Originally Posted by newrench

We charge a hour the tech brings the bike it in does a complete estimate then gives it to the parts dept. and they look up all the parts and double check it with the tech. then they print the estimate. You think this should be free and it takes only five minutes??? you drop your bike and your calling him a dumbass because it will take a day to do the estimate? The reason they charge you is because a lot of customers will get the estimate from the dealer then leave and do the work themselves and the dealer eats the labor. Dealers should do it for free and that same day?? I waited two weeks for the body shop to get a estimate done on my vette and they charged me to do it, go figure!!!
"extortion" give me a break you charge someone for your time and its called extortion??

Maybe all the the dealers should do everybodys crash estimates for free, then people can complaine about having to wait for the fuel shell recall because the dealer is to busy doing free estimates.

Originally Posted by UltraKla$$ic

Exactly. Our shop does give a break to our customers. A flat $45 fee no matter how long it takes to write the estimate, but thats because the owner is a jewel of a lady. All too frequently though she see's jobs go out the door after she's given them a break on the estimate cost to someone else that will do the work "cheaper". Guess being nice costs her money. Two sides to every story.

Originally Posted by newrench

yes there is two sides, we have to take the time to go over the estimate with the adjuster when thy show up a week later as well. If you get the work done at our dealership we wont charge you for the estimate. if you drive or haul your bike out the door without having us do the repairs that is fine, but we need to be paid for our time.

Originally Posted by Unome

They charge this amount so you don't come in, get an estimate and then do the repairs yourself(like you plan on doing). Then they make no money.

I don't see a problem with it.

Originally Posted by Jager

I'm not surprised the dealer would want to charge you for an insurance estimate. They're not running a charity, after all.

Had you gone to your insurance company first, and had they not had their own local inspection station, they'd have paid the dealer for the estimate.

As to whether it should take five minutes or a couple hours, I assume they have a standard protocol they follow (basically amounting to a complete, comprehensive inspection of the bike). And, yes, that's how BMW riders get treated (I have a couple of those).

I'm actually most surprised at the casual way State Farm handled this. Good deal for you, since you were obviously looking for a quick inspection and some money, but the notion that "just come on back once you get the fairing off if you see other damage" is pretty unusual.

Hidden damage is quite common when a vehicle falls or crashes - even in what appear to have been very minor events. I'm not surprised most dealers and most insurance inspectors would err on the side of doing it right the first time. Glad it worked out for you, the way you wanted, but I wouldn't count on that in the future.