[jlwadhwa]

All over the world, the Automotive dealerships of Ford, Hyundai, Honda, GM etc. have standard guidelines for labor charges per hour and these have to be followed. It may be true that some of the hours prescribed may be less than the actual ( due to use of efficient diagnostic equipment) and some may be be more than theoretical. You can always fix your own charges with logical explanation-may be add 10 to 20% more but there is no reason to vary the charges from one visit to another repeat visit. That is one of the top 5 reasons for customer dissatisfaction in service. a good practice would be  to publish a menu of charges and display them on the workshop board, so that the customers can themselves compare the prices with the given estimates.These prices should include labor parts and lubricants and sub contract jobs. The prices can be revised as and when the individual prices change. I have experienced that you might loose on some labor charges and gain on others. eventually, it balances out. as long as we make efforts to bring in more volumes of work, by effective contact and follow up  by reminders of service, you will start gaining profits. Then this variation becomes irrelevant.the service has to be treated like a professional business with emphasis on customer satisfaction. Do I sound preachy?-but believe me his is the way.This is a part of Total quality Management concept in automotive service Industry.

Thanks for initiating the discussion.