Pulliam Ford Service Ripoff Columbia South Carolina
I am in South Carolina on business. I have a 1998 SVT Mustang Cobra. The check engine light came on this morning so, I looked in the phone book and called the only Ford dealership that I found. Since it is an SVT I wanted someone that had experience with them if needed. Jeremy was really nice on the phone and told me to bring the car in.
I got there around 9 AM, at about 10 Jeremy said the computer said I needed a HEGO (heated Oxygen sensor) and a PCV valve. Jeremy told me that it would take a couple of hours and they had to wait til the exhaust cooled down. I was told that it would cost $437 before tax. He said the Labor rate per hour was $88. The parts were $120 and the rest was labor. At 11:10 I was shocked to see my car pulled around and they were finished with it. They were still charging me $318 in Labor.
When I asked Jeremy "I was only here for 2 hours, it is not possible for the labor to be this much. He said they go by the flat rate in the book that says how long it should take to fix it and sometimes it just get finished faster, but we have to use the flat rate.
Even if I give them the benefit of the doubt and break it down like this (assuming they worked on the car the whole 2 hours I was there, which they didn't because the said the had to wait for the car to cool down) it is still a rip-off
Diagnostic: $88
Parts: $118.51
2 hours labor: $166
Total = $372.51
Not the $436.75 that I had to pay!
I Called back and and was told that the book says this about the labor times:
Diagnostic 1 hr. =$88
PCV and HEGO sensor 1.3 hours= 114.40
Test drive and Reprogram the computer 1.3 hours= 114.40.
Total of 3.6 hours somehow squeezed into a 2 hour time span!
Can anyone explain that to me?
John
Salem, Virginia
U.S.A.
4 Updates & Rebuttals
David
Chaffee,Missouri,
U.S.A.
Flat Rate
#5Consumer Comment
Thu, July 13, 2006
I spent 5 years at a Ford dealership. Some of it as a service advisor and some of it as a flat rate technician. The way flat rate technicians make their money is as follows. They have a job that the book says takes 3 hours to perform. They do it in 2 hours. That means they can move on to there next job and make that much more money. It is not a ripoff to charge people like this, it is business. Some times they have a job that pays three hours and it takes them 4. That means they lose money.
The book is what they go by to decide what to charge the customer, most repair shops especially the dealerships use this same method. If a fast technician is working on your vehicle then they get it done in under the time alloted and make money. (((ROR REDACTED CONTENT INSULTING TO AUTHOR)))
David
Chaffee,Missouri,
U.S.A.
Flat Rate
#5Consumer Comment
Thu, July 13, 2006
I spent 5 years at a Ford dealership. Some of it as a service advisor and some of it as a flat rate technician. The way flat rate technicians make their money is as follows. They have a job that the book says takes 3 hours to perform. They do it in 2 hours. That means they can move on to there next job and make that much more money. It is not a ripoff to charge people like this, it is business. Some times they have a job that pays three hours and it takes them 4. That means they lose money.
The book is what they go by to decide what to charge the customer, most repair shops especially the dealerships use this same method. If a fast technician is working on your vehicle then they get it done in under the time alloted and make money. (((ROR REDACTED CONTENT INSULTING TO AUTHOR)))
David
Chaffee,Missouri,
U.S.A.
Flat Rate
#5Consumer Comment
Thu, July 13, 2006
I spent 5 years at a Ford dealership. Some of it as a service advisor and some of it as a flat rate technician. The way flat rate technicians make their money is as follows. They have a job that the book says takes 3 hours to perform. They do it in 2 hours. That means they can move on to there next job and make that much more money. It is not a ripoff to charge people like this, it is business. Some times they have a job that pays three hours and it takes them 4. That means they lose money.
The book is what they go by to decide what to charge the customer, most repair shops especially the dealerships use this same method. If a fast technician is working on your vehicle then they get it done in under the time alloted and make money. (((ROR REDACTED CONTENT INSULTING TO AUTHOR)))
David
Chaffee,Missouri,
U.S.A.
Flat Rate
#5Consumer Comment
Thu, July 13, 2006
I spent 5 years at a Ford dealership. Some of it as a service advisor and some of it as a flat rate technician. The way flat rate technicians make their money is as follows. They have a job that the book says takes 3 hours to perform. They do it in 2 hours. That means they can move on to there next job and make that much more money. It is not a ripoff to charge people like this, it is business. Some times they have a job that pays three hours and it takes them 4. That means they lose money.
The book is what they go by to decide what to charge the customer, most repair shops especially the dealerships use this same method. If a fast technician is working on your vehicle then they get it done in under the time alloted and make money. (((ROR REDACTED CONTENT INSULTING TO AUTHOR)))