can a garage that quote you there labour rates at £50 an hour plus v.a.t do a days work on your car ( 8 hours ) then say they used 2 people to do the job and charge you £100 per hour plus v.a.t ?? cause that is what happened to me !! just after some advice !!!!


thanks

 

What were they doing to your car that needed 2 men for a full day?

 

I think it would be reasonable to argue that you didnt agree to that. They could have just kept adding the man power to the bill.
They could quote £50 per man and then say it took 100 men. I think it would be safe to assume that the labour rate would be for the labour involved in fixing your car.

 

Would the job have taken 2 men, 8 hours to do!?

Short of Engine out, Gearbox out, one rebuilt engine and one rebuilt gearbox, reassemby and test drive ... I cannot think of anything which would taken 2 men 8 hours!

 

If labour is quoted at £50 an hour, that's what you pay. End of.

 

Definately not right IMO. It's exactly as alcazar above said "End of".

 

i was quoted for fitting " clutch and flywheel,headers,uppipe,turbo,exhaust,3 port solenoid and exhaust "

now i was quoted the clutch and flywheel would be 4 hours !!
so in total hours wise i was charged over 13 hours !! but the job was completed in 8 hours !!

when i enquired about the charges i was told labour is labour !!!

 

double post.

 

as above, for example if they quoted 4hrs to do a clutch change and it took a extra 2 men 20mins to lift out and 20mins to put the gearbox they couldn't charge you a extra 1hr 20mins for the job just because it needed extra men to lift it in and out, you are being had it was quoted 50per hour so that's what you pay,

if anything the job should have took half the time to do with to men on it so it should be the same price

 

have you paid them yet? do they still have your car? and do you have a written invoice with the quoted hours?

 

hi there, yes " paid " at the time in shock " still have the car as only done a few weeks ago" and have the invoice as can see clearly the prices for labour !!! only got the invoice just on monday as it was sent out to my old address !! that was when i really noticed the labour charges !!

 

Let's put things into perspective here if you asked me to do all that my obvious choice would to pull the engine out and do all the above listed clutch turbo and headers this is the bulk. So realistically maybe and extra two hours ontop of engine out and in. I personally wouldn't bother going gearbox removal route as the headers and rusted turbo bolts would mean a lot of faffing about.

In regards to the hourly rate it is exactly as alcazar put it that's what you pay regardless of men.

Would love to know what garage it was as I would question their cost and timing and their chosen route to do these mods.

 

thanks for your comments that is what i thought !!

 

as said before,they cant do that! especially if they quoted you!
at our place if we give a quote, it stays at roughly that cost weather it takes 1 man longer to do the job or 2 men half the time!

 

sorry, also forgot to add that i have been phoneing the garage since monday in total 5 times and i have done all the chaseing, not once did they phone me when i challenged the charges !! they even charged me £100 plus v.a.t for the 3 port solenoid and it was mine , i gave it them to fit !! i am still waiting for the payment from that !!!

 

That is even more shocking. Fortunately for the garage you are not naming and shaming them.

 

Any competent mechanic should have been able to do all of what you had done on his own!
I have hardly any mechanical knowledge or skill, but even I changed the headers, up pipe and downpipe on my car, and it only took me 3 hours.

Swapping the turbo and the 3 port is also a fairly easy job.

Was this garage a subaru specialist?

 

Couple of points
1. Is a quote legally binding? I don't think it is and, if you don't have a written quote then I think you are stuck.
2. £50 an hour is £50 a man hour. 2 men for 1 hour = £100 simple fact

It might help if you post up the quote (in man hours or labour charges) and what you ended up being charged. If this is wildly different than the quote you may be able to argue about over-charging, but they will always come up with a reason e.g. some bolt or other was siezed so we had to dismantle the whole car........

What has happened in my experience is that if a job, for whatever reason, is going to take longer than estimated, the garage get in touch, explain the situation and get approval for continuing.

Hope you can get it sorted if it becomes obvious you have been ripped off in labour charges (notwithstanding the 3PS - that is truly shocking). Also post the name of the garage so others can avoid it.

Good luck

dnc

 

as baly said you are not naming and shaming them, and i wouldn't especially if they come on here, personally i would put it in writing including copies of their quote asking for a refund of what you have been overcharged, give them 7days to reply, if after then you have heard then get onto your solicitor and take it from there.

 

hi there, it is labour charges !! and over 13 hours worth !!!

 

hi there, i rang again twice and no call back so will give them tomorrow and if no joy than will plan for further action !! thanks !! maybe trading standards first i suppose and they do come on here but i have not come on here to give them a bad name , i just want some resolve to this !! but so far its been crap !! ta

 

hi, yes it was a subaru specialist !!!

 

OK you were charged 13 hours labour, but what were you quoted? To simply say you were quoted £50 per hour is meaningless. Did they say it would take 3 hours, 6, 12?

 

hi, i was told it would take a full day !! it took 8 hours !! ta

 

So they didn't quote the man hours? Just that it would be all day? TBH unless you can be much more specific and have something in writing I just don't see too much hope for you here.

So there was 1 man working 8 hours and a second man working 5 hours. 13 hours work does seem a bit excessive for the work carried out but I suspect the garage would be able to give a 'reasonable' explanation for this.

I would focus on getting your money for the 3PS back. That is theft, plain and simple.

dnc

 

Garages like this make my **** boil. Just because someone calls themselves a specialist, they think they can charge what they like. Especially as some of you guys have mentioned the fact that you could have easily undertaken some of the OP's work yourselves.

 

thanks for your opinion on this guys. i will see what today brings and you never know they might even phone me !

 

Guarantee that if you tell us who they are they will call. But Sn may also remove the thread as they don't want to offend their regulars I would have thought.

 

well! no phone call yet ! surprise surprise !

 

Well if SN remove the thread because the OP names the 'Specialist' then they are as culpable as the garage.

The OP has obviously been ripped off for being charged for his 3PS and for that reason, if it isn't resolved to the satisfaction of the OP then he should name the 'Specialist'.

The charge for Labour is a bit more wooly. I think the moral here is to get the estimate as a price, not hours, and if the garage feels that while doing the work the estimate isn't enough they should phone and let you know there is going to be an increase in the initial estimate.