The customer in not only unaware but does not care that you need to make a profit on your parts to stay in business. The customer who wants to supply their own parts only cares about “The CHEAP!” As in they want the repair and they want to try and cut costs anyway they can because, in their mind, you are too expensive. That is all. I sometimes use the term “consumer.” I define the consumer as: They don’t trust you, they don’t want to pay what it costs to fix their broken automobile, they don’t value you, they don’t even really care if their car is reliable, if it breaks down right after you fixed something else it will be your fault , they will complain and expect you to fix the new failure free or at a discount because, “Since you fixed my fuel pump my radiator is leaking, you must have done something to it.” The consumer consumes. They consume your time, your money, your good will, your faith in humanity and worst of all, your profit.
To try and explain to the consumer that you want to supply the parts because that enables you to accept total responsibility for the repair gets lost when all they care about it the price. They don’t understand that IF the repair fails due to the part they want to buy because it is cheap they will be on the hook for more costs than if they had just allowed you to do it in the first place with YOUR parts. The consumer only sees, in their minds, that you are overcharging them for the part.
There have been many articles written about court cases deciding that the shop was responsible for installing the customer’s inferior part because the shop agreed to accept the part from the supplier, in this case the customer. The shop accepted the part and in doing so agreed that the part was acceptable, proper and correct for the repair. The shop was the expert and therefore had the greater responsibility for acknowledging and determining the fitness of a said part for the needed repair. And by accepting the customer supplied part the shop accepted responsibility and liability for the repair involving said customer supplied part. No amount of disclaimers, waivers of liability or agreements, recorded, signed, notarized are going to save a shop from, “But you just fixed it!”
Once upon a time we could take solace in the idea that if we did this for a customer and the repair went south and the customer bad mouthed us to others those others were one of two types of people, People who knew what kind of person Bad-Mouth Customer was and didn’t really pay attention and might actually give us their business out of pity or People just like Bad-Mouth Customer and we didn’t really want more of them anyway. But now with online reviews anyone can read the review, they don’t know Bad-Mouth Customer and will believe that we are an evil, dishonest shop because we refused to stand behind the repair we didn’t do right (when it was really their CHEAP inferior part that failed, not our work). And you tried to cheat Bad-Mouth Customer by charging them again to fix it right when you couldn’t fix it right the first time.
No, there are too many pitfalls to accepting and installing customer supplied parts, even something as simple as wiper blades. Too many reasons not to and most of the customers who want to buy their own parts do so fully knowing that you need to make money on your parts, that you increase the value of said part as it is just one component of a complete repair that they can have confidence in and that you will stand behind. These consumers know all of this already, they simply are trying to get you do let them cheat you. And no amount of explaining anything will change their minds. I know, I have tried it.
I get at least two calls a month, “Yeah, I need (insert repair job here). How much will it cost for you to replace the (insert part name here), I already have the part.”
Often times they admit they bought the part online, typically like RockAuto or eBay or CarID. Cheap sites, sketchy parts brands but they were CHEAP! I have tried all manners of handling the call, accept the customer part, charge a higher labor rate, make them sign a waiver acknowledging they supplied the part and there is NO WARRANTY, to explaining the liability and warranty provided if my shop obtains and supplies the part. I have even answered objections like, “But I bought it right from Thirlby (a local independent chain of parts stores) , the same parts store you would be buying it from.” I explain that yes, I do buy parts from Thirlby but they carry cheap, low quality economy grade parts with short lifespans for cheap repairs and used cars and they carry top quality professional grade parts that repair shops use in order to provide a longer life higher value repair. That doesn’t matter. I explain that even it if is the exact same part, brand and supplier, if there is anything wrong with the part the store has no responsibility to my shop to help replace the part, the obligation is to the customer who bought the part only. I explain that there is no coverage for labor if the part fails and has to be replaced under warranty. I run the whole spiel in the OP, it simply does not matter to the customer who wants to supply their own parts. They have already decided that the repair is too expensive, you are too expensive and all the “Added value” you can offer isn’t of value to them. All they value is the CHEAP! It doesn’t matter that if they allow you to supply the part and do the job that the repair will last twice as long as the cheap part they bought and would install if,
“it weren’t too cold outside,”
“they had the right tools, “
“they weren’t’ too busy and had the time.
It doesn’t matter that the $300 repair today is cheaper than the two $200 repairs they will need over the lifetime of YOUR part. To the consumer who wants to supply their own part all that matters is THE CHEAP!
The only proper way to handle the caller or person at your counter who wants to supply their own parts is, “I am sorry, but we do not install customer supplied parts under any circumstances. There are too many problems that arise from doing so.” The only time it is even remotely acceptable is if it is a very personal taste item like the customer bought a steering wheel cover with swoopy hearts all over it or they were given a gift like a back-up monitor that is a universal fit item. It’s hard to decline a gift and harder still for many recipients to install. Still then, it’s a tough situation. You install that back-up camera/new stereo/steering wheel cover and anything happens to it in the next forever and you are the expert who should know exactly why it stopped working or the hearts started peeling off after 6 months.
I am sorry to disagree with the OP, but you shouldn’t even waste your time with the explanation of why you don’t installed customer supplied parts. The consumer doesn’t care, all they care about is finding someone willing to let the consumer cheat and consume them.
“I am sorry, but we do not install customer supplied parts under any circumstances. There are too many problems that have arisen from doing so.”