Your heads are open? Why? I don't think I'd brag about it.

 

When I walked in the door they informed me that ALL system diagnosis charges for any issue were a flat fee and they stuck to it. So really, I knew in advance I was in for a minimum charge.

They did pull codes and manually check the condition of all related fuel mixture related parts including pulling and inspecting various sensors. I don't FEEL ripped off. I guess that was my point to begin with; they were carefull to prevent me from having to purchase addition unnessary parts.

 

I never called that ripping off. If the $250 is minimum charge for testing and you agree to it, than this is free country. I am just saying, that honest shop could charge you only for the few minutes necessary to do the job.
Than, business practice is a tricky subject. Roto-Rooter has a flat fee of $150 for the service. Very often cleaning the P-trap in the sink, or plunging the toilet takes 10 minutes and those guys are "not qualified" to do anything else.
So is charging $150 for few minutes of low-skill labor good business practice?

 

Since they are selling the service at a fair market rate...yes

 

Since you are in construction Drew, you must be familiar with "termite works".
The bid given to customer having escrow closure scheduled in 10 day says "$500 for deck dry-rot repairs"
After some investigation the details reveal damaged single board about 6' long. Material cost $9 and 10 minutes to replace.
Is that honest?
How about $1500 for fixing crawl-space water leak? Shall I keep on going?

 

i dont think that its a matter of honesty, as it is a matter of opportunism. for instance, i know about cars, and i worked as a technician. lets say that "person 1" comes in and tells me that he or she needs to pads and rotors. i make a living off of comission, and since that person walked in, and asked for new pads and rotors, without so much as a quote, that person is going to pay top dollar on parts and labor. even if i get into the braking systems, and see that it doesnt need pads and rotors, im not going to talk the person out of it, thus taking money out of my pocket. however, if a person came in, and said that he or she had a noise in the braking system, it would be dishonest of me to tell them that they need new pads and rotors all around when they can get by with pads and a turn of the rotors.

another example, my home recently needed a new roof. we got an estimate, and it was 2500 dollars. i talked to a friend of mine who does home improvement for a living, and he told me what to buy, and we put a new roof on my house, with the help of a few friends, for about 900 bucks, and we took no shortcuts. would you say that the 1600 dollar gap in pricing is to cover labor?

a few years back, my computer just woudlnt turn on one day. i had no idea why. so i took it to a computer repair place and paid someone to do it because i dont have computer repair know-how. turns out, i got screwed by this guy. he charged me 180 bucks for what i could have done myself for like 30 bucks, but since i didnt know any different, i dont think that i got ripped off.

i think that if you dont know about a certain field, like deck repair, and you dont take the time to educate yourself, at least a bit, before getting into the repair, or having someone repair it, you are leaving yourself open to getting ripped off, so to speak.

 

There is some truth to what you are saying, however, do you not expect to pay for someones time and labor? Of course anythings going to be more expensive if you don't do it yourself. Labor is often the most expensive part of a bill, exspecially when talking about repairing a mercedes at a labor rate of $110.00 an hour.
Your logic doesn't make much sense...

 

I agree pricing based on cost can be way out of line.

We all know that estimating exactly how long something will take is gained from experience and figuring in unknown circumstances. The crawl space MAY need trenched and a sump pump for gray water removal. It may need a new main water or sewer line. It may need just time to dry out after a period of rain.

Stealing from people occurs when truely dishonest people KNOW what has to be done and charge a unreasonable rate for it or just plain lie about the work necessary. Electrical systems in automobiles are not perfect, so a thourough examination is a responsible way of protecting the customer, even if you are SURE of the problem in advance. Odds are they knew what to do on my car, but, I didn't get to interview the tech. All dealerships use a proceedure to diagnose problems if they are responsible, as I do pricing out a construction bid. Neither system is perfect. It is like practicing medicine. The longer you do it, the more you know where the begin proceedures.

I'd like to see Sleepwaker weigh in on this topic.

 

VW owners may just be poorer and the MB dealership may be taking advantage of that fact. If you have Masserati dealer serviced and payed $100 for a MAF replacement, would you beleave they did the work?

 

Wouldn't be much surprised if Masserati use Bosh sensors as well.
There is not many manufacturers for this stuff and Bosh is definitelly holding the market with strong hand.

It goes even as far as looking for litigations, instead of looking for work.
In my service business I made policy of satisfying customers. Had one job, when old sink on reinstalation crack and I decided to supply new one.
Lost the money on this job, but over next decade the customer paid me tens thousands of dollars on bunch of other jobs. Never questioned my bid. Took me few years, but now my customers take my bid over the phone and arrange the job starting.
Even when I am recommended to new client, I have the job in 99% instances.
What "Free estimates" can do to construction business? How many annual business miles you put on your Merc again Drew?