RE: grand theft auto(repair) was Clutch Replacement 90CQ

[Mike Sylvester <Mike.Sylvester@aptis.com>]

If you treat your customers fairly then you do not need to be defensive.

If the shop does what they say they will do for the quoted price and
the customer understands what they are getting for their money
then all is good.  

If the shop does not want to deal with customer supplied parts then don't.
Loose that business to someone else, but don't cry about it and try to 
guilt the customer with the "bacon and eggs" analogy.

If you quote a price for labor then stand by it.  

Be honest.

I have my strong opinions because I worked in the auto industry for 8 years 
and saw the crooks that are out there.  I can't tell you how many horror 
stories that I had been told by my customers.

I no longer turn a wrench except on my own car and I have brought my
cars to someone else twice.  Both for 4 wheel alignments and both 
were very bad experiences.  

A Firestone tire dealer told me that my 87 5KCS TQ needed inner tierod ends.

Interesting since the car does not have inner tierod ends.  The service
writer
tried to argue with me when I explained it to him.

An Audi Dealer in Boston (Clair Audi) quoted me $100 for a 4 wheel
alignment.
They called me back and said that they needed an hour to loosen 2 bolts on
the
rear trapezoidal arm at $70/hr.  Loosening those bolts is part of the job.
Are we now
charging by the bolt?  They then broke the bolts off and charged me for new
ones.
I can agree with that.  My bolts were rusted and broke, OK.  $15 each.  What
are these
bolts made of?  I can buy the same grade 8 bolt at the hardware store for $5
and that 
is high.  If bought in volume I bet they cost $0.50.

When I picked up the car, the dealer tried to whack me for a battery.  I
told the dealer
that my battery was fine when I dropped the car off.  The service writer's
response
was, "Well it's dead now."  Bull s**t.  I had them jump start the car and I
drove it back to
work (~6 miles).  I shut off the engine and then restarted it.  No problem.
And never had 
a problem with it since.

Like I said in the beginning. If you are honest and treat your customers
fairly, then
I am not talking about you and there is no reason to be defensive.  If you
are the other
type you know who you are and I really don't care what you have to say.

Mike Sylvester


> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Stephen Bigelow [SMTP:sbigelow@sprint.ca]
> Sent:	Tuesday, March 16, 1999 2:45 PM
> To:	quattro
> Subject:	Re: grand theft auto(repair) was Clutch Replacement 90CQ
> 
> 
> -->There are too many games being played.
> 
> Indeed. Including people telling others how to run their business's.
> 
> Free market, folks. If you don't like a shop's policys, don't patronize
> them. There is no point in getting all hot under the collar because you
> don't like it. Just don't shop there.
> 
> Simple, eh?
> 
> Applies to every business, not just auto repair. But don't use them, and
> _then_ bitch about it, because then you've just tacitly validated the
> policies.
> 
> BTW, I imagine the shop has to look at the total profit on a job, not just
> labour or parts, but both. But maybe there is a shop owner on the list?
> 
> Stephen Bigelow, Business Owner.
> Ottawa, ON
> 84 5000S
> 
>