Thread: Hardest part of my job

Did you have a bad experience with a Lutheran as a child?

You must be trying to supplement your income with comedy. I would think there would be more money in gouging.

no pea ,i didnt mean gouge. if a customer thinks im charging to much ,ill be glad to show them where the cost was incurred. in fact if they want too they can work with me . step for step.
i bet if one ever did they wouldnt say a --- thing about what i charge.
i took a little offence at that myself.
but then i dont know u ,and i am pretty sure u would be on my dont answer his calls ,list. no offence intended now ,just the truth.

I don't know where the Canada rambling came from, my mind
was fogged from cheap beer and other diversions.
Lutherens are alot like Catholics, but don't have any fun. I
married a Italian Catholic girl, but she turned protestant, so
now she is against all of my bad habits. When we got married
and I said "I do", she replied, "Not any more".
And yes, I was abused as a child, but it was all self inflicted.

Just to set the record straight, if a repair shop charges you
anything for labor, or charges you any markup over the part's
cost, then they are gouging? How do you expect them to
feed their families? Do you want them to pay the state sales
tax for you as well?Or is it that since it is a saw or lawnmower
the repair person should only make minumum wage? What
kind of business are you in? Work for the state government?

Are there Lutherans in Kentucky? I thought everyone was Baptist. I have a bus driver here telling my kids they can't read Harry Potter.

I'm amazed at what people will say online...hopefully they wouldn't go into someone's shop and accuse them of GOUGING (unless, of course, it was warranted.) Why would you say that here? I had to look it up to see if it still meant what I thought it did......yup: "gouge: to cheat, as to charge exorbitant prices."

Che

Hey, nice smileys!

Fish, are you flirting? And it's not polite to stare. Her eyes are about 18" above where you are looking.

I had to get the tapemeasure out to make sure...just as I thought, if that's true......

Fish, I didn't know you were a 'belly button' man!

Che

(I do like that last smiley....we call that 'the look' at my house....gets everyone back on track...quick. With an Italian wife, I'm sure you've seen it too, Fish.)

fish and tony,
I'm just joking around. It was just when I read the post that said something like "pay me now or pay me later" I had to say something. It was just to fun to pass.
I really enjoy this site and learn a lot from it. I don't mean to make anyone mad at me. I'm just joking around.

I guessed you were, but I wanted to draw you out to make sure.
Believe it or not, most people assume I am out to screw them
based on their past experiences with the other local shops,
and some of them are serious gougers that do poor work to
boot. But what is more interesting is that they are still busy.
The trick to working on saws, is not working on junk that is
not worth touching, and the middle of the road cases are the
only ones that will likely burn you. Chainsaws and trimmers
can be a real pain to fix, since the first likely trouble spot is the
carb. Go through that, and if the unit does not still run right,
means there is an air leak, or the carb has a clog that cannot be
cleared up easily. Either way, this rules out any further action
costwise, and the customer will have a hard time payibg for
a carb rebuild that did not cure the problem. It is for this reason
I seldom put in a new carb kit, unless the diaphragms are real
stiff. I know this last statement will unleash rage from many here
but I do not want to lose the cost of a carb kit to boot. I usually
eat the labor, if the problem is not a carb cleanout{or fuel or
impulse line leak}, and give the saw back and tell them it is
not worth pursuing, unless it is a high dollar saw. I lose a lot of
money this way, but it doesn't piss em off and they keep
coming back. But if I fix the saw by blowing the junk out of a
carb, or replacing a fuel line, which is more than not, I charge them a decent wage, so it balances out a little. I also will
admit, if they are not standing there watching, and the problem
is only a plugged exhaust, I charge the $10 minumum and
sleep well at night, even if it is as simple as sticking a pencil
in the muffler tube to break out the wasp larvae. That is why
I tell them it may take a little time to figure out, so they might
go get a burger and come back in a 1/2 hour or so.
I love mud dobbers[wasps], they are my favorite.

fish,
Sounds like you run a good shop. You seem like a real nice guy also. Have a good day fish.

Fish, its funny. Everyone in the shop was talking about the same thing the other day about why people piss and moan about paying the lawn mower shop to fix their equipment. Its one thing when Joe Shmoe wants their jet ski or quad fixed up so they can go blastin on the lake or rippin down the trail. They will dole out the cash with no prob. But when it comes to that same person fixing up a peice of equipment like a saw or a mower, its always in the back of their mind that this equipment isn't for play, this equipment means "I" have to work! Oh no This is why I think people hate spending money on outdoor power equipment. Well there is the "Landscaper" but we won't go there.

Is it really that bad? I have always found the servicing shops here fixing poulans, and weed eaters, and then when I bring my Stihl in, they wanna gouge me..lol I guess that they think I have money!..thats why I drive to a shop thats 54 mi away from me they actually do good, reasonable, honest work, and I am willing to bay a bit extra for it.

fun, wouldn't the differance in milage make up for the differance in cost???I.E. gas+time+hassle of the drive+down time in my opinion unless the guy is a REAL @sshole its not worth the drive!! you can't fault a man for making (or trying to make) a living. it really makes me mad when people complain about the cost of services but if someone balks at THEIR cost to do things they get pissed off!!! people commonly b!tch at what a doctor charges, thats wrong as well because his costs are 8 plus years of school and student loans as well as his malpractice insurance ect. ect.

OK, so we should fix things for nothing,but that will get you in the end. Say I clean that wasp nest out of the muffler in the spring for nothing. In the fall, the pulse has a crack. The first words out of the customer's mouth are"but you just worked on it!" NOW who is doing the gouging?