Mt Eden Motorcycles - Not going there again

[Owl]

Perhaps because the once proud RNZAF we had was amputated of several limbs to suit the stupid pacifist ideals of that very ugly bitch we had running the country for 9 long years....

Yep, it certainly coincides with the demise of those Merlot drinking fighter pilots

[Crasherfromwayback]

Has anyone in the bike industry ever linked "Hard to please" customers with any particular occupation? In my industry it's school teachers and air-force personel, though the later seems to be getting better.

Hate to say this...but in my time...I've been lied to by policemen way more than any other 'profession'. I think they think they're above the law and can say whatever the fuck they want.

[Owl]

Hate to say this...but in my time...I've been lied to by policemen way more than any other 'profession'. I think they think they're above the law and can say whatever the fuck they want.

Can't say I've had that issue, but I once got a call from the boss to sort an urgent job for an irate cop. Then received a speeding infringement on the way to the job. Of course I was professional about it.

[sinfull]

Can't say I've had that issue, but I once got a call from the boss to sort an urgent job for an irate cop. Then received a speeding infringement on the way to the job. Of course I was professional about it.

You say professional like i say i hope a rebel has an oil filter ! Both leave a gritty feeling in the bowles !

[MarkH]

Fuk em, blame them crasher.
The bastards that dont pay, the bastards that flame ya on the net, the bastards that ask "do i owe you anything for that" (no im fuckin Santa cant you see)
The bastards that fuck it up themselves & want the shop to sort it out.
The bastards that try on boots & helmet & then buy them off the net.
The bastards that supply their own parts off the 'net & want the shop to fit them. & all the other munters out there, i could go on for pages.
But woe betide if a customer gets accidentaly charged ten bucks he dosent owe.
Be funny if the shop started a thread naming & shaming assholes that do the above. That would be hilarious!!

I can see some problems on that list.

"The bastards that fuck it up themselves & want the shop to sort it out."

I can't see what is wrong with that - if someone wants to save money by doing their own work then why the fuck shouldn't they? And if they fuck it up and have to pay you to fix it then that is tough titties for them and a chance for you to charge for your time.


"The bastards that supply their own parts off the 'net & want the shop to fit them."

Don't you still make money from your time? If they get their own parts off the net and fit them themselves then you get nothing - if they come to you to get those parts fitted then you make money on doing the work. If one of my customers buys hardware elsewhere and then asks me to set it up, do you know what I do? I go and do the work they want and invoice them for my time!


"The bastards that dont pay"

OK - that's fair. Fuckers shouldn't have work done if they aren't willing to pay for it. You can bet anything you like that they wouldn't be willing to work for free - so they are hypocritical douche bags! Luckily I have had very few customers like that.

[sidecar bob]

That kind of stuff just makes business less profitable. My hourly rate is based on me selling X $ amount of parts per hour. If people supply their own bits then i may as well tell them to fit the parts themselves & head to the beach. It works out the same financially for me.
Now watch someone trot out the old "Customer service" gem.

[kwaka_crasher]

"The bastards that supply their own parts off the 'net & want the shop to fit them."

Don't you still make money from your time? If they get their own parts off the net and fit them themselves then you get nothing - if they come to you to get those parts fitted then you make money on doing the work. If one of my customers buys hardware elsewhere and then asks me to set it up, do you know what I do? I go and do the work they want and invoice them for my time!

Trouble is the margins on part sales are often factored into the running costs so they are losing out. Then there's the issue of split responsibility - if a part you supplied fails who deals with the cost? They only fitted it.

[bogan]

That kind of stuff just makes business less profitable. My hourly rate is based on me selling X $ amount of parts per hour. If people supply their own bits then i may as well tell them to fit the parts themselves & head to the beach. It works out the same financially for me.
Now watch someone trot out the old "Customer service" gem.

I agree its pretty poor form to get your own parts and ask a shop to fit em, and kwaka raises a good point bout responsibility. But if people are able to get parts cheaper from internationally based companies etc, would it not make sense to redistribute the pricing, ie reduce parts price to keep them competitive, and increase labour costs to balance it? Or can shops not match other parts prices and still make a profit?

[sidecar bob]

I agree its pretty poor form to get your own parts and ask a shop to fit em, and kwaka raises a good point bout responsibility. But if people are able to get parts cheaper from internationally based companies etc, would it not make sense to redistribute the pricing, ie reduce parts price to keep them competitive, and increase labour costs to balance it? Or can shops not match other parts prices and still make a profit?

The problem there is that the first question a client asks is, "what is your hourly rate" which is about the least reliable way of working out how much a job will cost.
I was going through a customers service history a few weeks ago & the previous garage had charged them 6.5 hours to do a rear wheel bearing on their 325i BMW, i charge them out at 2.5 hours with a $10 an hour higher hourly rate.

[bogan]

The problem there is that the first question a client asks is, "what is your hourly rate" which is about the least reliable way of working out how much a job will cost.
I was going through a customers service history a few weeks ago & the previous garage had charged them 6.5 hours to do a rear wheel bearing on their 325i BMW, i charge them out at 2.5 hours with a $10 an hour higher hourly rate.

cant you just refuse to answer and give a job estimate instead though?

[sidecar bob]

cant you just refuse to answer and give a job estimate instead though?

Im sure if I did that, somebody would start a thread on kiwibiker saying, "Oooohhh, bob's a dodgy bastard, he wouldnt disclose his hourly rate to me, i bet that rascal is up to no good"!!!
I prefer to back it up with a quote & encourage the punter to get a quote elswhere as well. It usually bodes well for me.

[MarkH]

cant you just refuse to answer and give a job estimate instead though?

What's your hourly rate?
I'm not willing to say!

Yeah, I can't see that working out well - I wouldn't be a customer anywhere that said that.

However I would not be surprised if someone brought there own parts in and got charged 2.5 hours labour on a job that took 2 hours.

[bogan]

yeh, maybe it wouldn't go too well initially, maybe give quotes instead, just seems to me service places are unnecessarily losing business on parts is all

[BoristheBiter]

yeh, maybe it wouldn't go too well initially, maybe give quotes instead, just seems to me service places are unnecessarily losing business on parts is all

Yep, People forget it is the mostly the parts that you make the money on.

We charge a minium of three hours on all work so we can cover cost etc, some don't care, some get us to do other work at the same time, so all in all it works out fine.

[Indiana_Jones]

-Indy