Is this a fair Bobcat service invoice?

[L&W]

10 miles 390$, I would have driven the machine there! Is it a 2 speed?

 

[endo27]

I was asked to check out this thread and give my thoughts on it. I've had very negative experiences with my local Oregon Bobcat dealer/shop. Very high dollar and they just throw parts at a problem and hope it's the fix (which often it's not and try 3X times). Anywhoo - What pops out at me here is the $1100 for labor ! Even at shop 'book' times, this shouldn't take more than 2 hours - this would work out to aprox $550 bucks per hour ! WOW. Yes the parts' prices are fairly typical for dealerships. Yes, the parts could be sourced elsewhere for much much less, though you'd have to r&r them yourself or hire a private mechanic to do it. As a few others have eluded to, there may be some 'extra' parts replace 'just because'. If they claim to have to replace parts because there were inadequacies with the original OEM, than that should either be a warranty item or 'recall', at no charge to the owner. These are my thoughts...

 

[creelinecat]

wow they must've had a 16yr old doing his first service job , wouldn't take me 3 hrs. for a general service , I used to do it all the time in under an hr. , First drop the engine oil , do all the other filters while it dribbles out , then lastly change engine oil filter , add engine oil and bobs your uncle.......

 

[Novasmithjohn]

I do all the service work on my 700 myself, I don't know the current price for wix filters for your machine but I buy mine from fleet filter for no where near the price you paid for theirs. The air filter's probably could have been blown out. Was there a leak in the hydraulic system require the gallon of oil. If bobcat required that a new style cap be used I would think the would be covered by the warranty. 75.00 for shop supplies? (Shop rags?) and the freight charge properly was an add on to the travel or it was paying for the parts being shipped to the shop? I would be asking some questions to the service manager.

 

[nflodge]

Typical dealer prices for the parts. I do my own maintenance and save a bundle on labor and travel, but some parts like hydraulic filters, even from NAPA, are quite expensive.

 

[jonx]

Ouch! Do your own maintenance and save the service calls for breakdowns. Good reason to have/borrow a spare trailer too!

 

[Robanybody]

I've been retired for a few years. Our labor rate was $75.00 portal to portal. There was a small discount if it was what we called a Gilligan, which was three hours start to finish. We usually charged a percentage of the total materials to cover shop supplies, but grease was included in that . The charges you list don't seem too out of hand to me,except the price for hydraulic oil. But the price of everything has increased, so there's that. I don't buy the freight charges either. Service centers buy filter
Some outfits will nickle and dime you to death. Hazmat and disposal fees are usually one charge. Filters for fuel, especially for newer engines with DPF and all the EPA crap, are very expensive. If you're smart you won't buy the Chinese knock-offs because when they fail, they usually ruin something else even more expensive.
If I had to remove belts for whatever repair I was doing, I would usually check with the customer before I buttoned up. Why pay the minimum service rate just to have me come back and change a belt I just had my hands on.
Labor gets pricey because of access to components. Fasteners that are buried and require major effort just to get a wrench on one critical bolt. The more they cram into those small compartments, the harder it is to reach what you're after.
As for driving time, unless it was an emergency breakdown, we scheduled jobs in a particular area for the same day. So the driving time was site to site not from Our shop to the customers location each time. We had a pretty good reputation for fair pricing when I was there.
You can do business by skinning every customer. but you won't get much return business that way.
I also did my homework. I always tried to get a serial number off the machine so I had an idea of parts, based on the problem. That prevented delays caused by me trying to find a suitable part locally. NAPA doesn't carry everything.
I guess my opinion is that the bill is on the high end of normal for a dealer/service center.

 

[Bgtony]

Hi everyone. I think this is a question of whether a guy can afford having the dealer come on site to do this work. I would expect to pay top dollar to have full mx done to a newer skid steer. If the original poster called and said send a guy for full mx and a once over without asking rates or parts prices. Then he's probably a guy that is not concerned about price or is nieve to think he won't get charged for every penny they can.(sorry, no offense)
The dealership is in business to make money from people that don't want to or aren't able to do these things themselves. You will pay for this type of service.
The guys like me, who couldn't spend that kind money for that service learn to do it ourselves. There's nothing wrong with this and everyone has different skill sets/abilities.

If your concerned about cost I suggest asking those questions prior to sending a service tech out. Otherwise it's like signing a blank check sometimes. Not all dealers are out to steal from you, but they won't lose money to you.

 

[haymaker]

Hi everyone. I think this is a question of whether a guy can afford having the dealer come on site to do this work. I would expect to pay top dollar to have full mx done to a newer skid steer. If the original poster called and said send a guy for full mx and a once over without asking rates or parts prices. Then he's probably a guy that is not concerned about price or is nieve to think he won't get charged for every penny they can.(sorry, no offense)
The dealership is in business to make money from people that don't want to or aren't able to do these things themselves. You will pay for this type of service.
The guys like me, who couldn't spend that kind money for that service learn to do it ourselves. There's nothing wrong with this and everyone has different skill sets/abilities.

