The Secrets Surrounding Auto Repair Shop Work Set Up

Money is the driving force behind all (or most) of the auto repair rip-offs taking place today. And sad to say, many auto repair shops are even promoting an environment that makes rip-offs one of the easiest options for its technicians and mechanics.

Most of us are familiar with the flat rate, a paying system that demands consumers to pay according to the number of hours that the book says, regardless of the actual number of hours consumed in the repair. Although this is reasonable (after all, a good, experienced, and fast-working mechanic deserves a good pay), it is often abused by mechanics who want to earn more, rushing the work, which results in poor repair.

And, with some (or most) shops requiring quota from their technicians, these individuals are even more tempted to rush the job just so they would reach their target and not get in trouble with their boss. In many instances, the said quota doesn’t consider the skills of the technicians—it stands the same whether the tech is skilled or not. So, woe to the customer who is assigned a technician who is unskilled, and whose only hope at meeting the quota is to rush the work even though the result becomes poor.

If you think these are serious enough, then wait until you hear this one more. I’ve heard about a shop that offers incentives on its mechanics for selling a service that sells low on usual days. While this may be valid, this system led to mechanics misleading customers into believing that their car needs the said service even when it really doesn’t—all for the sake of the incentive that was being offered by the shop.

You see, some of the practices mentioned above are actually implemented not for the purpose of ripping off car owners. However, they create an environment that gives way to the latter. And while we cannot control these, all we can do is be careful.