Is J4C charging too much or MA charging too little!?

[MapleLeaf]

Re: Is J4C charging too much or MA charging too little!?

Never about subjective issues like customer service, time, free coffee etc etc, all things being equal (original parts), would you still expect outside workshops to be cheaper than AD? Not just a few cents, but say 20%.

I do, otherwise I might as well go back to AD. Only under exceptional circumstances like when PML repeatly could not rectify a fault, then we go out to BOSS or BVO or....

 

[relaxed]

Re: Is J4C charging too much or MA charging too little!?

Nb..... kenn's fault.... always jio me go lor 20....... :boxing:
but now I prefer lor 16................... got prawn noodles........ :roll:



Infratint always got chio bu goes there....... for tinting......

lor 16 got prawn noodle also got ah kuas.......

 

[relaxed]

Re: Is J4C charging too much or MA charging too little!?

Milk went to Lorong 20 to have fun. After that he walked past Lorong 18, an equally chio PRC asked him want or not. He said he just did it, twice.

She said, AIYA I COULD HAVE CHARGED YOU ONLY $80 instead of the $120 you paid.

$120? i thot either $200 pay $150 or $100 pay $80,
anyways, $120 for twice very good price. can pm me ctc?

 

[E90koh]

Re: Is J4C charging too much or MA charging too little!?

What would you say if i tell you that a workshop will provide you FREE labour charges BUT parts are price higher.... so LPPL.... total price will still be S$350.00 +/-...... So this workshop will be highly recommended becoz of the FREE labour charges????

No punt intended........

MA J4C
Belt Tensioner $141.55 $105.00
Alternator Pulley Unit $130.82 $125.00
Labour $77.00 $120.00
Total $349.37 $350.00

So my thread title is: is MA charging too little or J4C charging too much.

I'm comparing both packages. Going to AD seemed not too bad afterall. I can't say about PML though bcos I have my fair share of ugly experiences there.

Whether labour is FOC or not is secondary. If they decided to give me FOC labour, get their profit from parts and entire bill is cheaper by 20%, of course I won't raise this issue. My thread would be AD continues to charge premium.

Talking about premium, if both AD and outside can repair then what makes J4C charge premium for labour? Note: labour charges was not mentioned and in my mind I thought if outside charges $x then I'm sure AD would be $x + 100%. So my savings was $0.63.

 

[zorro]

Re: Is J4C charging too much or MA charging too little!?

I am pretty sure your belt tensioner at $105 is not original as I have changed them before.........Take torch light and look for BMW logo

 

[kenntona]

Re: Is J4C charging too much or MA charging too little!?

There are two issues I find any comclusion to be less valid than it will look...

(1) timeline and breadth comparison, rather than one-off comparison. Has anyone compared across the years, between subject J4C and MA, or is this one off? And has anyone compared across other parts/services, or is this one off again?

(2) MA's quote, was it done upon knowing that the car has been done at J4C? There is a difference here.

 

[wt_know]

Re: Is J4C charging too much or MA charging too little!?

+1000

kena many times in many workshops. upon seeing my mods and ask how much i paid for it and immediately said we can do it cheaper
and next time when i call for mods, the price is still higher than my previous workshop
give and take ... price varies from time to time especially when workshop want to clear stock or biz abit slow for that month
anyway, as consumer ... you have a choice and find the workshop and price that you are happy with whether it's AD or outside

(2) MA's quote, was it done upon knowing that the car has been done at J4C? There is a difference here.

 

[zorro]

Re: Is J4C charging too much or MA charging too little!?

How is MA setup? Are they like PML or more like general BMW workshop? I only heard MA spiked their coffee with Viagra....

 

[milk15]

Re: Is J4C charging too much or MA charging too little!?

lor 16 got prawn noodle also got ah kuas.......

Hmmmmm.................. So you are the regular there???
I'm there only for prawn noodles......

 

[chicane]

Re: Is J4C charging too much or MA charging too little!?

(2) MA's quote, was it done upon knowing that the car has been done at J4C? There is a difference here.

According to TS account, doesn't seem like it as MA expressed surprise when told that the parts were already changed and there was still noise. So quote is likely given before they were told car was already done.

In any case, no one in his right mind would ask for a quote after telling people that the job is already done...:screwedu:

 

[kenntona]

Re: Is J4C charging too much or MA charging too little!?

In any case, no one in his right mind would ask for a quote after telling people that the job is already done...:screwedu:

There are a lot of forumers who will buy parts from vendor A and after installing, ask vendor B. Vendor B will then quote a "low-ball" figure in an attempt either to discredit vendor A or to win the next business.

 

[chicane]

Re: Is J4C charging too much or MA charging too little!?

