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Labor Rates
- Thread starter seasider
- Start date
Spaceheart
New member
..for those fellows who cant even change oil, filters or perform any other minor maintenance activities should use public transportation like a bus instead owing a Ducati...bringing a bike to a dealer just for that is just ridiculous IMO...why poeple keep buying such kind of machinery if they dont know how to manage the furking simplest things about a motorcycle or any motor driven vehicle?
Applecheekies
New member
People just want a fair deal. Charging a flat rate of 4 hours when something takes you two isnt a fair deal.
That said, it goes both ways.
That said, it goes both ways.
You make some valid points Graphite. However the fact remains that the mechanics who DO provide a conscientious service are under-valued wage-wise.
And for those outside Australia who may have found Sweetas' post a bit obscure - the picture is of our new Prime Minister, who now leads the LABOR Party (no U).
And Marlon - I too remember a time when Ducatis were chosen by those more mechanically adept, but that long ceased to be the case. Let's welcome all who choose to ride Ducati.
I actually prefer those who understand their limitations, having had to sort out the messes created by those who thought they knew what they were doing..
And for those outside Australia who may have found Sweetas' post a bit obscure - the picture is of our new Prime Minister, who now leads the LABOR Party (no U).
And Marlon - I too remember a time when Ducatis were chosen by those more mechanically adept, but that long ceased to be the case. Let's welcome all who choose to ride Ducati.
I actually prefer those who understand their limitations, having had to sort out the messes created by those who thought they knew what they were doing..
There are "independent" shops around that will do the same work for less than the dealership. You just have to find someone trustworthy which is more than half the battle.
The local ferrari mechanic is independence and makes a killing. Im really not sure who I would want to work on my bike, we have a pretty terrible dealership to be honest. There are a few people who could probably do it but I might trailer it out of town.
The local ferrari mechanic is independence and makes a killing. Im really not sure who I would want to work on my bike, we have a pretty terrible dealership to be honest. There are a few people who could probably do it but I might trailer it out of town.
There is a lack of understanding here. Dealers, like people, have many fixed costs that are pretty much out of their control. Dealers don't get to tell the bank how much their going to pay on the mortgage for example just as people don't (up until this whole financial fiasco anyway).
Assuming we don't go into a total financial meltdown you better hope the dealer is charging enough to be profitable because if their not they go out of business. And where does that leave you as a customer?
Mr. Graphite675, do you mind if I ask you what field you work in? Do you or the owner of the business ensure that you're profitable in order for you to keep your job, or keep your business open if that's the case? Does your employer pay you enough to live like a normal human being or do you get paid so little that you can't afford anything? Or, if you own your business, are you getting a reasonable rate of return on your investment? Do you possess the skill sets that a trained, caring technician posesses? Or, are you like so many at so many businesses that basically just don't give a damn? Or, do you truly care about what happens and you put in effort to keep your skill sets current? Your example appears to use a few extreme examples that are not based on reality.
Technicians go through a tremendous amount of training and like any job on the planet you have folks that care and folks that don't. In addition, technicians lay out, by most anybodies opinion, a substantial amount of money for tools. Does your employer make you buy your own desk, lamp, telephone, calculator, computer, etc? Or, does he provide it for you? Do you have a handle on what it costs to keep the doors open at a business?
It's quite simple... businesses that care about their customer base and work hard at making sure things get done right are entitled to make a profit. I'm 56 years old, you know how many losers I've hired through the years in my life who will not take the time to treat a customer the way their entitled to. Far more than I care to think about. And, when things go bad in a transaction they blame the store for not caring even if I never knew a problem occurred. Both sides of the fence have an obligation to do what's right. Reality is many folks just don't care enough to do it. Both customer and business. Look at your own workplace and I'm confident you can find the very people I'm talking about.
I want the people I work with to make a good living for having performed a good job. If you can't do a good job get the hell out of the store. Customers are entitled to the best. Both the store and the employee are obligated to perform. In turn we take in enough money to see the employee makes a good living and the store retains a realistic profit and the customer actually has a business to turn to when he needs our help. Anything less is a license to fail.
The big thing in the motorcycle business for years now is to hire some young kid who has few to no real skills and give the new hire little to no training and/or incentives in order to pad the business owners pocket. This is the WalMart priniciple. Price everything for as little as you can and hire idiots who are basically next to useless to work your floor. I guess for some people that's a winning formula. I happen to think customers are entitled to a bit more than that. Back to a previous comment of mine - motorcycle dealers are not selling ice cream - they actually need some skill sets at work and people that truly care about what their doing. Those people are entitled to make a good living. Call me foolish.
