koda55 wrote:
I have never been to any service facility that did not charge for shop supplies.
That's a relatively "new" thing in the auto repair business. I can remember years ago, when the guy who actually DID the work on your car talked directly to the customer, took it for a ride with the customer, and told you a price. Unless something odd happened during the repair, that was the amount we paid.
Now, the bill only BEGINS with that amount, and tacks on shop fees, PC fees, sweeping floor fees, and any other odd named 'item' that was never in the mix before
At $125 an hour or so, that should include everything ... otherwise, it's too much like a deceitful estimate -- regardless if the "fine print."
When I was building homes, would often get requests from people for small jobs (hang a door - replace a window) -- and I had an hourly rate for that service. When I was finished, the hours added up to the price. No where did it say, or charge for a "saw filing fee, or a sawdust suck-up fee, or a sharpen chisel fee" ...
businesses nowadays believe it's OK, and it's become common practice to find 'items it can list' and therefore add to the bill.
If the hour-rate on a shop sets at $115 an hour, it should include everything -- it doesn't list 'mechanic cost, insurance cost, rent cost' separate, so why should it list 'shop rag' separate ...
