Is this the Cummins in Tarrant? If so, good luck. My dad worked there for a lot of years. It has always been a mess over there and it's worse now that they have been under new ownership for the past several years. Most of the guys there could not care less about customer satisfaction, or take any pride in their work...just a paycheck. This is one of the reasons my old man left.

 

Go back and read my first post. It is verbatim, exactly what is on the repair log. The "book rate" according to that was 0.5. Which is 0.4 starter remove & INSTALL (that is what the SRT calls out), and 0.1 for sensor removal & instal.

0.5 is far and away different from 2.4. I can't understand the lack of comprehension. I've explained this as clear as I can. Maybe my explanation is just crappy.

You guys think I'm mad because I'm going to have to pay. THAT AIN'T IT! I'm mad because I was told one thing, and they try to get me to pay something else. The old bait and switch. "We'll do it for book rate!" Then I show up, "we couldn't do it for book rate, instead it's nearly 5 times higher than book rate." Those 2 last sentences are paraphrasing, not real quotes.

I guess I should mention that I called him on the phone earlier today to make sure he was there before I went up there. He started in on me (because he had already been talking to the guy from yesterday) immediately about, "I didn't say it would only be 1 hour labor," My response, "I never said you said anything about it being 1 hour, 1/2 an hour, 2 hours ... I said you told me twice it would be book rate for the job *ONLY*." Then he said, "I don't remember having any conversation about book rate."

Of course I was immediatlely irrate about the lie he just told me, but I didn't say anything, instead I tried to calm down. I then told him before any arguing ensued that I was NOT coming up there or calling them to make an argument. He settled down and told me come on in and he, the other guy, and I would discuss it. I said OK.

Anyway, I went up there. Followed the advice from here, and the service guy and I worked it out. We worked it out to what was fair from both of our sides. I explained to him my point of view, about what he told me upfront TWICE versus what the deal is now. That's what's got my feathers ruffled.

I explained to him that I'm fine with paying more (it's not that much anyway), and I'm *more* than fine with paying fair, but I don't like to be told one thing, and recieve another. And that I *felt like* (not saying I was, only that I felt like) I was getting the old bait & switch routine.

He explained to me his side of the story, and was nice about it, and his explanation cleared up the reasoning behind the difference. He also admitted that he shouldn't have said he didn't remember our conversation that we had twice, and that he did remember it, that he should have just explained their reasoning behind the difference to start with.


The negotiation commenced peacefully after that and we both walked away happy.

RESULTS -

The tone ring end of the old sensor was perfectly fine. I had asked them to keep the old sensor. I also had told them if they found it damaged, then they'd have to drop the pan and tighten the tone ring back up. They followed my request. And like I said, the sensor was fine.

The starter now sounds like it's 10 years older than when it went in. They've evidently not got it in straight. I'll wind up fixing that myself. But I'm going to call them back directly and let them know about the starter noise. I've got a year warranty on the labor & sensor, so I want them to add a note to the work order about the starter misalignment.

 

Naw, it's in Montgomery.

 

Please refrain from using specific names of the dealership in the public forum. Thanks

 

Roger. Will-co.

 

In general, book time exists for a reason. When a tech completes in under book time they (and the dealership) are still paid the full amount as if it took the full amount of time. When it takes longer than book time, they are still paid the book time (as the manager initially told you).

If the work was not to be billed at book time they should have let you know that it would be billed as hourly (actual time it takes). This is frequently done for custom work, diagnostic, things like that from what I've seen.

Adminstrative charge is (in my opinion) BS and here's why: Yes they have to make money and they do have to pay the service writer. BUT, that's built into the $98/hour labor charge. The guy (or gal) turning the wreches isn't getting paid $98/hour. The inflated hourly rate you pay at the dealership has the service writer's salary built into it (as well as the free newspaper and coffee in the lobby).

Personally though, I'd never take a job on book time that someone else had already started and failed at. Book time is for book jobs. You'd be amazed at what some people can drag in that they've 'already done half the job for you'. Box of parts on the floor... I wouldn't touch it off of hourly personally but that's just me.

If they gave you a quote knowing all that, they should have called to verify additional charges before doing the work, IMO.

Hey, just my $0.02 though. Probably worth less than that.


