1999 Pontiac Grand Prix General Labor Question

Wha job was done. Thats the key question. Its possible they were already working on it before you called. I can give you a honest answer if I know what was done.

Unfortunately that is how it works, the program he is talking about is meant to keep labor charges for certain jobs level. For example a tech who has performed the same job 30 times is going to get the job done faster than a tech doing it for the first time. Your not getting ripped off if the job pays 6 hours and the tech gets it done in 3 if the job is done properly. How the time is calculated is that a tech actually performs the job and is timed. The tech does the same job 3 times and each time he does it faster (of course) they take the average time and use that as the flat rate time. The flat rate system is actually used to benefit the customer from not getting overcharged. It is used as a guide and sometimes a job may have broken or rotted parts and will take longer to do and that has to be adjusted for. The flat rate system prevents you from overpaying labor for a job that is supposed to take 6 hours and it takes the tech 10 hours to do it. In that case you should be only charged for 6 hours. Do you kind of understand. Dont get me wrong, some shops will charge 6 hours labor for a job that is supposed to take 3 and thats a whole different story. One example I can give you is that I worked for gm for 10 years and a very common job is a leaking intake manifold gasket. The job pays 8 hours to do and in most techs, thats how long it takes to do. I have done this job 100 times and I can do it start to finish in 2 hours. The job is exactly the same job as another tech does in 8 hours. The quality of the job is not affected. It is a incentive for the mechanic to work faster and be more productive. ***In my shop I charge less hours labor for this job because I can do it so fast but I cant charge only 2 hours labor or I would go out of business. I hope this helps clarify.