Mechanic's labour charge

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qprdude
Posts: 1754
Joined: 06 Apr 2012, 18:56
Location: Woking, Surrey
My Cars: Renault 5 TS, Renault 14ts, Citroen C5 Mk1, Renault Clio sport, Renault Laguna Privilege. Citroen C5 X7 Exclusive. Citroen DS5 D/sport . And around 25+ other brands from Morris Oxford to S Type jag and most things between.
x 10

Re: Mechanic's labour charge

Post by qprdude »

xantiagreen wrote:
Rhothgar wrote:That's cheap.

You been charged £120 for all that work and you're now isolating the alternator removal and refit to see if that aline is too expensive.

If you can't do the work yourself then it's a bargain. Christ alive! You've paid £40/hour if 3 hours is the scheduled repair time.

Next time take it to Citroen. You'll feel much better off when you receive their bill.
The chap that carried out the work is a citroen specialist, trust his work and never argue over pricing. No harm in getting views on the matter, back in '91' or '92' I was charged £20 for less than 5 mins work, the damn recovery truck was parked opposite. I had reversed the bx into a high kerb at a service station off the M1 and bent the tailpipe (inexperienced young driver) recovery chap noticed us staring at the rear and shaking our heads and must have thought kerchingg. Any way he stuck a crowbar in and opened it up and robbed us. when we got back home to lancashire i got the rear box changed at kwik __t £35 or so as i knew if my dad saw the modified tailpipe i'd be dodging a barrage of slippers like Mr Bush (my dads laser sighted strikes never missed a target)

Lesson learned, never take out your wallet/purse unless you've agreed a final price, or in this situation get in the car and do a runner.

Cheers.
Sorry, can't see where it says he offered to help, nor where he said it was free.
Rick.

2013 Citroen DS 5 D/Sport
2007 Renault Clio Campus sport. 1.2l

Sometimes the change doesn't work.
Northern_Mike

Re: Mechanic's labour charge

Post by Northern_Mike »

"Never take out your wallet until you've agreed a final price" is a good enough hint to suggest money wasn't mentioned.

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xantiagreen
Posts: 393
Joined: 13 Sep 2013, 04:45
Location: Lancashire
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Re: Mechanic's labour charge

Post by xantiagreen »

qprdude wrote:
color=#FF0000] recovery chap noticed us staring at the rear and shaking our heads and must have thought kerchingg. Any way he stuck a crowbar in and opened it up and robbed us. [/color]

Sorry, can't see where it says he offered to help, nor where he said it was free.
In actual fact he came over and the first thing he said was, "Need any help lads". In my original post on my teens I was merely pointing out there are tradesmen out there that will shaft you before you've even told them what the problem is,

We didn't ask him to come over or say "YES" to do the work, the recovery chap decided to go and get a crowbar from his van a mere 10 metres away and spend less than 5 minutes torturing the tailpipe. He knew he was going to charge and didn't mention it before he started because he knew we would have said "NO"

As I've said before there was no problem with the car being driven, it was cosmetic damage to the tailpipe.

Cheers NorthernMike, it's was daylight robbery!
Faz

90 Ax 1.0 Red
90 Bx 1.7 TZD Green
92 Bx Gti BRG
90 Bx 16v Cream
96 Xantia 2lt 16v Sx Olive green
01 Xantia 110 Hdi
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Temporarily driving Polo 1.9sdi

All I want is a Bx Gti or 16v!
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qprdude
Posts: 1754
Joined: 06 Apr 2012, 18:56
Location: Woking, Surrey
My Cars: Renault 5 TS, Renault 14ts, Citroen C5 Mk1, Renault Clio sport, Renault Laguna Privilege. Citroen C5 X7 Exclusive. Citroen DS5 D/sport . And around 25+ other brands from Morris Oxford to S Type jag and most things between.
x 10

Re: Mechanic's labour charge

Post by qprdude »

I was answering your original moan , not this one where you clearly state that he came over and asked if you want any help. People can only answer with the info you give. If he came over and asked if you wanted help, that's a totally different bit of info . Personally, I would have told him to f*** off, before he helped, and definitely if he asked for £20 afterwards. He had no contract to do any paid work.
Rick.

2013 Citroen DS 5 D/Sport
2007 Renault Clio Campus sport. 1.2l

Sometimes the change doesn't work.
flying clutchman
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Joined: 22 Oct 2009, 12:58
Location: brentwood essex
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Re: Mechanic's labour charge

Post by flying clutchman »

Now you've explained the circumstance it does sound a bit 'sharp'. However I wouldn't have expected a man 'on duty' to do it for free. It's a bit like sitting outside a pub and being surprised when the man who comes out and says 'what would you like to drink' expects you to pay for them!
xantiagreen
Posts: 393
Joined: 13 Sep 2013, 04:45
Location: Lancashire
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Re: Mechanic's labour charge

Post by xantiagreen »

Who knows what he was doing parked up, he did have a Fiat Uno Turbo mounted on trailer. Since then I've always been extra cautious when manoeuvring around motorway service stations...
Faz

90 Ax 1.0 Red
90 Bx 1.7 TZD Green
92 Bx Gti BRG
90 Bx 16v Cream
96 Xantia 2lt 16v Sx Olive green
01 Xantia 110 Hdi
Storm Grey (SOLD 4/11/18)

Temporarily driving Polo 1.9sdi

All I want is a Bx Gti or 16v!
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