JimGo
Glendale, AZ
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Joined: 11/17/2011
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Is the charge for "Shop Supplies" 10% of labor up to $100.00 in all CW Service centers, or just Avondale?
Seems excessive to me.
Jim and Terri
2007 Pace Arrow 37C
W22 Chassis, 8.1 Vortec, Banks PowerPack, Allison 1000
2012 Chevy Nox LTZ AWD
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old guy
Oregon (pronounced Or e gun)
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Joined: 03/15/2006
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BS I say. they are charging you for paper towels and everything else in the shop. I would ask to see the supplies that were used. I have seen this and the office girl got in big trouble at my store for large shop charges.
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Bwright29
Florida
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Joined: 12/08/2011
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JimGo,
There is a standard charge that is a % of labor in the shop to cover any supplies used. Let me check on your ticket to be sure it is correct.
Thanks,
Bruce Wright
VP Customer Service
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fla-gypsy
North Florida
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Some states (maybe all) let mechanical repair facilities charge up to 10% for shop supplies on each service ticket regardless of what is actually used. You may not like it but it is generally legal and acceptable for those businesses that qualify for it. I have no idea what CW does on a normal basis. I have never had them do work for me.
09 SuperDuty Crew Cab 6.8L/4.10(The Black Pearl)
06 Keystone Hornet 29 RLS/(The Cracker Cabana)
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LTCLarry
Maggie Valley, NC
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Joined: 11/03/2011
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old guy wrote:BS I say. they are charging you for paper towels and everything else in the shop. I would ask to see the supplies that were used. I have seen this and the office girl got in big trouble at my store for large shop charges. I agree with Old Guy. I am not bashing CW, they are just following along with what has become standard business practice. It is the “standard business practice” and it’s legalization by various state organs that I object to. Not so much that shops don’t use supplies….but that they are allowed to charge a flat percentage for them, so assuming 10%, a $50 job nets $5 while a $1000 job nets $100. If you think a shop actually uses $25 in “shop supplies” to do a $250 brake job…I have a bridge for sale. And asking to see the supplies, used paper towels and rags gets you about as much as asking to have the parts returned. How many used brake pads, magnets, water pumps etc. do you think a shop has laying around? This practice is no more honest or dishonest than the “flat rate charge” for the actual work. For example, does it take every mechanic 1.75 hours to change a set of spark plugs? Of course not, but shops charge that……as a MINIMUM…now if you get a mechanic who is “slow” you get charged the “actual” time. I have no problem with a business charging for their services. However, I do object to this practice of tacking on shop supplies. Customers have no way of knowing the actual cost of the work. Why, because the shops don’t disclose that when they provide you with the quote of the cost of the work. If shops were required to include that cost along with the cost of the work and the taxes then I would have less heartburn with the practice. Businesses do this so that they can under price their work. Shops also now charge “disposal fees” for tires, batteries and such because they have to take them to recycling facilities, which they do. But they don’t tell you they actually “sell” those items to a recycler. The “shop supplies” charge offsets more than “actual shop supplies”, it also offsets other business costs….unless of course you consider hand soap, toilet paper etc shop supplies. It is similar to the “document preparation fee” that auto dealers want to tack on after the sales price is quoted. Just be up front and include the cost of shop supplies in the cost of the work. Legal or not, it is imho disingenuous.
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pbrooks101
NEK, Vermont
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What about shop supplies when you have nothing done "in the shop"? Two years ago my tow vehicle experienced a breakdown 17 miles away from our destination in Northern New Hampshire on Friday of Memorial Day weekend. I called AAA as I had the RV towing as well.... they told me they couldn't find a towing company that could handle my truck and 5th wheel but I could make arrangements myself and could submit my invoice to them for reimbursement. I was able to get Trafford's RV in Conway, NH (now a Camping World store!) to come tow my 5th wheel on to the campground; called a local flatbed company from my home area about 80 miles away to come get my truck (they stopped by my house and picked up my other car and brought it to me on the flatbed so I would have a vehicle to drive for the weekend - THAT'S great service!) My bill from Trafford's RV was for 2.5 hours of labor for the tow plus another amount for the mileage (I forgot what that was). On the bill was a $12.50 charge for "shop supplies". I asked what that could have possibly been and was told that it was added to all labor charges and they couldn't take it off the bill and that I needed to pay the bill in full....... I paid it because I couldn't see ruining my weekend (anymore that what it was!) over a few dollars but that experience certainly limited the business that I have given that RV dealer since. I hope that it is better now that it is a CW store! (BTW..... when AAA reimbursed me for my tow bill, the only thing they didn't cover and didn't pay was the shop supplies!)
2006 Ford F350 DRW SD
2004 Lance 1161
2010 HD Street Glide
2005 Pace-American MC trailer
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sc3283
St Louis
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Until you work in a repair shop and see what is actually considered "shop supplies" you folks have NO gripes. Do any of you have a clue as to what a box of paper shop towels cost? How about cloth shop towels and their weekly cleaning charge? How about that finger full of grease used to lubricate something? What about the squirt of spray can lube? or spray can cleaner? What about how many times the tech has to wash his hands using soap/water/drying towels, so that he doesn't mark your interior with his dirty hands??? It all adds up and adds up very quickly...So before complaining, consider the WHOLE picture
04 D-Max Crew Dually
96 Monaco Dynasty 36'
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RVDavie
Home
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sc3283 wrote:Until you work in a repair shop and see what is actually considered "shop supplies" you folks have NO gripes. Do any of you have a clue as to what a box of paper shop towels cost? How about cloth shop towels and their weekly cleaning charge? How about that finger full of grease used to lubricate something? What about the squirt of spray can lube? or spray can cleaner? What about how many times the tech has to wash his hands using soap/water/drying towels, so that he doesn't mark your interior with his dirty hands??? It all adds up and adds up very quickly...So before complaining, consider the WHOLE picture I know the whole picture. I grew up in repair shops and ran many. I have no problem with repair shops recovering those costs. My heartburn comes when that crosses the line from "recovering costs" to becoming a revenue generator. Honesty, integrity and transparency are what I want to see.....include all those little extras on the written quote, on the pricing board in the service department......in other words tell everyone that there is a charge for: shop supplies, resource recovery fees (for batteries, tires etc) so that folks know that the $139.00 brake job will cost more than $139 plus tax....and just how much that charge will be........I can't remember the last time my bill at a restaraunt included itemized costs for bar towels, paper towels, soap and water, and recycle fees for all the cardboard boxes they have to recycle.....the point is just have one of your wizbang actuaries figure out what those costs come to and include a percentage of that in your base costs......many other businesses do that and so can repair shops....
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bpounds
Whittier CA
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This practice stinks, and it has not always been this way. Only in the last decade or so has it become common in the auto repair business. I don't know who started it, but once it started, all companies have jumped on board the extra revenue stream. Shop supplies, and now hazardous waste disposal fees. Auto dealers are doing it with marketing fees. Next thing you know they will be tacking on shop space rent fees. All of these company expenses should be included in the shop hourly rate. If you cannot itemize the parts and supplies you used, you shouldn't be charging for them. Shame on the whole industry.
This isn't just a CW issue, but if they are doing it too, then shame on them too.
* This post was
edited 05/16/12 12:49am by an administrator/moderator *
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sgip2000
Oregon
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What gets me about the "shop supplies" charge is that these items are expense items that are the cost of business and can be claimed as expenses on taxes.
What they are likely doing is "double dipping". Same thing with tires.
We replace tires that may not be "safe" but still have a lot of tread. Of course we don't want to store them so the shop keeps them and re-sells them to someone else and keeps all the profit.
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