Bargain Oil Changes - A Rebuttal

Now if the shop charges 3.2 hours for this water pump, and they have a man that has done a lot of them and can do it in 2.5 hours, should they penalized for the man being good and doing the job faster than a guy who has never done it? I don't think that's fair. I can, usually, beat the book time by, at least, 20% and most times more.

In most shops and almost all dealerships, the flat rate manual is how the mechanics are paid. It is to the mechanics benefit to be better than the book. On a good day I can flag 15 to 20 hours in an 8 hour day. That is my reward for the knowledge and experience I have gained over 35 years of fixing cars. In actuality you are not paying me for what I do, but rather for what I know.

Here's a little story to illustrate this. A man was having a problem with his computer so he calls in a technician. The technician looks at the computer, turns it around and smacks it on the lower right hand corner. The computer starts working as well as when it was new. The technician hands the guy a bill for $300.00. The guy was really upset. After all, he just smacked the computer. Being upset he demands an itemized bill. So the computer technician hands him a new bill. "Smacking computer: $2.00. Knowing where to smack computer: $298.00."

Now you feel that I am including you in the category of bad oil change stores. This is not the case. You have people come into your store and believe you are dishonest. Don't feel bad. It only takes a few bad places to give us all a bad reputation. Well, I'm included in the list of bad repair shops because there are bad repair shops. I, too, have people come into my shop expecting me to rip them off and what have you.

That is why it is so important to be as honest and fair as possible. It is because I do this that I am always busy and have no need to advertise. My regular customers know that I'm good and that I charge fair. Maybe not cheap, but fair. Most of my customers are referrals from my steady customers. I think that's the ultimate compliment a customer can give.

Our business is not unique in this way. Plumbers, electricians, carpenters and a dozen other businesses suffer they same problem. A few bad ones makes all plumbers, electricians etc. crooks. I guess the bottom line is still; there are good places and there are bad places and it is, unfortunately, "Buyer Beware".

And for what it's worth. from what you describe, your place is a place where I could take my car and feel fairly confident I would get good, quality service. A place I could recommend others to go to. There should be more people like you. Then perhaps the fast oil change store would not have such a bad reputation.

Additional Information provided courtesy of AllDATA