Had to replace the primer bulb on my McCulloch weed-eater and that damn piece of China made plastic cost me SIX dollars at my local mower repair shop.
I have 2 identical weed-eaters, so I ask the guy if I buy 2 of them if I could get a discount, he says , NO, I buy them buy the "100", so I said that means that you only pay 25cents a piece for them, he says, I wish.
Come on, how much can that little piece of plastic REALLY cost?
I searched Google and see them selling for $1.55 a piece,,,,,just can't find MY kind, and they must be VERY popular because the minute I handed it to him, he threw it in the trash, meaning he had them.
Unfortuntaly, eventhough I live in a pretty big city, there aren't many mower shops around and this guy overcharges for everything.
Had a friend (older guy) take a mower in one time because it wouldn't start and the guy charged him $50 to replace the sparkplug....He called it a "tuneup"...LOL
Told my friend, call me the next time you have a problem with something before you get taken advantage of.
Keep on searching you might be able to find YOUR kind. Add in $5.00 shipping & handling, an hour of your time. Or call around, then if you can get it across town for say a dollar cheaper, factor in the cost of gas today.......
Never mind that 3rd redeye, (s)he's one of those wusses who doesn't archive. 6 bucks for a plastic bulb? Well, you _are_ helping a _local_, don'tcha know? Anytime I can, I opt for local help. Hang the cost. Tom
Listen look at it this way. For that guy to exist they have to pay the lights, telephone, rent, insurance, taxes, and salary. (just to name a few)
While 6.00 is allot for a cheapie part, the guy has to stay in business.
As for the tuneup, who knows. Did they change the air filter and oil on there too? Parts price was probably minimal but labor is not a cheap thing, it never was.
Its only expensive to people who feel they can do it all themselves.
I love the fact that people complain about labor charges but then those are the ones that pay about 1000.00 a year on lawn service.
=============== Gosh I am an older guy myself.... BUT I do not see why you would say "your" older friend was taken advantage of...
The repair shop FIXED the mower, charged your friend for the time to figure out why the mower would not start, plus for a sparkplug...and for the time to install the plug...
Even though I am retired, I still remember the good old days when I honestly charged for my services... I see absolutely no reason the Lawnmower repair man should not...
What is the FIRST thing that someone checks when a mower doesn't start (besides the gas)the plug......I'm sorry, but replacing a sparkplug isn't worth $50....IF, he would have called me I could of fixed it for
2 dollars.
I've been in the autoglass business for over 20 yrs and I've done a MANY a freebie over the yrs.....You don't ALWAYS have to rape someone when it is something minor.
Example: On Wednesday I took a "Hunter Original" ceiling fan to a Hunter Dealer because I thought it needed a new capacitor, the guy took the fan to the back, tested it, replaced the "switch", and gave me a tube of oil for the fan for FREE.
I'm just saying, the guy could have charged him A LOT less than $50 to replace a spark plug.
Some things you just don't have to charge ppl for.
Another example....Ever had a rear view mirror fall off a windshield? Did ya try and glue it on yourself? Rear view mirrors that are glued to the windshield fall off ALL the time and the only way to glue them back is to have the right glue, which at an auto parts store will run you about 5 bucks.....The glue is a ONE time shot, screw up, you just wasted 5 bucks.
I can buy the glue (which is a 2 part primer and glue) for $15 and I can glue on 100's of mirrors with it and it only takes 1-2 minutes.....I have NEVER had any company that I have worked for (or even when I had my own business) charge for this, it's a courtesy for future business.
If the customer wants to tip me, fine, other than that, all I expect is a THANK YOU, if I ever need a piece of glass i know where to come.
Key word "honestly"....The guy could have installed the plug, if it DIDN'T start, then he could have started charging the flat rate....IMO
Like I said in my first post, he has NO competition in his area, I bet if someone was to open a BIG NICE shop right across the street he wouldn't be charging ppl $50 for spark plugs and $6 for primer bulbs.
replying to Ron, Justin Kase wrote: You should take it to my friend Warren. He fixes stuff parttime in his back yard. He doesn't charge much, but you have to supply the parts unless he can pull it off something in his junk pile. Tell his wife Susan "hello" for me. If you're lucky she might be making dinner and send you home with a plate. They are good people.
replying to BocesLib, Justin Kase wrote: $6 is a bargain for a repair. Most shops charge a minimum of $30 just for the privilege of breathing their rarefied air.
Some people are never happy. A guy has a mower that won't run, takes it to a repair shop, they diagnose it, change the spark plug and probably more (he said they called it a tuneup). What does that entail? A filter seems logical. Did they sharpen the blade? Adjust the carb? Who knows. The mower works, the charge is $50, the guy's not happy.
Another guy does the repair himself, pays $6 for a primer bulb at the local shop where he can drive over and walk away with it, he's not happy. the other alternative is you can typically order those from China for $1, but you have to wait maybe 3 weeks for it to arrive. You could typically find a US seller on Ebay for $3.50, but then you'd have to wait a few days. There are a range of choices, but some people, you just can't make happy. Me? I just see a range of alternatives, of options and none of those seem unreasonable or out of line to me.
Especially because at Lowes and Ace hardware the bulbs arou about $ 4 to $ 6 each.
I waas not in a hurry for them , so a few years back I bought some off ebay but for got the price. They were from a US seller and were here inless than a week.
As simple as it is to replace most of tehm, if the weeder eater owner can't replace them, he should be charged a minimum of $ 10 for the shop time plus parts.
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