Not fixed...after repairs..

Thanks for the advise. I should have sold the job and expectations better.

And yes new plugs and wires

And yes new plugs and wires

The customer has been understanding but some won't be. As said before some may look for free work, some just look to place the blame anyway possible. The reality is, in this line of work its going to happen. Things won't get fixed the first time, won't get fixed fast enough, cost more than expected and the list goes on and on.

Honestly if you ever find the answer you will have shop owners beating the door down to hear it. I'm not sure there is one right answer but I have found what works for us. 1: Be honest, open and positive. 2:Never accept liability until your positive you or your staff are truly responsible. 3: Explain from the very beginning known charges and that during said type of job it's possible for more items to be required. 4: Don't get caught up in trying to fully please the customer, in these situations sometimes it just won't happen. In other cases you might stress yourself out to the point your more worried about pleasing than they are about being pleased!

5: Charge fairly, don't work for free under any circumstances (unless your the cause of the problem). If you feel obligated to offer a deal in a situation like this have a discount policy that locks it at 10-20%. This will prevent you from unnecessarily discounting your profits away. I find if I already have struggled with a job and then take a loss I end up being upset with myself, the car and the customer lol. I might even cringe next time they call, and believe it or not they can hear it in your voice lol.

I'm not sure if this will work for you, it's just what I remind myself when similar situations occur.

For instance today a customer came in from out of town. We had worked on his vehicle (lots of aftermarket go fast parts) a couple weeks back and found he had a cracked injector nozzle causing a misfire, low power and smoke. We pulled them and had them sent to the company that built them (2 years ago), they found a cracked nozzle as suspected. They priced repairing 1 for $500, which included setting the other 5. Or $900.00 for all new nozzles, a complete rebuild job. Now I don't necessarily agree with the companies warranty policy but that was the deal from the get go. A 1 year warranty. They knocked off $100.00 on the repair service. He chose to fix the damaged injector not all 6. If you guessed he came back with the same problem you'd be right. Don't know if it was the repaired injector or another one but I explained if it was one of the others he'd of course be responsible for charges similar to the last bill. He wasn't happy, but I can't work for free! We have a sign in the shop that states no warranty on performance parts or labor when using performance parts. Is it fair? Probably not but life's not fair lol. If I've done something wrong and it's our fault I'll foot the bill for the labor out of kindness, but otherwise the owner is paying.

I may not handle things the best way, and of course I'm open to any advice possible. If nothing else I hope my story will let you know your not alone!

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

Wise words above. I will be sharing with my partner. Just new to this world and this site makes my decision making easier.

This is always tough. We're on a vw tdi job that we spent way to long waiting for aftermarket parts and now we've installed in and found the machine shop surfaced a warp into the head.

The customer has been understanding but some won't be. As said before some may look for free work, some just look to place the blame anyway possible. The reality is, in this line of work its going to happen. Things won't get fixed the first time, won't get fixed fast enough, cost more than expected and the list goes on and on.

Honestly if you ever find the answer you will have shop owners beating the door down to hear it. I'm not sure there is one right answer but I have found what works for us. 1: Be honest, open and positive. 2:Never accept liability until your positive you or your staff are truly responsible. 3: Explain from the very beginning known charges and that during said type of job it's possible for more items to be required. 4: Don't get caught up in trying to fully please the customer, in these situations sometimes it just won't happen. In other cases you might stress yourself out to the point your more worried about pleasing than they are about being pleased!

5: Charge fairly, don't work for free under any circumstances (unless your the cause of the problem). If you feel obligated to offer a deal in a situation like this have a discount policy that locks it at 10-20%. This will prevent you from unnecessarily discounting your profits away. I find if I already have struggled with a job and then take a loss I end up being upset with myself, the car and the customer lol. I might even cringe next time they call, and believe it or not they can hear it in your voice lol.

 

I'm not sure if this will work for you, it's just what I remind myself when similar situations occur.

For instance today a customer came in from out of town. We had worked on his vehicle (lots of aftermarket go fast parts) a couple weeks back and found he had a cracked injector nozzle causing a misfire, low power and smoke. We pulled them and had them sent to the company that built them (2 years ago), they found a cracked nozzle as suspected. They priced repairing 1 for $500, which included setting the other 5. Or $900.00 for all new nozzles, a complete rebuild job. Now I don't necessarily agree with the companies warranty policy but that was the deal from the get go. A 1 year warranty. They knocked off $100.00 on the repair service. He chose to fix the damaged injector not all 6. If you guessed he came back with the same problem you'd be right. Don't know if it was the repaired injector or another one but I explained if it was one of the others he'd of course be responsible for charges similar to the last bill. He wasn't happy, but I can't work for free! We have a sign in the shop that states no warranty on performance parts or labor when using performance parts. Is it fair? Probably not but life's not fair lol. If I've done something wrong and it's our fault I'll foot the bill for the labor out of kindness, but otherwise the owner is paying.

I may not handle things the best way, and of course I'm open to any advice possible. If nothing else I hope my story will let you know your not alone!

 

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

You've got the best answer to this type of problem that I follow as well. The first thing I've learned in my long career of working on cars is to expect the unexpected and at the same time inform the customer of those unforseen expectations. Without a doubt the number one thing that screws things up is the customer who decides on the repair with their wallet and NOT what the technician/shop recommends. Too many people feel they've been ripped off at another shop that their trust of you is somewhat jaded.

I'd rather lose a job than do it halfass. It always, always, always comes back to haunt you. They might be mad, tell you their never coming back, call you the worst mechanic that they have ever been to and sometimes worse. But, you can't please everyone. I've given up trying... I'll inform, note on their ticket...etc... but, I ain't doing it for nothing (unless it IS my fault)

Money drives every repair, sometimes it drives it right out of the shop. Life ain't fair. Well expained mc.