Labor Fee Q

Post by **sleddriver** » 27 Jan 2017, 12:08

My Q regards labor fees when replaced parts are warrantied. It's been so long since I've paid someone else to fix something, I'm not sure.

PS rack went Tango Uniform recently, blowing ATF from the driver side seal. I still had the shop receipt after 12yrs and discovered the reman outfit warrantied the units for life, to the original owner.

So I approached the shop, showed them my receipt, made an appointment, new rack installed and I'm billed for 3hrs. No worries.

Problem is that rack begins to CLUNK at rest when the steering wheel is turned in either direction. Further, the CLUNK can be felt on the front fender panel. Odd that. Indy diagnoses the noise as coming from inside the rack.

Back again, to get another one installed. I'm under the impression that I won't have to pay for labor. When asked about this I was told " the manuf. don't reimburse us, we just have to eat it."

Get the car back yesterday. New rack is very stiff and feels heavy. Pump whines when wheel is turned and held. I'm presented with a bill for another $34x for labor and was stunned it wasn't covered. I say I'm very surprised to be charged for labor, as the rack was diagnosed by their shop as defective. I add I was led to believe they would "eat it". Unfortunately, the dude who told me this is not there to question. Neither is the mechanic who did the work.

There's more but that's enough for now. So, what's standard procedure for a labor charge like this?

Post by **abscate** » 27 Jan 2017, 13:02

No shop can afford to work for free. It sucks when you get a bad part, but you have to pay people for hours they spend, especially when it is caused by factors outside of their control. The only way to hedge a bad part risk, is to do the work yourself.

skloon · Post by **skloon** » 27 Jan 2017, 13:06

Shop can't work for free but they did the work and the part was defective- they should eat the labour as a cost of doing business, otherwise they could install craptastic parts on your car and charge you again when they break- maybe this is scan-techs plan

Post by **scot850** » 27 Jan 2017, 13:27

The repair shops typically don't warrant the labour as they have to pay wages either way. So unless they damaged the part or did some damage to the part unfortunately they don't cover the do-over on labour.

However......most shops have some sort of insurance (or should have) that covers this type of work, or at least give a break on the labour if they supplied the part as a way of keeping business. It is a difficult one. The Volvo dealer I worked at, had one of the accounts car repaired in their workshop. The lady supplied a re-manufactured unit (Maval) and it was bad out of the box. They supplied another and it was also defective. So in the end she ate the cost and had a Volvo part fitted. She had to pay labour for the first 2 as she supplied the parts. The difference is their parts now have a lifetime parts and labour warranty.

Neil.

Post by **erikv11** » 27 Jan 2017, 13:37

Defective part yes but the tricky part here is, the shop did not choose the part. When you buy the shop's part that they got from their supplier for you, then you should never have to pay the labor again. But that's not quite the case here. I could see the shop going either way on this, with a decent argument. Unless, would they have used this part when installing a P80 PS rack? In that case, a decent shop should eat the labor cost, indeed.

This is an unfortunate series of events, made worse by the fact that you can't hardly buy anything these days with confidence it will be good quality. Like Steve says, the only way to hedge is to DIY, and that sucks for a PS rack.

Post by **EstVolvo** » 27 Jan 2017, 13:57

What kind of rack was required for your car and what kind of rack was installed?
There are two different rack types, I think.
Maybe you have been getting wrong parts, check it out, it may change everything.

Post by **abscate** » 27 Jan 2017, 15:26

I think MVS should be liable for me putting on my intercooler upside down....Ill let you know how that works out.

beigg · Post by **beigg** » 27 Jan 2017, 17:08

If the tech/shop that did the work lacks a process to evaluate and/or test the vehicle after completing the repair leaving the customer to do that, I'd expect no additional labor/costs involved for or at a minimum a heavily discounted labor rate. If they do have the aforementioned process and is documented, it depends how long after the repair of the part failing in determining liability.

Post by **sleddriver** » 27 Jan 2017, 20:03

Most keep missing this part:

Back again, to get another one installed. I'm under the impression that I won't have to pay for labor. When asked about this I was told " the manuf. don't reimburse us, we just have to eat it."

Post by **sleddriver** » 27 Jan 2017, 20:16

abscate wrote:No shop can afford to work for free. It sucks when you get a bad part, but you have to pay people for hours they spend, especially when it is caused by factors outside of their control. The only way to hedge a bad part risk, is to do the work yourself.

The rack was purchased from them. It began CLUNKING within ONE WEEK. According to you, no part a shop installs should have their labor covered as well as the part? WTH??? When it fails within a single WEEK!

Just how does DIY "hedge a bad part risk". Doesn't make sense. How would any DIY'er self-test a PS rack ordered from anybody before installation?

Please THINK before you TYPE!