I'm getting tired of dealing with people

[Chris142]

I work in the auto repair industry. People are getting more and more rude but lately it's gotten real bad where pricing is concerned.

People agree to my price,sign the work order etc. I do the job. When the customer shows up to pick up the car they try to haggle the price down.

The time to talk price is before doing the work. Not after.

Say a guy signs the work order and knows the job will be $750. When he picks up the car he will try to give me $500. I'm not the boss and I can't ok that change and my boss wont either.

People then get irate and make a scene. Then after they figure out that I'm not lowering the price they post on yelp about how we ripped them off!

Maybe they have been watching too many Pawnstars shows?

Another favorite is a person that "steals" their repaired car from our parking lot. So now all cars sit in the back yard till paid for unless we really know the customer.

Do these same people try this stuff @ the McDonalds drive thru?

 

[sciphi]

Yes, people try the same thing everywhere. I've seen restaurant managers comp a fair bit of food even when they are reasonably sure that the customer is spinning a yarn.

Auto work has higher costs, that's all. The person who just lied their way into a second sub or pizza will sure try it on the mechanic because it worked not that long ago.

 

[eljefino]

What gets me is when I list something on craigslist and I get an email offer of half what I'm asking. It's not an ad in the paper that I paid for and committed to run it for a week; I can get in and edit it and lower the price if that's what I feel like doing.

AT LEAST show up in person if you're going to try that stuff.

And I don't want to tell you "the story" over the phone. You get three questions, max. Lots of dreamers (wankers?) with nothing better to do out there. I tell them I'm at work, even if I'm not, to get them to get to the point.

 

[69GTX]

This works the other way as well, and more often imo. I don't know how many times an agreed upon price or price range was exceeded by the auto shop....for no change in work scope. The last time it happened to me they said the radiator took longer to remove than they estimated. Like that's my problem when you give a price up front?

 

[AirgunSavant]

People today buy way too much and thus they try to get everything for less. They even try to screw each other openly on forums daily.

The more I lower my prices the more weasels I get. I already make less today then I did in the late 80's.

People today are cheap. Broke and cheap are not synonymous.
Most of the people that do it to me are top 10 percenters.
Its their ritual these days.

Plus they see shows like "Fast and Loud" that promote it..............

 

[AirgunSavant]

Exactly!

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: 69GTX
This works the other way as well, and more often imo. I don't know how many times an agreed upon price or price range was exceeded by the auto shop....for no change in work scope. The last time it happened to me they said the radiator took longer to remove than they estimated. Like that's my problem when you give a price up front?
I/We really try to stay with the estimate. We can legally got up 15%. Any more and we must inform the customer before continuing. We are usually within $20 of the estimate.

We also imform them in person and in print that the job is "Plus tax". Tax is 8% here so tax on $500 in parts is $40.

I have also had out of state people try to refuse paying tax. They said they don't have to pay Ca sales tax because they are a resident of another state.

 

[HTSS_TR]

I trust my mechanic/garage such that most works were not estimated before start, I just paid whatever he told me when I picked up the car. Most of the times he charged me less than I expected.

 

[mjoekingz28]

I think it mostly starts with beating down the dealership when buying a new car. Only fools pay sticker, right?

 

[KzMitch]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
I have also had out of state people try to refuse paying tax. They said they don't have to pay Ca sales tax because they are a resident of another state.


I tell them I'll give you a receipt clearly stating the tax you paid and you can request a refund with whichever government agency you like.

 

[69GTX]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
I/We really try to stay with the estimate. We can legally got up 15%. Any more and we must inform the customer before continuing. We are usually within $20 of the estimate.

We also imform them in person and in print that the job is "Plus tax". Tax is 8% here so tax on $500 in parts is $40.

I have also had out of state people try to refuse paying tax. They said they don't have to pay Ca sales tax because they are a resident of another state.


You're in the minority I'd say in giving updated estimates as things change. I've almost never been informed of 10-20% increases in price. I can only dream of shops staying within $20 of estimate on more extensive jobs exceeding $300. It's usually only on checking out that I find out the price was well-exceeded. The estimates always include tax. Why would it be any other way? I didn't know about the "legal" 15%. That must be where I'm getting gigged. Those shops should realize that when that happens I start looking at other alternatives. The estimates are routinely based on the repair manual standard time of repair. Again, if the shop can't match that time or better, why is it my problem? Should I have to pay more for a slow, or inexperienced mechanic? I do whatever I can to do stuff myself and not have to go to a shop.

I had a mechanic/owner from 1993-2008 that I trusted implicitly. The only one I ever found in my 40 years of car ownership, and I've had about a dozen or so. But as other people took bigger roles in that business I got less and less "optimum" treatment. It was if my business for those 15 years was no longer appreciated vs. a fresh walk-in. I also thing the recessionary period of 2009-2011 took its toll of auto shops. They did what they had to do to keep surviving.

