OT: "shop fees"

Seems pretty cheap for a bag of coffee... but what's a case of cups run at COSTCO?

??? I bought a one pound vacc sealed bag of Community yesterday for $4.77. Maybe because they make it here. I also read in a local online rag that the Folgers plant in New Orleans went back online last week so the prices should drop. I don't think the coffee companies gouge prices nearly as bad as the oil companies.

Ah, but coffee is a bit like crude... it has to make it in to the port. If Folgers went back on line, perhaps they are using warehouse beans.

As for prices... here in the homeland region (formerly known as the Great Northwest) of Starbucks and other such foofoo coffees, I guess I'm thinking upscale yuppie specialty gourmet mud.

Here at home, having been ordered to cut my consumption, I just use Folgers crystals.... LOL : 0 )

Food for thought... we bitch about a (roughly) 10% surcharge for shop sundries.... a lawyer charges a flat fee for a phone call... A PHONE CALL... about 50 or 100 bucks the last time I dealt with a lawyer.... probably spent most of that time setting up his next foursome on the links....

Some shop surcharges have become an industry accepted practice. Go back and reread what happened to me when I tried selling tires at a "bottom line" price... CONSUMERS DON'T LISTEN!!!!

Charlatans, hacks and thieves abound in this trade in the states... fuelled by consumers looking for the cheap price. Big box stores offer $39.95 brake relines.... and you'll be lucky to get out of the store for under $500... high pressure sales and commission paid techs.... Oh, I could fudge numbers.... but my integrity means a lot to me.

What it boils down to.... everyone seems to think that those mansions on the hill are populated with mechanics.... We don't live any better than anyone else... the physical cost is immense (wanna hear about my back?? maybe my shoulders??? How about my knees of the amount of time I spend with carcinogens all over me... or the fumes ... or that great big box of tools I've acquired? Had to acquire...

Everyone wants shit for cheap or free.... when anyone goes to work on Monday... imagine if you did things for free.. By that, I mean imagine doing things for free and having it affect your paycheck...

No, no, no. It's not paying for the stuff you use that I'm bitching about, it's not knowing what I'm paying for and when. When you give me the estimate for $39.95, tell me before I walk out the door that there will be a $6 shop fee added to the ticket, don't just tack it on to the bill without mention. That would sort of be like me saying Oh I will repair your computer for $60, would you like to drop it off or me pick it up? And after picking it up and droping it off I hand out a bill for $90 with no explanation that it's $60 if you bring it to me, $90 if I come and get it and bring it back.

I agree it would be nice to know up front what something will cost "out the door", but I think, to some degree, that such a small charge is being blown out of proportion.

Was the service good (except for that)? Was the job done correctly and to the customer's satisfactions (except for that small charge)? Would the customer go back in the future (if it were not for this)? Would the customer recommend this shop to others (if not for this)?

If the customer were from out of state, or out of country, and in some states, out of county, the shop probably would not mention the tax rate. The customer, whether knowledgeable about vehicle repairs or not, would be expected to know what it is... and around here it's

7.75%. I can't recall when a shop has voluntarily stated their labor rate. It's been up to me to ask, or to look for the sign where it's posted. Some might consider that devious.

The customs of business vary from place to place. For example, go to a restaurant in Germany where the tip is automatically added to you bill. Go to Japan where you insult people by handing money directly to them; it's supposed to be in an envelope or placed in a tray where touching it is not required.

How many have gone to a bar and gone inside, then learned that there is a two drink minimum? Or that you must pay for the drinks whether you drink them or not? That now that you sat down and learned this, you already have a tab you owe even if you immediately get up and head for the door? Did you complain to the HUGE guy by the door? Or did you accept what will be will be, and enjoy your two watered down drinks and then get the heck out?

It's all relative. If you stop to think about it, there are probably a few things which you pay without even thinking about it. Things you would not approve of, but which have become second nature. It might be a tax that the politicos said was only temporary, but which didn't end like they said it would.

Perhaps you bought a home and the sales person didn't mention the "extras". The fees to local government for maintaining that strip of grass along the sidewalks that border the sub-division, which you could mow yourself for $10 bucks a month. Yet every house there is shelling out $65. Or the membership dues some charge for the community center or pool whether you use them or not. Or the school bond that just got passed that tacks on a small percentage even though your kids are grown and gone....

