Two things happened today....

[mooseshaver]

That's outrageous. I always get oil on the seats for free at the main dealers. As well as areas they had no need to touch.
I think you were right.

[qprdude]

Cheers, that's made me feel a bit better about having a go.

[mooseshaver]

It makes you wonder how else they are fleecing customers if they do this.
I've had a dealer charge £1 for screen wash, even though the tank was full, and there was a tub in the boot. When queried they tend to just pass it off as a mistake.

[andy5]

Today, I had a mighty row with the local Indy and am now virtually "Garageless".
They charged £3.50p for non existent sundries. They tried to say it was "in case there was oil on the seats, or that kind of things", and that all customers were charged this. I couldn't believe my ears. I'm not responsible for them getting oil on seats "or that kind of thing", so why should I pay for it. There were other points that I took up forcibly but the bottom line is, SWIMBO is not happy that we now cannot use the only local garage. It's not the £3.50p, it's the principle.

Do they mean they used those plastic temporary seat covers?

Even disposable gloves cost about 8 to 15 pence each, and someone might get through half a dozen of those on some jobs.

They might just roll stuff like that up in the labour price, or add them separately, I don't know

[Northern_Mike]

Today, I had a mighty row with the local Indy and am now virtually "Garageless".
They charged £3.50p for non existent sundries. They tried to say it was "in case there was oil on the seats, or that kind of things", and that all customers were charged this. I couldn't believe my ears. I'm not responsible for them getting oil on seats "or that kind of thing", so why should I pay for it. There were other points that I took up forcibly but the bottom line is, SWIMBO is not happy that we now cannot use the only local garage. It's not the £3.50p, it's the principle.

Do they mean they used those plastic temporary seat covers?

Even disposable gloves cost about 8 to 15 pence each, and someone might get through half a dozen of those on some jobs.

They might just roll stuff like that up in the labour price, or add them separately, I don't know

I am not trader or mechanic, but I only pay £2.95 per 100 gloves. They should be factored into the price. They charge enough for labour as it is.

Even when I worked at a main dealer back in the late 80s they were ripping people off for "sundries" ..

[mooseshaver]

Do they mean they used those plastic temporary seat covers?

Even disposable gloves cost about 8 to 15 pence each, and someone might get through half a dozen of those on some jobs.

They might just roll stuff like that up in the labour price, or add them separately, I don't know

Should things like that not be part of a businesses costs? Like electricity or uniforms?

[qprdude]

Do they mean they used those plastic temporary seat covers?

Even disposable gloves cost about 8 to 15 pence each, and someone might get through half a dozen of those on some jobs.

They might just roll stuff like that up in the labour price, or add them separately, I don't know

Should things like that not be part of a businesses costs? Like electricity or uniforms?

Yes they should. Next they will be asking us to pay for overalls and spanners! Protective gear (gloves and covers) should be a part of the costs, and not extra.
In any case, the charge should be explained up front, not added after the job is done. The car was in for a remote keyfob problem, and forgive my ignorance, but why would anyone be in the car with oily overalls on?. The bill said. Check key fob remote operation. Change battery. attempt to reset. VAT. Normally, if covers are required, they are left in the car.

[brittleware]

Probably not very interesting but it's been kinda slow.
On the way into town with Swmbo for her hair appointment, , tootling along at 50 mph, a la Peter N, in full fuel saving mode, I was overtaken by a Phase 1 facelift C5 circa 2005 going like a bat out of hell. He(she?) must have been well over 80 mph on the dual carriageway. The thing is, they are usually driven more sedately, so it was a bit of a surprise.
On the way home, SWMBO complete with £55 barnet , taking the scenic route, I breasted the top of a blind summit to find a parked tanker and a line of stationary cars, whoops! I hit the anchors hard and the C5 stood up with surprising agility, the ABS and other fancy stuff kicked in and the car moved neither left nor right, just a very rapid stop. Best of all, the automatic hazard warning lights came on, and laddie boy in the 4 x 4 who had been practising his tailgating skills ran straight into the grass bank. Ho Ho I thought , you may have a Rangie Vogue worth twice my Citroen, but it can't bleeding stop in a straight line.
Well that was my excitement for today. I don't know if I can top that tomorrow. I may paint the ladder radiator in the bathroom. That should do it.

