Originally Posted by
HatefulMechanic
Look at it from the banking standpoint:
Banks offer free checking accounts cause they KNOW some people are gonna overdraw, and they charge a hefty fee for that. The fees of the few pay for the needs of the many.
Comprehend?
Some dealer specific customers will buy a new car, have their service work done, and the ones that dont trade every few months will pay a premium for their service work because they like the transaction, technicians, or the staff. Whatever their reasoning is, they continue to come there, knowing that it is costing a little more but its a good value in their mind.
Then you have the people that bitch about every single price no matter how cheap, and dont care about service just the price. I personally cannot stand that type of customer, and have fired a few for just that practice. I tell them straight up that I do not cater to people that will complain for no reason and create a loss for my business. Generally, I can relate to their service line (what they do for a living, etc) and put it in terms they can relate to. In those instances, almost every single one has realized what they were doing and stopped, but the ones that still only care for the bottom line were sent packing. Most of them wind up being charged more in the long run due to shoddy work, incorrect diagnosis, and just generally having the asshole tax applied.
I bolded the issue... it's all about value perception. I don't perceive $1000 for a job I could do for $300 a good value, and I don't know many who do. I know this is a fairly extreme example, but it is what it is.
Another good example is with the EBCM in Corvettes. The EBCM (electronic brake control module) is prone to failure as C5s get older... I forget the dealer cost for a new part but it's near $2000. There's a guy online who goes by "absfixer" and he charges $150 or so to fix yoru module if you send to him. A dealer would never ever consider something like this at all.