Paying and Being Paid by the Hour....

Coming home from my walk this morning, I noticed that the neighbor was having her car towed. Actually, the tow company was loading it on a transport vehicle. She couldn't get it started this morning so she figured a repair was necessary. The other neighbors who had gethered speculated about the cost. It used to be that anything we took to the shop was at least $300. The shop found a way to get the price that high.

I'm looking into having some auto repair work done myself. So yesterday I checked on prices. The Buick dealer in Salem charges $87.00 per hour. Every job also incurs a "shop charge." If that wasn't bad enough, he doesn't really charge by the time it takes, he charges by the flat rate book, a copy of which he probably won't let you see. So he can make up anything. Whatever the book says, he can probably do it in half the time. If he can't he ought to be fired. Use and abuse of the flat rate book in the auto industry is legendary.

But the auto industry is hardly the only one using a flat rate book. Your funeral home uses one. Your air conditioner service man uses one. Your dentist uses one. People pay you by how many hours you put in. You pay others by the job. Does that seem fair to you?