Re: Choosing The Right Mechanic
Guess I must clarify.........
The two other marine service places we've been to:
First one was a non-dealership recommended by the owner of the boat when we bought it. This place's labor fee is $70 per hr. We took it there for oil change, new plugs and a broken fuel gauge. Had to return b/c the sender in the fuel tank was never checked by the mechanic when he installed a new fuel gauge. Had the new manifolds/risers put on by him, but when he was doing a water-test, he hit something in the water and chipped our prop! It was a brand new prop! He didn't tell the owner of the center about the prop, but when we were going to pick up the boat, we seen it. The owner put a new prop on for us, but the boat was at the center for another week.
So, after both of those problems happened with that mechanic, we didn't want to go back to him.
Second place was a Mercruiser Dealership that charges $95 per hr labor. We've had a few things done by them, but nothing nearly as expensive as this repair would be. When that mechanic/supervisor told me the estimated cost of the engine job (labor/parts), it was much higher tha we wife/I wanted to pay, so we looked for someone cheaper and that we hadn't used before. The cost ended up cheaper, but the lost engine (in shipment), upfront money, his attitude just didn't seem worth the savings.
AND, on top of that, the guy didn't have/know/remember the actual cost for any part he bought! No cost written on invoice for valve covers, timing chain cover, oil pan, plugs, wires, bilge pump, hour meter, new oil/oil filter! We gave him $600 cash, but he couldn't itemize nothing on the invoice. He told my wife, "I just don't remember the costs." We ended up looking on the Internet and getting estimated costs for those items. This was the first invoice I've seen w/parts on the left side and no costs written. We paid him upfront for the new alternator and long block.....he didn't keep his part of the invoice, but we kept ours (showing we gave him the money). It all just seemed so weird and totally unorganized. To us anyway.
What the heck, why didn't you go back to the "good" places then? I don't get it. Even this time you went to a place first that probably would not have asked for upfront money but you thought was overcharging or something, then you prompty rejected them and went with this guy, so what exactly is the beef now. With this guy you could have said "No, no money up front" then hauled it back home or over to one of those other establishments you know of.
Back to your original title for this thread, "Chooing the right mechanic", I think you have proven the point that, for you, you chose the WRONG mechanic. It will be interesting to see what the same mechanic decides to do the next time you show up.