I'm on a fixed income, and I'm sure not wealthy. If it's under $10.00, I don't worry about it unless it's an obvious intentional rip off. This case does not appear to be an obvious rip off.

An estimate is one thing... a menu price is another.... either will be subject to any additional charges. We go to a restaraunt and there is a space for "tip" o the bill... expecterd? yes... mandatory? Depends on when you plan on going there next...

It's like a game of "long c*ck"... shop "A" includes the surcharge in the bottom line... shop "B" doesn't.... adding it on at the time of billing. Shop "A" might do a better job but they lose out because CUSTOMERS HAVE SELECTIVE HEARING!!!! I fully explained my tire pricing... and was always greeted with "why are my prices so high compared to the other guy...?" "I"m cheaper...". "That may be, but your prices are too high...". How do you argue with that logic?

The bottom line.... did the shop deliver a good job, on time? Did the customer experience as little inconveninece as possible? Was the bottom line out of line? If not... WTF is the big deal?

There are a lot of us out here that DO GOOD WORK. If we do happen to make a mistake, we stand behind it 110%... Since I know I strive to deliver a better product, I ask a higher price....

Bobby Flay and Emeril will not cook for the same price as the chief executive officer in charge of freedom fry production at your local Mickey D....

Like I said... surcharge is an accepted industry standard... Deal with it...

Ooooh, Spike, you got it all wrong... in an average day, I pass between 2 and 5 ROs through my bay (though there are times I have something around long enough to put down roots).

FWIW.... I do know one guy that lives in a fancy house up on the hill... he's our local SnapOn guy.... Is this surcharge blown out of proportion? A resounding yes.... Are surcharges justified? I can only say that there aren't many here that know what it takes to operate a shop... but I do know that, in the US, if you have a crescent wrench and a hammer, you can hang a "mechanic" shingle on the door.... Oh, what fools we can be....

The idea is to open a shop... requiring deep debt for initial purchases.... more debt is acquired keeping up with technology... more debt is acquired offering other customer services...

Look at the "real" shops in your area.... Are the techs living upscale lifestyles or are they merely running from paycheck to payheck like most folks? Remember that it is't uncommon for a tech (working in a shop equipment supplied environment) to have 30 - 40 or even 60 thousand dollars tied up in personal tools.... Even the, these guys are paid what they are paid.... If there are any benefits to be reaped, they are reaped by the shop OWNERS.... often, these are people who have no basis in auto repair....

Like I said.... if the job is done to satisfaction and done when promised.... is there a real concern???

"Jim Warman" wrote in news:S7Odf.106111$S4.7076@edtnps84:

Surcharges are fine as long as they're made known up front. If they're tacked on later as a "surprise", it's simply a shady way of doing business.

The point here is that any business should show good faith and disclose all "potential" charges up front. Of course, this pertains to items that the shop knows they'll charge for and not for items that are discovered during the course of the job (e.g., replacing a muffler only to find that the whole cat back is swiss cheese).

If you pulled in to the pumps and put in $30 worth of gas and they charged you $33(10% pump fee), would you think it was a big deal?

better product, I ask a higher price....

I'm not sure what that has to do with the topic of undisclosed surcharges.

Again...

But that doesn't make it right. It used to be that businesses knew what their overhead was and charged accordingly. The only reason that I can see for these *shop fees* is so that the shop can advertise services at a lower price than they actually intend to perform them for. If that isn't trying to decieve, I don't know what is. You say that your integrity is important to you, and I believe that it is, but that seems to be at odds with your support of surcharges, undisclosed or otherwise.

Dave

Gee... that happens every time I fill up... I put in X dollars worth of gas, but they always stick me for the federal gas tax anyway.... not to mention that the California emissions standards requirement which also adds to what the cost of the fuel would normally be.... : 0 )

What about the places which charge a restocking fee for anything you return... even if it's not your fault the product didn't work.

But the taxes are included in the advertised price.

So the "good" guy has the right to charge more than the "crappy" guy. I'll buy that. But does the good guy have the right to advertise the same price as the crappy guy, then wait until after the work is performed to tack on the surcharge for his goodness? I bet Emeril and Flay don't do this.

Tis true, they are.... BUT I can't seem to recall any friends who use the stuff who voted for a permanent tax on the stuff. Be that as it may... the dang extras to pay for the special low emissions gas which does not work is not posted anywhere. Even the state acknowledged it doesn't work, and tried to get rid of it, but the Feds stepped in and EPA said 'no way'.