Caring is a good thing but I'm sure you can relate to my comments. I imagine every business has its share of people that basically are just there to collect a pay check. I can't stand that attitude. People of that nature should get paid zero an hour. The company doesn't need them and the customer doesn't deserve it.
I don't know your business operations or your industry but I imagine both you and your competitors charge for the price of perfection if that is what you truly expect out of your work force. Every business I'm familiar with makes mistakes and in my opinion most mistakes can be avoided. If the motorcycle industry went thru the paper trail requirements of the airline industry just to use an example I imagine motorcycle dealers would disappear because the consumer would not be willing to pay for the cost.[/quote]
Those threats are actually against federal law. If I had a dealer tell me that rather then push the issue I'd be heading for the exits. Those types of statements show you the quality of the store you're dealing with immediately.
The truth of the matter is this: You, or a 3rd party, are permitted to work on your own vehicle when ever you choose to do so. If the result of your work damages something on the bike that specific repair would not be warranty. But your overall warranty still remains in effect. An OEM does have the right to question the repair and your competency if it appears you lack the skills. In addition, documentation can be requested to support the fact that you really did change the oil and filter for example. The paperwork request needs to be related to the issue at hand however. If your fuel tank cracks for example that may have nothing to do with your 600 mile service for example unless proven otherwise by the OEM. All in all extremely fair requests on the part of the OEM. They just want to verify the work they state needs to be performed has actually been performed and they, like all of us, would prefer not to be lied to.
It does sound on the high side but I do not know the cost of doing business in Colorado and I would be unable to make a rational decision. Some states have extremely high environmental costs on anyone involved with the repair of vehicles.
Ah yes, the truly simple less-than-5-minute jobs; the ones that always get the customer pissed off big time. In today's legal and regulatory environment dealerships (smart one's anyway) have an extreme need to watch their butt's. Therefore repair orders MUST be written up if you're smart. If you do 4,000 repair orders in a year and you take your cost-of-service-department for the year and divide it up you arrive at an average cost per repair order. Or, if you prefer another way determine what it cost's per hour to keep the doors open. Either way it is a hugh percentage of the hourly rate and for many poorly run stores in a seasonal environment they go into the red. It's even difficult for a well run store to stay out of the red in the service department almost exclusively due to seasonality. The store as a whole literally bleeds red ink for a minimum of 3 to 4 months anywhere in the United States with the possible exception of South Florida and Southern California. The farther north the store is located the more red ink. I am not familiar with the Southern Californian marketplace but I do know South Florida. Even down there they have a season which runs from approx January up until Memorial Day. The summer months drop off considerably due to the extreme heat although the drop is not as severe as a northern dealer.
Going back to my "we're not an ice cream store" comment... the cost to retain your qualified and trained help in the winter is the primary factor for the red ink because you simply cannot afford to toss them aside while you go thru a slow period (i.e. winter). And, as previously stated, those same folks probably need their jobs in order to live. Kind of like you and me I imagine. Dump those employees on a regular basis and guess what... you're out of business as well.
The reality? EVERY single thing you touch and/or do in a service department costs money. Everything. Now the question is do you really want to charge customers for what you know is minimal (although over the course of a year even the minimal items turn into 5-figures) charge and have them cuss you out (and I do mean cuss out in the front of other customers and/or go out onto the internet proudly proclaiming how your store totally sucks and you're never going back again). My answer to that question? Don't work that way. An intelligent dealer will know what those types of costs are worth approximately and roll them up into the overall labor rate.
No matter what if you intend on staying in business you need to recover your costs at the very least. If the overall customer base has a perception that little job is ripping them off it behooves you to handle it in a manner so they remain happy. Therefore recover those costs in a manner that doesn't so quickly and easily anger your customer base. Because you know what? Even when the customer is technically wrong it is the stores job to both please the customer and make enough to stay in business. That kind of reasoning tells you not to charge to reset the service light and not to charge to check/correct air pressure, and not to charge for every Tom, Dick and Harry who calls on Saturday, the busiest day of the week, wanting to know what the torque setting is for some hardware on his or her motorcycle. And, by the way their torque wrench doesn't do Nm so can you tell me in pounds please. Also covers can you check my oil level please and my right front turn signal doesn't flash and it's the bulb but I don't have tools to put the bulb in so can you do it please customer.
All in all, it comes down to knowing the weaknesses of human beings in general and acting accordingly so that human being goes away and believes that you're actually there to help him or her. Easy to say but very few businesses seem to be able to pull it off. Another human weakness and the wheel continues to spin around.
Perhaps one of the most accurate things you can say!! Goes back to people in general not caring enough about what their doing and by the way where's my paycheck? It's wrong, wrong, wrong!! I say charge whatever you feel is appropriate to make a reasonable rate of return and follow through on your commitment to that one person who pays ALL of your bills including your very own paycheck. That persons name? Customer.
