Grand Cherokee Owners - Fight back!!

hmm lets see 108 a hour at 40 hours a week comes to 4320.00 a week now deduct
24 a hour the tech makes turning 40 hrs thats 960.00 weeks
equals
========

$3360.00 dealer takes
and now you can see what kind or money is taken out of your pockets
now times that by 7 techs and you get $23.520.00 for a week and thats at 40
hrs
now the dealer wants you to turn 50 to 60 hr. and i'll let you do the math
come to the end of the month it comes to 94,040.00 now tell me who is the
rip-off artist
now these figures do not include what the crafty service write comes up with
and add the chemical fee, the deposal fee for oil. which is usually taken by a
recycler for free, or the dealer gets paid a few bucs for
mike u really need to get it! what you think you see going on is really 180
degrees of what actually does occur and why

 

You dont have to change the system, just your additute about having
pride in your work instead being a gravy sucking pig.

I "only" flag 10-12 hours a day and make a good living out off it and
hardly have any comebacks.

johan

 

$400 for a brake job? Wow. If it wasn't for all that overhead, you could do
one brake job and then knock off for the day. How do people afford that?

 

I agree with you there. You guys are making somebody rich, whether you're on
flat rate or not. On flat rate they just get rich a lot faster. This creates
a huge incentive for dealer mechanics that are really good to leave the
dealer and go into business, leaving the dealer always with "beginners" low
on initiative.

 

Depends on what's included with the brake job. Is it just new pads? Is
it new pads plus turning rotors? Is it 4 new rotors and 8 new pads? If
the latter, then $400 might be a reasonable price for a 4-wheel brake
job. I just recently did the brakes on my daughter's Mercury Mystique -
new rotors/new pads (front), new drums/new shoes (rear) - good quality
parts - nothing exotic, but not low end either, and the parts alone were
right at $300.

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

Do you know what flat rate means? It means you'll get paid the same
even if you work on it for twice as long as you're getting paid for to
fix it right, so where's the incentive?

 

A clearer definition of flat rate:

If the rate manual gives four hours to do a particular job, for an arbitrary
figure. You take eight hours. You get paid for four hours, and if it comes
back for defective workmanship, not a part failure in the allotted warranty
time.

Guess what? you fix it for free!

So in essence, a flat rate technician is most likely the technician you want
working on your car!

Employers are very leery about putting shoddy or inexperienced technicians
or butchers on flat rate!

The End.

Refinish King

 

And using the same thought, if it is an hourly rate you will still fix it
for free since you screwed it up the first time. But then with the flat
rate, if you charge for 4 hours and only take 2 hours, then you are ahead of
the game. Unless, if doing it hourly, you lie and say it took longer. But
doing this you will run out of customers fast. Flat rate are charged for a
reason. Very few people want to pay by the hour. You could make a 2 hour job
last for days.

 

Flat rate books were written for a reason:

to give technicians an estimated time that it would require to do the job.

If a technician is proficient, and beats it. Should he be penalized?

The customer asks how much?

The customer is told 4 hours at $50.00.

If it takes 10 hours, the customer gets to slide, but if the job goes well.
The business owner gets dorked?

Where's the incentive to be in business?

You must be a trolling customer, who wants it all, a guarantee that he will
get it cheap, and none of the things that can go wrong on the job. Flat
rate, you win some and lose some!

Refinish King

 

Who the hell are you calling a trolling customer? I am totally for the flat
rate. I was trying to explain WHY they use the flat rate over an hourly
rate. Too many customers were screwed by dishonest mechanics who would fix a
car in 2 hours and said it took 4 hours. The flat rate stopped this. And
even the flat rate is over estimated but it works. When I took a vehicle in
for work, I was charged the flat rate for each item done. They charged me
the flat rate for the catalytic converter. Then added in the flat rate for
the brakes. Total time was about 6 hours but they were done in 2. So the
mechanic made out. I have no problem with that. They did a good job. But
before the flat rate, when I had work done, they would end up keeping it
over night and charge me for 10 hours labor for something that I could have
done myself in 3 hours. So no, I have nothing against the flat rate since I
am told up front what it is going to cost me.

 

Then you were a victim:

I ran an honest shop, and even cut time off of flat rate for seniors and
people of less privilege. So before you come out of the gate asking me who
the hell I think I am? I'm an honest shop operator, nothing like the ones
who took advantage of you.

I refuse to be compared to the grease monkey image you speak of, when I took
time to help the local action groups and churches with the poor that needed
their cars fixed, in order to find jobs, I treated customers fairly and paid
for training for my employees so they would "Do the job right the first
time" plus quicker!

Maybe you got screwed, but not by me!

So if you have a bone to pick, go to the source that stuck it to you, not
the one who gave you an accurate description.

With kind regards,

Refinish King

 

You didn't charge every customer the same rate? That's illegal, isn't it?

 

Jeeps don't start to fall apart until the day after the warranty
expires.

 

I don't know what magical book they showed you but all the flat rate
manuals I have read are HEAVILY in the customer's favor. .2 hours to
change brake pads, christ it takes that long to get it on the lift.

 

What ever the book said:

times my labor rate!

To charge different customers, a different labor rate is illegal.

Unless you set up an account with a large fleet or a used car dealer.

How can you charge one customer four hours to do a heater core, and another
four hours to do brakes?

Are you on crack?

Refinish King

 

LOL

If they last till the warranty expires you mean?

Refinish King

PS
I managed a Dodge/Chrysler/jeep body shop and helped the inept service
manager in service. So I know first hand of the Dakota 4Wd differential
failures that Mopar wouldn't cover, and all of their wonderful business
philosophies.

Sincerely,

Refinish King

 

Not to mention the sintered wheel nuts and studs:

Which they recommend we don't lubricate, and Anti-Seize has been proven time
and time again to not attract dust!

Refinish King

 

when was the last time you went into a dealer aftermarket maybe but dealers
is a whole different thing

 

I worked at a dealer:

I averaged $1800.00 a week on warrantee work only!

Refinish King

 

you won't now
the germs make you take pictures of the failed parts esp. body work