If you want to know about brakes and stability under breaking, drive a CX with DIRAVI. No dive (self levelling) - the whole car drops slightly - no direction change (the wheel is not really connected to the rack - it's servoed like like an aircraft), no wheel locking. Hand of God. It just stops. Wish my current Fiat Ulysse (C5/807/Phadre) could do that.

[andy5]

I am not trader or mechanic, but I only pay £2.95 per 100 gloves. They should be factored into the price. They charge enough for labour as it is.

If those are decent quality powder free nitrile I might be interested in 1000

I agree entirely, but was just trying to guess what they reckon they are charging for.

[qprdude]

Andy, I reckon you are spot on about the reason for the charge. My problem is that I think the charge should absorbed be in the hourly rate.

[addo]

In a similar vein, some of the local brake and clutch machinists are charging extra to remove and refit flywheel dowel pins. Once this was rolled into the main job price.

Guess what? The mobile tool bloke is doing a brisk trade in dowel pin remover sets.

[qprdude]

If I was ever intending to go back to the local Indy, I would have bought a set of polythene seat protectors, then refused to pay the "Sundries" charge.
When I took them to task, they said "we will refund the £3.50 if it's a problem". You have to ask yourself, if they are so willing to refund it, why charge it in the first place.

[Ben82]

If I was ever intending to go back to the local Indy, I would have bought a set of polythene seat protectors, then refused to pay the "Sundries" charge.
When I took them to task, they said "we will refund the £3.50 if it's a problem". You have to ask yourself, if they are so willing to refund it, why charge it in the first place.

Same reason some restaurants add an annoying "Discretionary Optional Gratuity" of a rate they set to the bill. A lot of people will just pay it, and grumble about it to others, rather than speaking up about it. And in most cases the establishment still gets the extra money they want from the punter.

[Old-Guy]

This sort of petty dishonesty is very stupid and short-sighted. A couple of decades ago, BA commissioned some thorough research on customer 'recommendations'. The two key results were:
1. It's much easier to make an ordinary customer (i.e. not grumpy old men like me) feel aggrieved than to really please the same customer. Not unreasonably, customers expect good service.
2. Every disgruntled customer will tell SEVEN TIMES as many people about their bad experience as a delighted customer will.
The message is clear, a well managed retail business takes care to avoid upsetting customers. In a small community, that factor of 7 is multiplied several times over.

[cachaciero]

Probably not very interesting but it's been kinda slow.
On the way into town with Swmbo for her hair appointment, , tootling along at 50 mph, a la Peter N, in full fuel saving mode, I was overtaken by a Phase 1 facelift C5 circa 2005 going like a bat out of hell. He(she?) must have been well over 80 mph on the dual carriageway. The thing is, they are usually driven more sedately, so it was a bit of a surprise.
On the way home, SWMBO complete with £55 barnet , taking the scenic route, I breasted the top of a blind summit to find a parked tanker and a line of stationary cars, whoops! I hit the anchors hard and the C5 stood up with surprising agility, the ABS and other fancy stuff kicked in and the car moved neither left nor right, just a very rapid stop. Best of all, the automatic hazard warning lights came on, and laddie boy in the 4 x 4 who had been practising his tailgating skills ran straight into the grass bank. Ho Ho I thought , you may have a Rangie Vogue worth twice my Citroen, but it can't bleeding stop in a straight line.
Well that was my excitement for today. I don't know if I can top that tomorrow. I may paint the ladder radiator in the bathroom. That should do it.

If you want to know about brakes and stability under breaking, drive a CX with DIRAVI. No dive (self levelling) - the whole car drops slightly - no direction change (the wheel is not really connected to the rack - it's servoed like like an aircraft), no wheel locking. Hand of God. It just stops. Wish my current Fiat Ulysse (C5/807/Phadre) could do that.

And it does that even when one front tyre is flat and there's a big lump of alloy missing from the wheel.

Oh! how I wish I had found an old barn when the Turbo2 became a bit too expensive for day to day use........

cachaciero