Assuming we don't go into a total financial meltdown you better hope the dealer is charging enough to be profitable because if their not they go out of business. And where does that leave you as a customer?
Mr. Graphite675, do you mind if I ask you what field you work in? Do you or the owner of the business ensure that you're profitable in order for you to keep your job, or keep your business open if that's the case? Does your employer pay you enough to live like a normal human being or do you get paid so little that you can't afford anything? Or, if you own your business, are you getting a reasonable rate of return on your investment? Do you possess the skill sets that a trained, caring technician posesses? Or, are you like so many at so many businesses that basically just don't give a damn? Or, do you truly care about what happens and you put in effort to keep your skill sets current? Your example appears to use a few extreme examples that are not based on reality.
Technicians go through a tremendous amount of training and like any job on the planet you have folks that care and folks that don't. In addition, technicians lay out, by most anybodies opinion, a substantial amount of money for tools. Does your employer make you buy your own desk, lamp, telephone, calculator, computer, etc? Or, does he provide it for you? Do you have a handle on what it costs to keep the doors open at a business?
It's quite simple... businesses that care about their customer base and work hard at making sure things get done right are entitled to make a profit. I'm 56 years old, you know how many losers I've hired through the years in my life who will not take the time to treat a customer the way their entitled to. Far more than I care to think about. And, when things go bad in a transaction they blame the store for not caring even if I never knew a problem occurred. Both sides of the fence have an obligation to do what's right. Reality is many folks just don't care enough to do it. Both customer and business. Look at your own workplace and I'm confident you can find the very people I'm talking about.
I want the people I work with to make a good living for having performed a good job. If you can't do a good job get the hell out of the store. Customers are entitled to the best. Both the store and the employee are obligated to perform. In turn we take in enough money to see the employee makes a good living and the store retains a realistic profit and the customer actually has a business to turn to when he needs our help. Anything less is a license to fail.
The big thing in the motorcycle business for years now is to hire some young kid who has few to no real skills and give the new hire little to no training and/or incentives in order to pad the business owners pocket. This is the WalMart priniciple. Price everything for as little as you can and hire idiots who are basically next to useless to work your floor. I guess for some people that's a winning formula. I happen to think customers are entitled to a bit more than that. Back to a previous comment of mine - motorcycle dealers are not selling ice cream - they actually need some skill sets at work and people that truly care about what their doing. Those people are entitled to make a good living. Call me foolish.
augerrhythms
New member
Well put Billy. You don't say where your business is, but I'm betting some on here would like to give you their work. Ducati dealers (if indeed that is your business) do not often hold the principled outlook you express, unfortunately. Hence the skepticism of some on here.
Having been on both sides of this equation - ie. bike mechanic for 36 years, and new bike buyer, bound by warranty obligations - I say all power to you.
Having been on both sides of this equation - ie. bike mechanic for 36 years, and new bike buyer, bound by warranty obligations - I say all power to you.
Rrrrrrrrrrrrr
New member
Thats all cool Pat ...and you, or we do it our own just to make sure its done correctly the first time and save some bucks and time while having some fun to do so...on the other hand I absolutey understand Billies point of running a business successful with highly qualified and motivated employees has its price but the major question is still not answered...why the charges lets say for the same tasks differ so much from place to place? From my point of view ...this is not logical as every main brand or make pais lots of attention for the employees who are working directly with or for the clients..so...little room for non good guys in that kind of business though..
Рoppy Seed ♥ ♥ ♥
New member
An excellent question but I'm off to hit the sheets. 5 am comes quickly. Also, my grandkids are visiting and I will spend some time with them. I will put forth my 2 cents on this issue over the weekend at some point.
as far as marlon's question is concerned, the way i understood it is, why are charges for a certain job differ from dealer to dealer or dealer to independent.
imo, charges are different due to dealer demographics, parts charged to perform job, and operation codes used to perform a job.
any dealer may it be in the motorcycle industry or auto industry have different hourly labor rates due to dealer location.
some techs and dealers use or charge more or less parts than others to do a job (this is a fact).
techs and service advisors use and charge different labor operation codes to perform a job (happens a lot with customer pay work than warranty due to auditting issues). plus, in some customer pay jobs, dealer has discretion to pad or discount up to a certain percent the charges for the job.
imo, charges are different due to dealer demographics, parts charged to perform job, and operation codes used to perform a job.
any dealer may it be in the motorcycle industry or auto industry have different hourly labor rates due to dealer location.
some techs and dealers use or charge more or less parts than others to do a job (this is a fact).
techs and service advisors use and charge different labor operation codes to perform a job (happens a lot with customer pay work than warranty due to auditting issues). plus, in some customer pay jobs, dealer has discretion to pad or discount up to a certain percent the charges for the job.