Should my mate pay for this garage labour?
Discussion
He took his motorbike to a garage to have some work done that should haven taken a couple of hours at the absolute max (replacing the fork seals I believe). They had a lot of trouble and after 12 hours only managed one! 
They did not call him to inform him of the problems they were having and he is now faced with 12 hours of labour to pay totalling almost £700.
I'd be furious that I wasn't called after the time it should have taken to see if I wanted them to carry on as that obviously begins getting expensive.
The real kick in the pants is the bike is only worth about £800.
What would you do?
They did not call him to inform him of the problems they were having and he is now faced with 12 hours of labour to pay totalling almost £700.
I'd be furious that I wasn't called after the time it should have taken to see if I wanted them to carry on as that obviously begins getting expensive.
The real kick in the pants is the bike is only worth about £800.
What would you do?
Thanks for the replies.
He says they said "about 1 - 2 hours work" on the phone. It's his word against theirs though.
I should point out at this stage they havent actually invoiced him, sorry if that came across wrong. It's just that they might decide to charge him the 12 hours and probably could.
I realise they worked all day on it, but its taking the piss to try to charge someone for that surely?
It's very clearly an old bike, E reg, 1987. All new parts on it except engine, thats why I estimate 800 for it. But it appears to be worth much much less by looking at the bodywork.
He says they said "about 1 - 2 hours work" on the phone. It's his word against theirs though.
I should point out at this stage they havent actually invoiced him, sorry if that came across wrong. It's just that they might decide to charge him the 12 hours and probably could.
I realise they worked all day on it, but its taking the piss to try to charge someone for that surely?
It's very clearly an old bike, E reg, 1987. All new parts on it except engine, thats why I estimate 800 for it. But it appears to be worth much much less by looking at the bodywork.
Edited by MSTRBKR on Monday 17th May 19:29
MSTRBKR said:
He took his motorbike to a garage to have some work done that should haven taken a couple of hours at the absolute max (replacing the fork seals I believe). They had a lot of trouble and after 12 hours only managed one!
They did not call him to inform him of the problems they were having and he is now faced with 12 hours of labour to pay totalling almost £700.
I'd be furious that I wasn't called after the time it should have taken to see if I wanted them to carry on as that obviously begins getting expensive.
The real kick in the pants is the bike is only worth about £800.
What would you do?
Sorry, but the dealer keep should him up to speed with the issues they were having. It is not on to be quoted 2 hours and billed for 12. They will be well aware of the value of the bike, and are perhaps chancing their arm a little? (I am not trying to knock the dealers, just the way that SOME practise)They did not call him to inform him of the problems they were having and he is now faced with 12 hours of labour to pay totalling almost £700.
I'd be furious that I wasn't called after the time it should have taken to see if I wanted them to carry on as that obviously begins getting expensive.
The real kick in the pants is the bike is only worth about £800.
What would you do?
Sounds unbelievable and like the garage are trying to take him for a ride... pun intended. A few years back I had new seals, full fork service and progressive springs installed for the grand sum of around 200 squid - from JHS Racing. I cannot see how it can take so long to replace a seal, bonkers.
MSTRBKR said:
No developments that I've heard of today from him, so maybe he sorted it out with them. As someone said, they would know that past a couple of hundred quid he may as well buy new forks. No idea why they carried on with it, jokers.
they may have no intention to charge him for all those hours of work, and are actually going to honour the quote, no need to call them jokers already tbh, you have no idea what they are going to doM400 NBL said:
I was until recently working with a chap that worked as a mechanic at a Peugeot garage.
He got a bonus if he charged more than the actual hours he worked. 125% was the minimum expected.
But as already mentioned, they may have meant idle time too.
In my experience that's standard at most main dealers - it's how mechanics can make a bonus. Where a mechanic does a job quicker than expected and what is manufacturer quoted he is obviously efficient and able to do other jobs and making money for the dealer. In the same way that if a job took longer than expected he is inefficient, costing the dealer. The total 'book' time for his jobs is compared to the actual time taken (say over the month) and if he's 100%+ he gets a bonus. Either way, the customer gets charged the 'book' time for the job regardless of how efficient/inefficient the mechanic is.He got a bonus if he charged more than the actual hours he worked. 125% was the minimum expected.
But as already mentioned, they may have meant idle time too.
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