Help - 8000 mile service cost

[greenex]

For now, I won't name the shop until I can confront them about the issue. Basically, I dropped my bike off for the 8000 mile service on Saturday. They said it would take 5.5 hours to complete the service and would be $544.50 plus parts. Being that this is my first bike, I didn't think twice about this. Also said it probably would not be ready that day even though I was the first one in the door and they are open 10am - 5pm.

Fast forward to Monday at about 12:30pm, I give them a call and they said they hadn't gotten to it yet and would call me when they did (I had some questions about the tires). Then, at about 3:15pm, I call and they said they just started on it. OK, fine.

At 5:01pm I get a voicemail saying that its done. Too late for me to get it as I was already on a commuter bus. Will have to pick it up Tuesday. Also at 5:01pm, I got an email with the invoice which totaled $625.40.

I get the added parts costs but they charged me for 5.5 hours of labor when they worked on the bike for 2 hours or less. This is essentially doubles the cost of the entire service.


Any recommendations on what I can say or do? Has this happened to anybody else?

 

[bduffey]

Did you get a written estimate of the parts and service costs before they started the work?

 

[2wheels4fun]

Just a thought that if two people worked on it at same time for 2.25 hours each, that would make 5.5 hours work.

 

[Fuzzy]

Mine only took a couple hours and less than $200.

 

[Brillot2000]

At 5:01pm I get a voicemail saying that its done. Too late for me to get it as I was already on a commuter bus. Will have to pick it up Tuesday. Also at 5:01pm, I got an email with the invoice which totaled $625.40.

I get the added parts costs but they charged me for 5.5 hours of labor when they worked on the bike for 2 hours or less. This is essentially doubles the cost of the entire service.

In the Automotive world, there's a repair labor estimate book put out by the manufacture that all repair shops use to quote the labor. If the book says 3 hours to change a Starter, Then they charge you for 3 hours of labor, even if it only took them 1.5 hours. That might be the case here too.

Call the dealer to hear what their explanation for this is. That should be interesting to hear their response.

If you already paid it, then it might be difficult to get that money back. If you used a credit card, then you can open a dispute with that charge and dealer. The credit company will be your arbitrator to resolve this dispute.

 

[greenex]

Did you get a written estimate of the parts and service costs before they started the work?

Yes, the estimated quote stated $544.40 for 5.5 hours of labor plus parts. It does not mention anywhere that they can charge that much if they don't use all the time. There is no "you agree to pay this amount regardless of how much time it actually takes" statement.

Just a thought that if two people worked on it at same time for 2.25 hours each, that would make 5.5 hours work.

Very good point. I will try to clarify this upfront.

 

[mreric]

I also recommend buying a service book, even when you are not going to do the service yourself. this way you can compare it to what they did.

be glad that they did not give you the bike the same day, valve need to be cold to be adjusted, preferably overnight.

did they do everything by the honda manual? proper torque? many shop suck at this

 

[greenex]

In the Automotive world, there's a repair labor estimate book put out by the manufacture that all repair shops use to quote the labor. If the book says 3 hours to change a Starter, Then they charge you for 3 hours of labor, even if it only took them 1.5 hours. That might be the case here too.

Very interesting. However, it still seems fraudulent to charge for something that was never delivered. Good example - in certain jobs that require billable work, you cannot bill for more than a days work. In this case, even though the manufacturer states that it is a 3 hour procedure, and you actually performed four 1.5 hour procedures in an 8 hour work day, you cannot charge a total of 12 billable hours for the day. It would be considered fraudulent and illegal. Granted, I am comparing two different job types at the moment.

If you already paid it, then it might be difficult to get that money back. If you used a credit card, then you can open a dispute with that charge and dealer. The credit company will be your arbitrator to resolve this dispute.

I have not yet paid, but I will keep this in mind.

 

[greenex]

I also recommend buying a service book, even when you are not going to do there service yourself. this way you can compare it to what they did.

be glad that they did not give you the bike the same day, valve need to be cold to be adjusted, preferably overnight.

did they do everything by the honda manual? proper torque? many shop suck at this

I think I will be buying manual in the near future.

Good to know about the valve adjustment. Explains why they would have waited till the next day (other than being too busy).

Not sure about what they are using for reference in the shop. I'm sure I will find out soon.

 

[davidc83]

For now, I won't name the shop until I can confront them about the issue. Basically, I dropped my bike off for the 8000 mile service on Saturday. They said it would take 5.5 hours to complete the service and would be $544.50 plus parts. Being that this is my first bike, I didn't think twice about this. Also said it probably would not be ready that day even though I was the first one in the door and they are open 10am - 5pm.

Fast forward to Monday at about 12:30pm, I give them a call and they said they hadn't gotten to it yet and would call me when they did (I had some questions about the tires). Then, at about 3:15pm, I call and they said they just started on it. OK, fine.

At 5:01pm I get a voicemail saying that its done. Too late for me to get it as I was already on a commuter bus. Will have to pick it up Tuesday. Also at 5:01pm, I got an email with the invoice which totaled $625.40.

I get the added parts costs but they charged me for 5.5 hours of labor when they worked on the bike for 2 hours or less. This is essentially doubles the cost of the entire service.


Any recommendations on what I can say or do? Has this happened to anybody else?

8000 mile service check includes the valve check. Valves must be checked with a cold engine per the manual. All the shops around here require the bike be left overnight to ensure the engine is cold (even though cold is a relative term). I think the manual does state the internal temperature of the engine has to be less than a certain degree (don't have the manual with me to check on this). Besides the oil change, the rest of the service is bolt checks and a chain check, brake fluid check (visual check for color and level). Even the shops around here don't change half of that cost (Thompson Motorsports in Evansville gave me a quote of about $250 for the work, but I did it myself with my buddies help on the valve checks). It took us about 2 hrs total to do the valve checks, but he was explaining and instructing me on the procedure which took longer. Wow, just, wow. That price is $$$$ way over the top.