On the mechanics lien BTW, in most states they'd have to have actual possession in order to do that. If you drive off in the truck they'd have to either go for theft of goods and services through the cops or take you to civil court for the bill. (YMMV though. Each state is different and I am not an attorney.)

 

Agreed, my husband use to be a mechanic at a ford dealership and I cant count how many times people would "start the job to help you out" and in turn it ended up taking more time for them to fix and sometimes more money. One time he got a car in that needed a motor the guy said he allready pulled the old motor to help out the mechanic, get his car back faster and have a cheaper bill lol well the guy actually pulled the motor but instead of unpluging all the wires, hoses ect he just cut them yea he was a bright one ended up taking even more time and they charged him alot more. After that job my husband refused to do any job that had been allready attempted by the customer.

 

Having been a Service Advisor for 15+ years and a Tech for the same. I can tell you we do a bit more than take keys and type up a piece of paper. I'm not going to bash any Techs out there, but I have bailed my fair share out from either missdiagnosis or shop misshaps. I have also seen my share of Techs. try to do our job and go back to being a tech because they could not handle problem customers etc. Both Techs. and Advisors in our industry have a tough time with what is given us on a daily basis. I have always found that if you treat your Techs. right they will reward you with proper work and a professional attidude that makes both our paychecks better. Treat them wrong and you will butt heads constantly and get an attidude on any job you give them.

It is just human nature! Treat someone with respect and you should get respect back.

I am glad that JYRO was able to peacefully work out the problem with the person in charge.

 

^ Agreed. The service writer's position is often under appreciated by both the techs and the customer. I've been on all sides of the counter and it is not as easy as taking keys and typing up a work order. They have to interpret the whiz bam boom terminology of the customer and translate that to the technician in useful terms. It is imparative that they get along and work together because either one will have a hard time without the other.

As for administrative charges, I don't like to have them listed just like shop supplies. If I use anything on a job I bill it out. If the costs of shop rags and oxy/acetyl , ect. get so high that you have to charge customers 2 - 5- 10 dollars on every repair bill, then you are doing something wrong. Rasie the hourly labor rate. It is a lot easier to explain than the cost of doing business. Every business has overheads. My father is a barber. He charges $9.00 for a haircut. Would you rather pay $10.00 for a haircut or $9.00 and a $1.00 blade sharpening fee? I know they don't exactly relate, but it is the same result and easier to break down. Keep it simple, and people take it better in my opinion.

 

Thanks for the words. I think the break in the attitude and temperament came when he actually listened to me and came to the realization that I wasn't trying to (oh crap, hear comes the racial slur, but I don't know how to better explain it) jew him down on price. But that there was a legitimate disconnect between what he told me up front, and what I was looking at during "pay the bill" time.

And, after he realized I wasn't interested in being UNfair, he admitted that he did remember what he had told me twice. I guess a lot of customers will argue until they're red in the face in order to scam their way out of paying the bill. That wasn't my motivation.

So all is good, sans the starter sounds like it's struggling.


onebadgoat - I'm not *that* bad. I did choose the right truck afterall. To give myself some credit, one of the techs there said that the guy working on it spewed cuss words like a drunk sailor while working on it. Like I said, changing injectors was a cake walk compared to this s.o.b. sensor. I actually handed them a rather nice package. Everything was clean, bolts were sacked up, everything was ready for them. The only thing was the sensor was cracked. They yanked the cracked elbow off in order to get a vice clamp on it. So, they actually did have less work to do when I gave it to them (starter removed).

DISCLAIMER - I have no bias for or against the jewish population. I hope no offense was taken due to my "slang." In reality, that phrase may be considered a compliment!

 

Glad you handled it professionally Jyro! Sounds like you are on the way to a good relationship with a shop "when" you need it!

 

well when my dealer tried the same thing on a repair i flat out told the shop manager & owner that this will be the last repair I'll be doing there even the warrenty work I would goto another dealer, they didnt like that part, to this day I still get a phone call asking when I will be back for service.

glad ur prob. worked out

 

Hell, I'd be happy to pay $250!! My wife has my truck in Tucson AZ, and I'm in Las Vegas. It started throwing codes last thursday. She called Desert Diesel, and they will do it ... for $350.00. I think this is the "look, a woman, lets rip her off" thing. The guy she talked to made it sound like disconnecting the batteries was a big deal.
Any suggestions for an HONEST shop in Tucson??
Thanks