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notbob[_4_]

On 2011-08-13, wrote:

Waterloo/Wellington area that was NOT a flat rate shop. All my guys
were paid straight time. No incentives. No Flat Rate Bonuses.

I don't know anything about "Flat Rate Bonuses", but what's wrong with
flat rate? It's the time a factory thinks it should take a competent
mechanic with the proper tools to do a specific job. If the mechanic
is better, he will do the job quicker than the "flat rate" and can do
more in a given time and will earn the business more money. Plus, the
customer is charged a fair rate according to what it SHOULD take a
competent mechanic to complete the job, not the time some slacker or
novice will take. I once worked as a mechanic at flat rate. I was
slower when I began and became quicker as I gained experience. Seems
like a fair way to do things.

Many years later, I was shocked when I asked the flat rate on changing
a hydraulic steering line on my car and the service mgr said there is
no longer any such thing as flat rate and if it took 6 hrs, that's
what I'd be charged. I told him to jam it up his ass and did it
myself in 1.5 hrs, having no previous experience on said car.

nb