[quaz]

First let me say in college I was a VW tech and worked at the local VW dealer here for 4 years. I know the games the service managers play because they get paid on commission. The techs just do their jobs and fix cars. I never cared about how much a customer was or wasn't charged, just whether or not the car was fixed correctly.

Anyway, 4 weeks ago I took my Jetta in for an oil change an I told him the front ball joints were getting worn and take a look at them. The service manager (I have known him for 15+ years) called me later that day and said it needs ball joints, they have them in stock and he can get it done quickly. I said do it. I went to pick up the car and was in a rush so I didn't have time to scrutinize the bill and just paid it. When I got home I noticed he charged me $75 each for the ball joints. HUH my last invoice from the parts department (I know the parts guys so they show me cost, list and my mark up) showed the same part numbers cost the dealer $8 each and I paid $18 each two year ago. So I looked up the part numbers online and sure enough most places online get about $25 each for them OE. I called back the service manager and got some BS story about set prices from VW blah blah blah. So I called back my friend in parts and sure enough cost is still $8 each. Next call was to the VW district rep and he wasn't too pleased.

The point of that story is the messenger is the problem. Service manager/advisors are paid a commission on what they charge and can put anything they want on the invoice regardless of the actual time or material cost. I know the cost of running a business are high, but screwing the customer every chance you get isn't the way to run it.