 

[itlives]

brilliot is right. They charge what the billing schedule says. If it says 2hrs. for this or that, you pay 2 hrs. plain and simple.

It's a good system. The good mechanics make more money and the "not-so-experienced" mechanics don't (but they get better fast!).

If you get in tight with your dealer, sometimes they will cut the rate. I've gotten to know my Honda dealer and the have already charged less for changing the back tire than the schedule calls for. Don't wait until you need something from them. I just stop in, look around and "jack jaw" with them. Now they know me. Even though I didn't buy my NC from them, they are nice and more helpful than if I only came in when I needed something.

Not saying it would work with your dealer, but it works for mine.

 

[ronsaw]

A different take?

Very interesting. However, it still seems fraudulent to charge for something that was never delivered. Good example - in certain jobs that require billable work, you cannot bill for more than a days work. In this case, even though the manufacturer states that it is a 3 hour procedure, and you actually performed four 1.5 hour procedures in an 8 hour work day, you cannot charge a total of 12 billable hours for the day. It would be considered fraudulent and illegal. Granted, I am comparing two different job types at the moment.




I have not yet paid, but I will keep this in mind.

It is NOT fradulent. The price is the price. It is a flat-rate shop, and if the tech can do a 5 hour job in two, good for him. YES, it is possible then to get paid for 20 hours produced (and collected for) when working 8 hours. Typically, the shop does not end up in this position - on maintanence jobs, at times, sure. Example - Warranty typically pays about HALF of what a job actually takes - shops loose all of the time. Productive techs are hard to find, too. If you take your bike/car/truck to the dealer you expect good service, but you should expect to pay handsomely, too. Lots of other shops out there if you are looking for less costly. I used to ask my technicinans (when a customer asked for a lesser price on a job if the technician "makes time" on a job) a question - Will it be OK for me to pay you less since you made good time on this job? You can expect the response. I also used to ask a customer if it was OK to charge more for a quoted job, since the job took the technician longer to do it...and you can expect that response as well.

Just offering a different take - I have worked in / Managed Service Departments for the last 15 years. It is a tough nut to crack sometimes. The real mistake they made here was contacting you so quickly after work had started, informing you that it was done. You (the customer) felt robbed and the employees did not communicate well with regard to starting the job & completion time. If it were my department, this would be discussed the next morning at the shop.


If you speak to the Service Manager, I would suspect he or she might be willing to help you out on a future repair or do something in house.

Thanks for sharing - best to you.

 

[zirconx]

It is NOT fradulent. The price is the price. ...

Fraudulent is probably not the correct word, you are right. But this sure seems like a rip off to me. $625 for 8000 mile service? Has anyone paid that much, ever? From the posts I've read I've gotten the impression it should be closer to half that or less.

But we can't really know until we hear exactly what was done for this 8000 mile service, I didn't see that listed in the thread.

 

[greenex]

It is NOT fradulent.

The example I was using (in my head which I did not specify in the post) was how an attorney bills a client. They cannot, under any circumstance, bill a client for more hours than the work that was actually performed. Doing so knowingly and intentionally meets the legal definition of fraud.

Good information though. I will take that into consideration when I talk to them today.

But we can't really know until we hear exactly what was done for this 8000 mile service, I didn't see that listed in the thread.

According to the invoice:

Parts (oil, washers, filter, rubber mount) = $50.32
Labor (5.5 hours) = $544.50

The original quote stated "8k Service - $544.50 Plus Parts" which was explained to me as "The $544.50 is for the labor since the service will take 5.5 hours. Then you will pay extra for parts"

 

[Old Can Ride]

Simple solution - learn to do the service work yourself. A lot more fun also.

 

[zirconx]

According to the invoice:

Parts (oil, washers, filter, rubber mount) = $50.32
Labor (5.5 hours) = $544.50

The original quote stated "8k Service - $544.50 Plus Parts" which was explained to me as "The $544.50 is for the labor since the service will take 5.5 hours. Then you will pay extra for parts"

That seems ridiculous, unless it includes checking the valves. Which it really couldn't, right, since the engine must be cool? And even if it did, everything I've read on these forums says that the valves on this bike are one of the easiest to do.

 

[greenex]

Simple solution - learn to do the service work yourself. A lot more fun also.

Oh I wish I could. I live in a townhouse complex though and the lovely HOA does not allow anyone to work on cars/bikes in the parking lot. I did have someone offer up their garage for me. I might have to take them up on that.

 

[greenex]

That seems ridiculous, unless it includes checking the valves. Which it really couldn't, right, since the engine must be cool? And even if it did, everything I've read on these forums says that the valves on this bike are one of the easiest to do.

They verbally said the 8k service includes checking the valves. I'm assuming that leaving the bike overnight would allow it to cool down which is why they didn't work on it when I brought it in.

 

[OldJeff]

That seems a bit steep, but if they did the work right, then maybe not so bad. The key is the work, if it's done right, then you have found a place that will keep you up and running.

Those places can be few and far between. There is value to a good shop and keeping it open by paying a little more.

 

[itlives]

I did have someone offer up their garage for me. I might have to take them up on that.

Where there's a will, there's a way.
Some people would rather pay the money and not worry. I can see that.
But, I have to do everything I can because of the prices of EVERYTHING these days.