Should I bitch about this or not?

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Timestamp is an hour off...

my truck going IN for an expensive repair:
1628276434592.png

My truck coming OUT of the shop.... one hour and 34 minutes later...
1628276508331.png

I was charged for 3.8 hours of labor.... :confused:
They said 1 hour was for diagnostics a few days ago. Hmmmm.
 

grumpywilson

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Is every movement recorded on your dash cam and is it hard wired to key power? If it is hard wired, is anything easily accessible to turn it off. If it's near impossible to turn it off I would say something.

What broke, something silly?
 

wittaj

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Lot's of repair shops operate on industry standard time of repair for various items (they have a proper name for this LOL).

So say you go in for X repair. Industry standards say that is a 4 hour job. If the mechanics beat that estimate and does it in 1 hour, they get a bonus. If they go over, they don't.

Not saying that makes it right, but mechanic friends have told me that is what their shops do.

Sounds like something similar here.
 
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Is every movement recorded on your dash cam and is it hard wired to key power? If it is hard wired, is anything easily accessible to turn it off. If it's near impossible to turn it off I would say something.

What broke, something silly?
Steering gear--- power steering went out. it is a 2019 F-150---- BUT it is a salvage title, so no warranty. The fix has to be done at the dealership because of the computer module contained in the part-- only FORD can program the module. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. For the roughly $850 part, I had to pay $1,300+ total bill was just over $2,000.

I paid a 40-50% markup on the part, and then they do the work Way faster than the hours for which I am billed. I get that the "billable hours" for the job being a standard may well be normal modus operandi here, but damn if it doesn't rub me the wrong way... It just feels a little crooked.
 

wittaj

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Yeah, in my experience this is standard billing practices of many dealerships.

Before I had words with my dealership and they flagged my account for when I come in now LOL, I noticed that in fluid changes they would skimp. So if your engine needed 5 quarts of oil, they would put in 4 or 4.5. Over the course of a day that can add up to a large savings that the techs all share in.

It burned me to end when I checked my fluid levels after a change and went in and complained and told them I would never go back. They gave me a $220 service credit and said this would never happen to me again.

I have since become friends with the check-in person and he explained it all to me how it works and showed me my account that says VIP which he said means they know not to skimp out or cheat out of anything LOL.

They used to not be that way, and in the past, the issue I always had was they overfilled it and spilled oil all over the engine so it would burn off on the way home. He said they went to a bonus structure and saw a tremendous reduction in wasted materials, etc. that they said helped made sure they didn't spill oil all over the engine refilling it, but as anything, once money got tied to it and the techs had an incentive to not be wasteful or take their time, some take it to the extreme.

And yes it rubs me the wrong way too. They should just lump sum it and say it is $XXX dollars and be done with it.
 

Teken

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The phrase you’re looking for is Flat Rate. If the OP was told this work is being done under flat rate - that’s it.

Doesn’t matter if it took me 5 minutes vs 2 hours per Book Time. Now, if it’s hourly than one thing most of these dirty fuckers will pile on is diagnostic, eco, shop supplies, etc.
 

Arjun

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Its worse at the dealership. They will siphon out the power steering fluid and approach you telling you that you have a power steering fluid leak.
 
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