How do you avoid getting ripped off? Auto electric

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sherly07, Jul 14, 3:17am
Heya, do auto electricians have a code of conduct! How do you know a job took say, 3 hours & not 2 & a bit hours to do!is there a rounding up system they use!Or are they as honest as the day is long & only charge what they DID do! just curious.
andrea_w, Jul 14, 3:20am
Like ANY business, you will have your good eggs and your bad eggs. There is no rule that says "all auto sparkies are dodgy"
Did you really need to be told that though!
barrie2, Jul 14, 3:23am
sherly07 - next time you visit auto electricians take the dog with you.lol
sherly07, Jul 14, 3:27am
ha ha, if he'd fit in my car, without slobbering all over the place. then happily lol
steve-007, Jul 14, 3:35am
Why would taking a dog make a difference!
carkitter, Jul 14, 3:40am
Go to one that is a member of an industry standards organisation, like the MTA for instance. Look at the quality of other customers cars in the workshop. Does the back of the workshop have their racecarin it or some old rust buckets!
sherly07, Jul 14, 3:44am
Cheers carkitter, will have a wee look see thanks for the advice, and steve was just a bit of humor.
steve-007, Jul 14, 3:59am
Again why would a race car in the workshop make any difference!.I think the answer your looking for is to ask other people for their thoughts and recommendations
shane.64, Jul 14, 4:06am
Make them explain what the problem is so they wont think you are stupid and then ask for a set quote.This is with most trade people .You will find the workers are good but its the boss in the office thats rips you off
sherly07, Jul 14, 4:07am
anyone know of a good one in the palmerston north area!
superdave0_13, Jul 14, 4:11am
Because you'll be funding it. Lol.
carkitter, Jul 14, 4:15am
Have you met any motorsport people! They're generally decent, helpful people who race thanks to business success due to a decent reputation in the industry.
clark20, Jul 14, 7:26am
Autokraft
e.g.cat, Jul 14, 12:29pm
+2!
saki, Jul 14, 4:05pm
John Ireland feilding see Huw
quickstitch, Jul 14, 4:53pm
And the ones without race cars, they maybe be building a beachfront mansions at your expense.
trader_84, Jul 14, 4:59pm
Yeah - Superstreet in Bulls. See Brett. Good dude and honest as the day is long.
kazbanz, Jul 14, 5:54pm
Ignoring your other GOOD advice I have to ask.
What has that got to do with the quality of their work or their honesty!
My sparky has had falling to bits 120y's,Harley bikes,showcars and racecars sitting at the back of his workshop at times.
llortmt, Jul 14, 6:31pm
Mate Ya Dreamin!
I may be an MTA member, have a Boat, a Bach and my Lamborghini (in the workshop) plus a $1000 a week Coke habit that you??
bigfatmat1, Jul 14, 7:06pm
Treat one as you would like to be treated. Don't take ya car in looking like a tip. especially if they need to work under dash ie Clean car.
boot clear not full of a years rubbish car parts smelly sports clothes. Clear overflowing ash trays remove dirty nappies from under seat vacuumthe 10 years of dirt out of your carpet clean the chewed up lollies and spilt coffee out of the centre console. have those dirty oil leaks fixed and your engine clean. The less shit the sparky has to work in the less are likely to get charged. I know for a fact when I work on a car and spend half an hour cleaning out the back of a car while holding my nose the customer pays more the same as when i spend 15 mins washing shit out of my hair from the dirty carpets the customer pays more its all a time thing.
kazbanz, Jul 14, 7:10pm
gee mat I'll send ya some concrete so you can htfu.
-Im thinking back to a car so gross inside I grabbed my dive mask and industrial rubber gloves whilst removing the LAYERS of excriment filled nappied and rotted food of all sorts of discriptions.
shuddupowh, Jul 14, 7:26pm
Last time I went to a sparky was to wire up my rear histop light. The boss man said to his worker "how long did you take to do it!" I was watching him and he said, oh like 10mins. Boss man said OK charge $25. I was happy with that, cos I saw him do it & was done properly. He may have made a 100% profit off it cos it took his worker 10mins and charge an hours labour but for such a small job if they charged $10 then they'd end up not making any $ in the end.
elect70, Jul 14, 7:35pm
Put miniturecam in car.
nato10, Jul 14, 8:01pm
Wondering if anyone had any recommendations for Auto/electric specialists in Wellington - thanks in advance.
easygoer, Jul 14, 8:09pm
Most places will have a minimum labour charge, IE: 1/2 hour, the job consists of more than the 10 mins it takes to connect a couple of wires, the paper war has to be paid for by the customer along with overheads, the companies that charge too little are either gone or on the way out of buisness.

I should also add that if the job was so simple we would not need to take it to the experts in the first place so their knowledge is generally worth the rates the charge also, I had a gas heater which I couldn't get going, the young guy took it out to the workshop and blew the dust out of it and told me there was no charge, I gave him $20.00 for the knowledge and told him to buy smoko for the staff, I now do the repair myself thanks to his knowledge