Price comparison between local supplier and ebay.

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blue beasty said:
I really struggle with this attitude.

As a tradesman I can often get discounts that customers can't. I pass that saving onto the customer.

My overheads are covered by the rate I charge (or not if I fook up a priced job) and my relationship with suppliers is a good incentive for people to come to me for work.

I know many, even most, add on a profit to materials. It's generally accepted practice but just watch the panic on their faces when there's a dispute about costs and the customer asks to see receipts.

To suggest he can't be doing his job properly because he didn't make a profit for making a phone call is outrageous.

I'd suggest he's more likely a man that knows how to get and keep loyal customers
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or even just a highly skilled man who doesnt need to rip people off ,which is what the world needs
 
eightinavee said:
He cant run much of a business,if he has real overheads then often the discount on the materials make the difference of making it worth doing.Fitting customer supplied parts is not a professional way to carry on,does anything about his operation make you think you are going to get a decent job done ? If there is a fire during the job is he insured ?
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I think that is quite a conclusion to jump to. I've had very good reviews of this guys work from quite a few people. He Is also very adamant that he wants to do a good job and not a bodge.

He has experience with older land rovers although not a land rover specific garage and his rates are reasonable. He is going to carry out a chassis interior clean out and reprotect while the rear cross member is off, if that isn't extremely professional then i don't know what is.

Is he insured for fire, just because i rang up for a part HE supplied and i paid for?
 
I think you have misunderstood what I have said,I have no idea who this person is who has been asked to fit the crossmember,so can only ask questions about what he is going to offer.
The point is that anyone earning a living from their chosen skill needs to charge a reasonable sum for their labour - which is not just going to cover their beer money/food costs etc.They also need to consider enforced downtime,rent/rates,tool/consumable costs,insurance,accounts fee's,training, etc,etc.
All this adds up and few small businesses make sufficient allowance for it.
So has this bloke got fire/liability insurance ? Will someone payout if your truck gets burnt or nicked from his workshop.
Showing a supply invoice to a customer is stupid,how much discount a business gets on parts is none of the customers business,if they choose to pass on all or part of that discount then that's their choice,( I sometimes pass on full discount where there is no alternative to a genuine part and Tata want stupid money)
Its all very very to criticise garages,but we need to make living just like everyone else,visit a solicitor and see what they charge,or call out the washing machine man....
BTW Monkfish,YOU supplied the part - your welder can show no paperwork for that part,any warranty issue is down to you to sort out.
 
No, he supplied the part, he rung up LRP and asked for the part with the spring hangers, ensured that the item was of a more modern design so is a better fit and stronger to weld, he then said to me are you happy to pay direct or i can just add it on to the bill (the bill that will include his labour and consumables) I asked him if it made a difference and he said no so i said I'll pay now. He then passed the phone over to me and i paid over the phone (and checked my account after to ensure it was carried out correctly.

Where has the criticism come from? I am giving a local garage work, i got a good price from HIM on a part rather than order off the internet and every word he has said, as an engineer myself, i have understood and agreed with, hence a £400 bill to repair a £500 landy!

I suggest you trot on back to the town whence you came and give your horse a break.
 
monkfish24 said:
No, he supplied the part, he rung up LRP and asked for the part with the spring hangers, ensured that the item was of a more modern design so is a better fit and stronger to weld, he then said to me are you happy to pay direct or i can just add it on to the bill (the bill that will include his labour and consumables) I asked him if it made a difference and he said no so i said I'll pay now. He then passed the phone over to me and i paid over the phone (and checked my account after to ensure it was carried out correctly.

Where has the criticism come from? I am giving a local garage work, i got a good price from HIM on a part rather than order off the internet and every word he has said, as an engineer myself, i have understood and agreed with, hence a £400 bill to repair a £500 landy!

I suggest you trot on back to the town whence you came and give your horse a break.
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If you are happy with the quality and price you are paying then well done.I was not trying to criticise you,just questioning the actions of the garage.To hand over the phone to a customer from a supplier is not a normal business proceedure.Why do you think trade discounts even exist ?
I have no desire nor need to upset you or anyone else,my comment was just an observation as a LR independent making big efforts to provide a decent service to my clients and other garages - its neither cheap nor easy to do.
FYI I really don't like horses or towns,I was born,live and work in the countryside,walking to work to save fuel even...
 
eightinavee said:
I have no desire nor need to upset you or anyone else,my comment was just an observation as a LR independent making big efforts to provide a decent service to my clients and other garages - its neither cheap nor easy to do.