There are a lot of forumers who will buy parts from vendor A and after installing, ask vendor B. Vendor B will then quote a "low-ball" figure in an attempt either to discredit vendor A or to win the next business.

Exactly my point, these people are not in their right mind! :whipper:

 

[milk15]

Re: Is J4C charging too much or MA charging too little!?

There are a lot of forumers who will buy parts from vendor A and after installing, ask vendor B. Vendor B will then quote a "low-ball" figure in an attempt either to discredit vendor A or to win the next business.

I would rather say.... some forumers would ask their workshops... the parts price..... and labour charges....

After that, they would go to Spare Parts Distributor/ 2nd hand parts dealer/ ebay...... to get cheaper parts and then goes back to the workshop and expect the workshops to charge them the same labour fees quoted......... :screwedu::screwedu::screwedu::screwedu:

 

[jinooi]

Re: Is J4C charging too much or MA charging too little!?

labour costs also vary from $35-$45 an hour, depending on which workshop you go.

different workshops have different standard manhours depending on the job requirements, and it can vary by a couple of hours.

for example, most general servicing takes about 1.5hrs - change engine oil, top up radiator, check brakes, lights, etc

there are workshops that will bill for 2hrs of labour, because they do a more thorough check like coolant quality, brake fluid quality, free car wash, top up wiper reservoir, etc.

so are you going to hold grudges against a workshop just because they charge slightly more than others?

Remember - cheap, fast, good - you can at most have any 2, but never all 3 at the same time. (ask robot and guni - they learnt their lesson in geylang...)

and nothing in life is free, including the coffee and the car wash.

i'm not asking anyone to be a sucker and pay through their noses, but a compromise sounds reasonable.

 

[E90koh]

Re: Is J4C charging too much or MA charging too little!?

My comparison is based on same time spent on repairs. MA is least busy than J4C. My car was at J4C for about 2.5hrs. I am sure the semi empty MA would take just about the same time.

I can't tell if spare parts used are genuine but let's assume they are. Then we have now a fair apple to apple comparison. I never bargain when it comes to repairs bcos I appreciate they help resolved my problems.

Unfortunately, they decided to charge me $120. This wasn't informed prior repair work. Even if it had been mentioned, I wouldn't have doubted their price as being higher than AD. I went to MA a day later and they diagnose the problems and gave me a written quotation to seek my acceptance before work starts. It was a shock!

I told him I had it repaired and was just checking price. Then he asked why the noise is still audible.

I started this post to inform other bros to conduct checks first. are we giving outside workshop too much referrals and in turn they start charging premium? Being a sponsor means we pay for their advertisements?

I haven't check what PML charges. With this experience, I will go to MA.
Note: MA provides 1 year warranty for parts. J4C is 3 months.

Ps. Infratint charges competitively and didn't make use of the sponsorship to charge premium. His shop even comes with chio Mei Mei in tiny skirts.

 

[Centurion9990]

Re: Is J4C charging too much or MA charging too little!?

Ps. Infratint charges competitively and didn't make use of the sponsorship to charge premium. His shop even comes with chio Mei Mei in tiny skirts.

Pls provide pictures to support the above statements. I am feeling cheated for not getting the same treatment.

 

[sszone]

Re: Is J4C charging too much or MA charging too little!?

Ps. Infratint charges competitively and didn't make use of the sponsorship to charge premium. His shop even comes with chio Mei Mei in tiny skirts.

hi e90koh,

i would like to highlight one point....thats is the "making use of the sponsorship to charge premium"

to use this line on all site sponsors would be unfair to us....i for one am transparent abt my pricing and as for bros like Rodney and Sherman infratint, i can vouch that they charge very reasonably too....what each site sponsor charge is up to them as its their way of doing business....if the price is right, patronise them....if not right, can always give them a miss.
as for your case, since u already tried j4c and find that u are not satisfied, then move on....give MA a try since they sounds quite positive in your review.

oh ya...that was the back view of Milk in his/her mini at Sherman's......next time ask Sherman intro to u

 

[MapleLeaf]

Re: Is J4C charging too much or MA charging too little!?

His shop even comes with chio Mei Mei in tiny skirts.

Not true... unless Sherman has uppped his competitive advantage.

 

[milk15]

Re: Is J4C charging too much or MA charging too little!?

oh ya...that was the back view of Milk in his/her mini at Sherman's......next time ask Sherman intro to u

u didn't know i cut botak liao?????

 

[sszone]

Re: Is J4C charging too much or MA charging too little!?

u become monk ah? hahaha....world peace for all the modders n workshop....hahaha

ehhh....so who's the chio meimei at sherman's place? another lioness