If your concerned about cost I suggest asking those questions prior to sending a service tech out. Otherwise it's like signing a blank check sometimes. Not all dealers are out to steal from you, but they won't lose money to you.

There was an estimate given prior to the service call.
The problem is it was much lower than the final bill.
The reasons for the final bill are not explained. I, for one, would be looking for an explanation and if not adequate, I would be looking for a partial refund!

 

[laurencen]

can we see the estimate? Im curious how they can be so much different, was it a written estimate giving scope of work and parts or just a ball park? typically we do all our own work, on a new machine I will negotiate the first service at the time of purchase and every time the dealer has been accommodating for this but its not on site.

myself I would be curious what the dealer comes up with re some of the costs especially travel but maybe they have a minimum call out charge plus milage

 

[jonesallu]

Labor rates, sundries AND parts are always more expensive in the field than in the shop. By it's very nature. Ever purchase and outfit a service truck? They probably didn't send out a pickup that only changes oil, they sent out a very expensive piece of equipment with lots of tools, probably requiring a CDL and expensive insurance. My experience for any field maintenance or repairs, the cost is exponentially higher than in the "shop". I live in the sticks of South Dakota and it's **always** more cost effective to haul equipment to the dealer/manufacture, even if it requires a semi lowboy. Always.

You have a valid complaint if the invoice is more than about 10% of an agreed to (likely inprint) estimate, as long any extra work was agreed to. If the agreement was vague, then probably not. The overall cost of the invoice does not surprise me at all.

 

[ijacobi156]

The problem I have is with a set shop supplies rate. I worked for a federal law enforcement shop and when anything had to go to the dealer for something, it seemed stupid. $80 shop supplies to flash an upgrade? On a fleet of 100+ cars?
Stupidly excessive.

 

[george.schneider@otgbrew.]

Meh. Those are Biden prices.

 

[Robanybody]

The problem I have is with a set shop supplies rate. I worked for a federal law enforcement shop and when anything had to go to the dealer for something, it seemed stupid. $80 shop supplies to flash an upgrade? On a fleet of 100+ cars?
Stupidly excessive.

I suppose vendors treat those customers differently, because of all the hoops they have to jump through, to become and remain a vendor. The movie studios are even worse and extremely rude in most cases.
The expense for the company doing the servicing isn't just what you see on the bill. Liability insurance and other costs are increasingly over the top. Plus, they want it now or preferably last week. Government agencies and Studios will leave a broken piece of equipment idle for a year or more, then call for repairs the day before they need it for a shoot or set building or some poorly planned maintenance in the case of government owned equipment.. So I suppose that some dealers have an aggravation surcharge that isn't listed or it's folded into some other charge. But that's just me being a wise ass.

 

[robin]

Bobcat dealerships ugh. I was recently charged for 42 hours, yes 42 hours @ $200 an hour for some work on my little MT55 and backhoe attachment. As hard as I tried I could not see how it could have taken more than 2 days ie 16 hours to complete. Other mechanics agreed.

 

[warddawg]

Meh. Those are Biden prices.

Funny, Never in ALL my years, seen a single POTUS set prices on anything. Isn't that the heart and soul of CAPITOLISM where the business is free to run themselves, which includes establishing their own prices for THEIR goods and wears? YEP, Biden and every other POTUS sets gas prices and has the time to raise them every Thursday and then lower them back down Monday after the weekend travel. OH, and God forbid a Holiday week that the INDUSTRY can rape consumers.

 

[laurencen]

Bobcat dealerships ugh. I was recently charged for 42 hours, yes 42 hours @ $200 an hour for some work on my little MT55 and backhoe attachment. As hard as I tried I could not see how it could have taken more than 2 days ie 16 hours to complete. Other mechanics agreed.

42 hours at 200 per hour? did you get a estimate of the work needed or just drop it off and say fix everything? regardless what other mechanics think they did not do the work or set the billing.

if a dealer figures a job will take 42 hours a whole week to complete a call saying this would be handy, what did you tell them and what work was done

 

[Lucy Green]

It might be a good idea to ask a professional repair shop for a clearer answer. They have the expertise to judge whether your situation makes sense based on their rich experience. If the price difference isn't too much, it's likely normal.

 

[laurencen]

has the original poster said what his estimate was initially and then compared the amounts to figure the difference? if it was mostly the travel and off site charges likely not excessive

 

[Novasmithjohn]

Meh. Those are Biden prices.

Politics? Really