.
Granted, I typically do my own work, but any time I've had a shop do work for me, I've never gotten this flat rate crap, except for rudimentary jobs like a brake job or something like that. Those usually just come with "the price."
If this is the way shops are going now, I'm happy to continue to do my own work!
It's how we make a living, if it takes me book time or less to paint something, I win. If it takes me longer, no good. If I turned 10 hours a day I wouldn't be in the auto body field. I aim for 40+ a day.
But knowing this, I wouldn't happy shelling out 500$ to paint a bumper when I know the job will be done in an hour. But it's the business.
But knowing this, I wouldn't happy shelling out 500$ to paint a bumper when I know the job will be done in an hour. But it's the business.
This is not how it works.
You also wouldnt want to pay 6 hours labor for a 3 hour job because your car is a rustbucket and he had to torch 20 bolts and you would blame the tech. But you expect the shop to take the risk? They don't know how much of a pita a particular job will be due to unforeseen circumstances.
Billing flat rate per industry standards makes it better for all.
Always an option to take your vehicle to another dealer, competition is a good thing. But be warned the next dealer will have flate rate labor time as well. It honestly sounds like you just don't quite understand how the bill time was calculated. And it was the advisors job to explain it to you a little better. Understand the advisors job is much harder to do than you think, and most of the time they don't think to explain exactly how that stuff is calculated because most people don't care. They want to get in, pay the bill and get out. A little understanding and explanation would have gone a long way in this circumstance.
Also keep in mind the advisor was just doing his job, killing him on a survey can literally take food out of his kids mouth. Bitch and moan all you want online but you don't know how much those surveys are weighed on the advisors paycheck. You won't help anyone with a bad survey, the dealer blames it on the advisor, no other customers will ever see the survey either. They are unfair to say the least. So before you start clicking all zeros think about how much of an impact you can have on someones personal life.
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