There are lots of work I do myself on my cars. There is plenty of stuff I might be able to do but let my shop handle. Book time for a job might be 6 hours, a skilled mechanic could do it in 3 hours, it might take me 12 hours plus some busted knuckles and three trips to the parts store. I am willing to pay an expert for quality work. If the book says 6 and he/she does it quicker good for them. I also get a warranty when I pay the professional.
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I understand how some people can be perplexed by the flat rate system. Iâve worked the service counter dealing with customers and it can be near impossible to make some of the understand why theyâre being charged 2 hours when the job was done in one hour.
Some of those discussions were ended (and not often cordially) when I would ask if they were happily prepared to pay 3 hours for a 2 hour book job if the mechanic spent more than the allotted 2 hours.
What really kills a lot of mechanics on flat rate are the vast number of time incidentals that are not included in the book time. Searching all over the lot for a car that canât be found, misplaced keys, waiting on parts, waiting on authorization from a customer after notifying them of an issue while they"think it over", and on and on and on.
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The flat rate payment system is an incentive for the newbie mechanic to learn and earn. The customer shouldnât be paying 6 hours for a newbie mechanic to do a 3 hour job nor should the experienced mechanic get paid for 1 1/2 hours for a 3 hour job because he learned to do the job more efficiently. The flat-rate system protects both the consumer and the worker. Not many professions can say that.
As for the plumber, they quote by the job, not by the hour because they donât want to get into these non-productive discussions with their customers.
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The OP has not posted for 2 days. It is still unclear if they are confused about the part they need. Kurt has caused a high jacking of thread and serves no purpose.
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I also figured out the AC converter Air Conditioning compressor mix up. In our military aircraft they were called DC to AC inverters. Being military and aviation I suspect the part alone far exceeded $1500.
Thank you for saving me much wear and tear on my fingertips. I have found trying to explain the flat rate system to someone who knows nothing about it to be an exercise in futility.
I read your deleted comments, and I think itâs safe to say you wonât find many regulars on this website, who see things the way you do. Everybodyâs free to agree or disagree, though
I still think itâs funny that you claim you do NOT have a beef with the industry, when your comments prove the opposite to be true
geeh get over it. I donât have a problem disagreeing with you or a number of posters. I simply stated my position and if you donât like it keep going on to another post.
Good idea 
I look forward to disagreeing with you in another post, as you said 
let me guess⊠whether or not it is legal to use a Camry part on a Corolla? 
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I have a hypothetical question for kurtwm2010.
Assume YOU were working flat rate as a mechanic and you did a 6 hour job in 3 hours. You flag out on the job, turn in the RO, and move on to something else.
Soon the service manager calls you up front and tells you that the customer from the waiting room is upset over the 6 hour charge and the company is going to dock you 3 hours of your time for doing it so fast and to mollify the customer.
Question. Are you going to happily accept this and say âWell self, at least I broke even?â.
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Sorry, I am slow this morning. I have problems understanding your question. Isnât that precisely what we are talking about? Customer gets charged for 6 hours and not the actual time it takes to complete a job?
Seems to me that your scenario assumes a shop depends on being able to make twice as much profit for a certain number of labor hours. Maybe because they need the money or to make up for a job that took longer than anticipated to complete and that customer is NOT being charged for the additional hours. If it is the later then one customer gets screwed because he/she is being charged for the inability to complete another job timely (for whatever reasons).
You are looking at this whole thing from the shopâs perspective and I am looking at it from a customer fairness perspective.
Quoting my earlier post⊠This system DOES benefit the consumer and the mechanic. The shop benefits because they can give you a more accurate quote and they know the system keeps their tech learning so they can earn. I can think of no other business system that benefits all parties quite as well as this one.
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Then look at it from the entirety of the customer fairness perspective, not just the narrow parameters that youâve artificially constructed which allows you to rail against mechanics. If the job is supposed to take 3 hours, but something adds a complication and it takes 6, youâre saying youâre good with being charged double with no notice?
Personally, I donât want to pay for a 3 hour job, and then once theyâve already got it ripped apart and I already owe them money, find out I actually have to pay for 6 hours.
Iâd much rather have a system where the job is billed at 3 hours no matter how long it actually takes.
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@kurtwm2010 - You have a thread where you are asking for help with a vehicle. To keep pounding away on a subject against mechanics seems counter productive.
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Hello,
Clearly this conversation has been hijacked. I appreciate the feedback but
the whole thread just got me a bit confused. However, what I got from it
was that it is probably the pulley that was discussed, as that was the
original diagnosis the mechanic gave me, and yet another person in the
grocery store parking lot said the same thing after he stopped me to say
"you need to get your power steering pump" fixed and I told him the whole
story.
I am having another mechanic look at it soon. Hopefully that is the problem
and it wonât cost me $1500.
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having different opinions shouldnât make a difference responding to posts here. I appreciate all help I have been getting over the years. Many of my questions have been answered and I attempted to give back whenever I could. That doesnât mean people canât agree to disagree on certain matters. I still certainly appreciate the technical knowledge people here on this forum have. Something that is hard to find on other car forums. I would find it childish for someone to hold it against me or anyone else and not help even if they had the answer.
You were quoted 20 posts to resolve your problem. However, it has now taken 56 (and counting). Where do we send the amended bill?
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LOL! Excellent example TT.
OP, I apologize for my part in raising neck deep weeds here and obfuscating the issue.
Anywho, the problem is described as a loud whining which people can hear for blocks. The odds of this being a bad A/C compressor are not very high. A bad compressor will knock, rattle, etc but MAY emit a whining sound from the compressor clutch bearing. Iâm not big on this theory though.
I still think this is an idler or tensioner bearing which is much cheaper to fix than a compressor. As loud as it I donât see how a mechanic canât sort out whatâs what with a stethoscope or by removing the drive belt and manually feeling the various pulleys and bearings for roughness. Being that loud, it should just glareâŠ
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