Got into it with a shop owner about flat rate vs hourly for electrical diag

Last month in Phoenix, a buddy's shop billed 8 hours flat rate for a parasitic draw that took me 2 hours to find. The owner said it's fair pay for the skill, but I think hourly is more honest for tricky electrical work. What's the right call here?

2 comments

2 Comments

jakelee9d ago

But what about when the skill fails? If a tech spends 8 hours on a flat rate job and still can't find the draw, does the customer pay for those 8 hours of "skill" that didn't fix the car? Or is the shop just eating that time and losing money? Seems like the risk should cut both ways.

patricia_singh819d ago

You said it took you two hours to find. I read an article once that argued flat rate is really paying for the knowledge, not just the clock time. So maybe the owner has a point about fair pay for the skill, even if it feels off.