 

[Merkava_4]

I have never..........I mean never..........heard of people trying to negotiate an automotive repair bill. This thread is the absolute first. Your customers must be absolute major idiots with no sense of shame whatsoever.

 

[mjoekingz28]

IMO the sticker is what the factory 'has in it' to pay the suppliers, overhead, and get it to the dealer and have a chair and a cup of coffee for you when you are there.

So, lowballing the factory down from window sticker, IMO, gets the ball rolling. Why not just pay what they ask? No, instead some may want five so they ask ten. Or a buyer "thinks" it is worth five so he offers three. I guess it is "fun" for some to play this game. Lookup Kelso and Leo negotiating on the El Camino, that is much better, IMO, that what goes on everyday.



I agree with some of the above, so folks are just bored and looking for fun or whatever. I had one guy I called years ago to buy a seized motor car. He asked what I wanted, then what I would take...then arrived and potty mouthed the car and offered even less. It is dirty.


Ie been suspicious of some mechanics before and some I didnt really trust, but I didnt even think of foul play. If you get charged more than the estimate, just tep back and think......some may be unable to since motorized transportation is foreign to them, but that extra hour they spent on the radiator could have been from a seized bolt that had to be extracted and tapped or maybe the tech spent some time flushing it out of goodwill.


Try to be honest

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
I have never..........I mean never..........heard of people trying to negotiate an automotive repair bill. This thread is the absolute first. Your customers must be absolute major idiots with no sense of shame whatsoever.
Glad I could show you something new

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: 69GTX


You're in the minority I'd say in giving updated estimates as things change. I've almost never been informed of 10-20% increases in price. I can only dream of shops staying within $20 of estimate on more extensive jobs exceeding $300.
When I check out a car I try my best to be very thorough. That way there's no surprises. When I check out your busted AC I check it as good as I can. Occasionally a hose may show up after or a condenser may be plugged. But It's pretty rare that I have to call a customer for a price increase.

 

[spackard]

Chris -
You should google "how to bargain with a mechanic". Probably your customers have.

I'd say try to trade something with them for future business, because they want something.
Maybe $5 off next $100 service coupon.
Buy one, get 50% off another battery.
You know, things that don't give away money from the current deal but that get them in the door some time in the future.

If you want real-world lessons, take your car into another shop, then try to nickle and dime them down with all the excuses you've heard, and listen to how their shop manager deals with you, as a difficult customer. Then, take that back and use it with your difficult customers.

 

[Andrew1972]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
I have never..........I mean never..........heard of people trying to negotiate an automotive repair bill. This thread is the absolute first. Your customers must be absolute major idiots with no sense of shame whatsoever.


You can negotiate before the work is performed on estimate and I have at dealership mainly. Typically I can get 10-15% off.

 

[Subdued]

Originally Posted By: AirgunSavant
People today buy way too much and thus they try to get everything for less. They even try to screw each other openly on forums daily.

The more I lower my prices the more weasels I get. I already make less today then I did in the late 80's.

People today are cheap. Broke and cheap are not synonymous.
Most of the people that do it to me are top 10 percenters.
Its their ritual these days.

Plus they see shows like "Fast and Loud" that promote it..............

Top 10%ers aren't watching fast and loud.

 

[Rolla07]

I get a quote beforehand from my dealer and its usually less. If they sign the estimate and its give or take 20$ I wont question it. If its more, I just make sure its legitimate..thankfully havent had to yet

Dealing with people in general is the headache...lol

 

[Quest]

I feel yur pain, Chris.

I got out of my own indy biz over 2 decades ago, and decided to never go back. I had had enuf of dealing with irate customers.

I used to co-own a shop (with 3 other stakeholders), and we had a sign that sez: " a work order is a contract, meaning that the moment you signed off that contract is the time you legally obliged to the conditions and terms..."

We had 1 or 2 customers that we actually had to take them to small-claims court for a 450bux brake job (can't remember the second incident). Luckily, we kept all the parts (normally we would have tossed the rusted drums and such into the metal recycler bin and will be picked up already every other Thursdays) and took pictures to show to the judge. We even brought them in the trunk when I showed up in court. Without saying much (with carbon backup copies of the work order signed by the car owners), in mere minutes the court would rule in favour of us, and ordered the customers to pay for the work + court fee.

I do not necessarily want to do this part but we have had enough of crazy things back then...including but not limited to customers climbed over the fence trying to drive off with their cars (work unpaid of course) through our fence. That took our mesh fence + their bumper along with the job and caught by our CCTV camera. Once again, cops were notified and we also took him to court for the damages done to our fence.

I got out of my share of the biz quickly while my partners took over my share....after 12 yrs of running they parted ways also (shop sold).

They too, were burned out by poor customers (We have good reputation though), esp. numbskulls and ash-holes who were too cheep to try to get their cars fixed properly.

Q.