It is unethical AND illegal to charge for services they didn't perform, that includes labor. Why is everyone so surprised that this dealership did not break the law? Sorry for playing devil's advocate here but they're not all crooked and incompetent. When it comes to estimates a lot of places allow themselves a little head room in case they run into difficulties, and when they come in "under budget" it makes for a happy customer!

 

Damn, with stories like this one, how are people going to use the "stealer ship" tag? After all when you walk in you spend money and according to some their stealing it from you.

 

Mechanics charge you an hourly rate, based on the book, which is based on an average mechanic. An experienced mechanic can usually do it a lot faster, but doesn't give you a refund. That is why it is surprising.

 

The other side of the coin is when the job takes longer, they are not supposed to charge more, only what the book says the labor hours are.

Not sure one way is any better than the other. If they use the flat rate
Guide, there may be pressure to get done faster to beat the flat rate. If they charge by the actual hours spent, there may be those who drag their feet a bit to pad the labor bill.

Six of one..............Probably all evens out in the end.

 

Exactly. I'm not sure how it works in the Harley Dealership world, but I've worked at several car dealers service departments, and the mechanics got paid and the customer got charged by book time. A good mechanic can easily beat book time as long as things go reasonably smoothly. Sometimes by a lot.

 

 

I have a very good friend who is a mechanic at a local auto dealership here, and he has been for close to 40 years.

He is very good and EASILY routinely "beats book" which allows him to make a decent living.

He is completely up front about it to his customers and yet has a strong following of people who want him for their mechanic. And the shop routinely uses him to train their new recruits.

Why??? Because he is completely honest and trust worthy.
His trainee's become great mechanics who do not cheat and take short-cuts, his customers know that they will get a well repaired auto, and NEVER have a questionable or Unnecessary repair.

On the flip side I have an indy that charges by the hour that I feel the same about. I have always been satisfied with his work. Same level of trust, and he knows that I have the same expectation that he does, the job is to be done right not fast.

If he runs into trouble or finds something else he knows that the trust is there and he fixes it, my only caution is that if the bill is FAR higher than the estimate that he call me so I don't expire in shock on his floor.

He has called, but the $ differences are only minor and usually because he spots something else that needs attention. (My bike has 25 years of NY weather on it, chit happens.)

As far as I am concerned he treats me great, I consider he and his wife as friends, we sometimes get together socially and I've even been invited to some club functions from him. I'm a happy camper.