FYI I really don't like horses or towns,I was born,live and work in the countryside,walking to work to save fuel even...
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Please accept my apologies then, your post did come off a little condescending and irrelevant.

I do 99% of the work on my LR, unfortunately i don't have much experience in welding and so don't want to risk my lack of skill on something as major as the rear cross member.

I think he got me to buy it as I did humm and harr over whether i let him do the work, i think he may have let me do that to ensure that i put some sort of down payment on it rather than bugger off leaving him with an old series 3 with no MOT and a £400 bill.

I/SWMBO has 4 of the buggers! They're ok, never tried getting to work on one but they would certainly save on fuel.
 
monkfish24 said:
Please accept my apologies then, your post did come off a little condescending and irrelevant.

I do 99% of the work on my LR, unfortunately i don't have much experience in welding and so don't want to risk my lack of skill on something as major as the rear cross member.

I think he got me to buy it as I did humm and harr over whether i let him do the work, i think he may have let me do that to ensure that i put some sort of down payment on it rather than bugger off leaving him with an old series 3 with no MOT and a £400 bill.

I/SWMBO has 4 of the buggers! They're ok, never tried getting to work on one but they would certainly save on fuel.
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No problem,I'm getting over bronchitis and my mind doesn't always output things as I mean them to....
The trouble is I see so much of slagging off of garages where there is either no or little understanding of what needs to be done,I find that understanding the customer and explaining at a level they are happy with often becomes as important as the job itself.You made a good decision in not taking on the job of welding on the crossmember yourself.So many times I have seen the result of dangerous chassis repairs.The welds need to be of a high standard with good penetration - not always the case esp if done with a hobby mig....
 
The other thing is that if he arranged the purchase but got you to pay for it directly yourself it means there is less money going through his books which may place him in a more advantageous position re: accounting and tax. When a friend had a load of work done on his house last year the tradespeole did something very similar. They told him what to buy, alerted the suppliers that he'd be coming in with his debit card so as to get the trade prices, and he went and paid for it.
 
fanatic said:
Turn over isn't profit and cash is king
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Yup, but even so a lot of people seem to like to keep transactions out of the books if at all possible. If you could lead a life without appearing in any official documents I bet you would! Perhaps you already do . . .
 
Brown said:
Yup, but even so a lot of people seem to like to keep transactions out of the books if at all possible. If you could lead a life without appearing in any official documents I bet you would! Perhaps you already do . . .
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The only reason to ask the customer to pay for parts would be to keep the business below the vat threshold. Or if the business is cash poor and doesn't have credit facilities with the supplier.

Beyond that it makes feck all difference if parts are put through the business or not.
 
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jamesmartin said:
or even just a highly skilled man who doesnt need to rip people off ,which is what the world needs
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;) When you know what your doing you can charge the same hourly rate but get done quicker and work out cheaper:D

Most of the garages near me are £55 plus a hour and I babysit all of them when things get deep
 
bblake said:
The only reason to ask the customer to pay for parts would be to keep the business below the vat threshold. Or if the business is cash poor and doesn't have credit facilities with the supplier.

Beyond that it makes feck all difference if parts are put through the business or not.
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Well, you could certainly describe a lot of businesses in that part of the world as 'cash poor'. The proverbial church mice probably have a better line of credit.
 
Brown said:
The other thing is that if he arranged the purchase but got you to pay for it directly yourself it means there is less money going through his books which may place him in a more advantageous position re: accounting and tax. When a friend had a load of work done on his house last year the tradespeole did something very similar. They told him what to buy, alerted the suppliers that he'd be coming in with his debit card so as to get the trade prices, and he went and paid for it.
Click to expand...

I do this all the time for a couple of reasons:

i) It keeps me out of the clutches off the vat man by keeping my turnover down below the threshold.

ii) People know exactly what they are paying me to do a job.

Works for me :)
 
Brown said:
Well, you could certainly describe a lot of businesses in that part of the world as 'cash poor'. The proverbial church mice probably have a better line of credit.
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It's a problem these days, thanks to the banks reducing or eliminating overdrafts for small businesses. Back in 2009 my bank reduced my business overdraft by 80% overnight without notice. A business that needs that money to buy parts would be royally screwed.
 
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