Was I wrong?

J

jeffk

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Jan 1, 2000
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2093
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415
I recently had a battery go bad.
I call the guy that does my electrical work and ask him to check it out.
He tells me my starter batteries are bad and need to be replaced.
I give him the go ahead.
Then he calls and says he wants to splash the boat (I am in hi and dri) and check the system under load.
I say it is not necessary as the batteries are three years old and that is what I generally get out of them.
He tells me it takes five minutes so I say ok.
I get the bill and I am charged 3 hours for labor.
I question the bill as it seems high.
He writes back:
He checked the charging system, then checked it under load.
He installed two batteries.
He had to drive to the supplier for the batteries.
I have never had someone charge me to go pick up a part, especially at 70 bucks an hour.
I also questioned the price of the batteries because I thought they may still have a partial warranty left. I was wrong.
Was I wrong to question this bill?
He claims I insulted him.
 
Honestly you should have asked for an estimate because time is money. Either you are worth more than $70.00 an hour or he is worth paying $70.00 per hour if it would have disrupted you earning money.
That's how I look at what people charge me for working on my boat.
I think he did a thorough job.
Bill
 
Let me see if I understand correctly; He travels to your boat, splashes the boat, tests the charging system both static and under load, travels to get new batteries, brings them back to the boat, installs them, then puts the boat back on the hard and only charges 3 hours of labor?

To be honest, it seems more than reasonable to me.

Bob
 
seems reasonable to me as well. drive time is commonly included inthe cost. If you dont want to pay for someone to chase parts then do that yourself.
 
+1 to what bill said above.

cowboy up and pay that man his money!
 
"I have never had someone charge me to go pick up a part, especially at 70 bucks an hour."

I have never know anybody that did not charge for travel time to get a part.

G
 
Thanks, I guess I am wrong.
I have already made amends.
Next time I will get an estimate.
 
Yeah, I think I would have asked him what batteries I should get, and go pick them up myself, or I would expect to be charged as part of the job.
 
+1 CapnCamille but they often want the $$ from the parts also. I had a guy tell me he'd have to charge more per hour using my parts as he counts on his parts profits also.
 
My son runs his own repair shop (auto mostly, but is marine certified also) He never charges for 'shagging' parts except where he has to get junkyard parts. All new auto parts are delivered free from the store/distributor--batteries included.
 
Had I gotten an estimate all problems on both sides would have been avoided.
I still think paying 70 bucks to pick up two batteries is a lot.
For all I know he passes his supplier on the way to the marina.
He works in my marina it was not a special trip there.
Next time I know better.
I deferred to the majority and called him apoligized.
The reality is we are not talking about a major amount of money.
 
I wish I could find a mechanic for $70/hr !!!!
 
down in fl. most guys charge from teh moment they leave the shop... i once had an AC tech. charging me 2 hours for a 25 minute car ride... the extra time was the time to stock up the truck and a breakfast stop! at $90 an hours.

so 3 hours to diagnose and change batteries? not bad... although i prefer to do it myself, it's not rocket science!
 
quote:
Originally posted by pdecat

seems reasonable to me as well. drive time is commonly included inthe cost. If you dont want to pay for someone to chase parts then do that yourself.
Click to expand...


I would like to think that the repair person would bring the parts with him (or her) or that travel to pick up parts would be included in "overhead" not charged as labor time. Labor (say $90.00 per hour) should include "overhead".
 
At my marina if you need it done now you will be charged by them for picking up the battery. If you don't mind waiting for the local battery distributer to bring it to the marina (I think there delivery day is Thursday in the summer)it appears to be free delivery; but as we all know the cost of delivering the battery, even by the distributor during a regular scheduled drop off is still built into the price of the battery somewhere.
 
I can tell you with my company we do emergency service and normal service work for Ericsson we get $110.00 per hour point to point. This is our normal Monday through Friday rate. If we are dispatched on a weekend it is double that with a $1500.00 minimum. Because Ericsson decided they don't want us carrying their capitolized (serialized) equipment they have to pay us after a diagnosis to pick up the part and return it and then pay until the technician gets to his next call unless it is another Ericsson service call.
Bill
 
quote:
Originally posted by rawidman

quote:
Originally posted by pdecat

seems reasonable to me as well. drive time is commonly included inthe cost. If you dont want to pay for someone to chase parts then do that yourself.
Click to expand...


I would like to think that the repair person would bring the parts with him (or her) or that travel to pick up parts would be included in "overhead" not charged as labor time. Labor (say $90.00 per hour) should include "overhead".

Click to expand...

Ron with the number of different size battery's and chemistry types he would need to drive a box truck. Then with the number of different alternators and regulators I don't think this would be practical or possible.
Bill
 
quote:
Originally posted by jeffk

I recently had a battery go bad.
I call the guy that does my electrical work and ask him to check it out.
He tells me my starter batteries are bad and need to be replaced.
I give him the go ahead.
Then he calls and says he wants to splash the boat (I am in hi and dri) and check the system under load.
I say it is not necessary as the batteries are three years old and that is what I generally get out of them.
He tells me it takes five minutes so I say ok.
I get the bill and I am charged 3 hours for labor.
Click to expand...

This is why I do my own work. I am not suggesting that the guy overcharged, but if you're looking save money then you have to do some of the work. You could have easily charged them yourself and then run the engine and check the voltage of the alternator to determine if there was a charging issue. Instead, you had someone else do the work. 3 hours to drive to the boat, charge the batteries, test the batteries, drive for batteries, replace the batteries, and check the charging system seems reasonable.
 
Saving money was irrelevant. I just want to pay a fair price.
His shop is in my marina, he did not travel there.
No part of my original post said he did.
I had originally just asked for the batteries to be replaced and nothing else.
Thank you for all your responses and the matter is settled
 
quote:
Originally posted by psalzer

I wish I could find a mechanic for $70/hr !!!!

Click to expand...


No kidding.

I was thinking while reading this that I pay for my mechanics travel from Seattle and back. It can cost me an hour and a half total time at 110 bucks an hour. Nothing to show for it except him and his white coveralls :-)
Then the real labor starts....

He's still cheaper then some locals because he is fast and knows his Chit.
 
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