Re: is this stealing
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Example, a good friend of mine is a mechanic for a Ford dealership around here. He has told me many times where he will be assigned a simple task like putting running boards on a new F-150 or something, and he'll basically be told to put it down as at least 1 or 2 more hours than he actually spent on it.
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This is a poor example for you to use. Dealerships charge their labor based on flat-rate manuals. A certain job pays 2 hours, if the tech gets it done in less, good for him. Some jobs will pay 6 hours and it will take the tech 8 hours to complete it--sucks for him. Customers who whine about it when a tech is able to beat the flat-rate time are ignorant hypocrites. How much cash has the tech invested in the tools of the trade? I have $10,000 worth of tools in my garage, and my box was woefully deficient. Will that same idiot customer who complains about the job being done in less time be willling to fork out extra cash when the job takes longer to complete? Never. I'm starting to get pissed off, so I'll stop here.
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I don't know if all dealerships use the "flat rate" method you describe, but the way I read it the other poster was talking about something else. That is, the customer is being charged by the hour and intentionally overcharged. The supervisor said something to the effect of "Make sure you charge the customer for more labor than you actually spent."
That's just the way I read his anecdote, your rant notwithstanding.
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