Should shops charge for work they could not complete?

[landstew]

Hey all. Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but...
I've had a good Porsche shop trying to put smog equipment and AC back on a car (912E), and it's been boiling down to a confounded pulley (running both a smog pump and compressor.) Anyway, I paid a decent amount for a pulley (off this site) that's supposed to fit. The shop supposedly spent a couple, maybe few days trying to get it to work, and they have not been able to, said they can't get the engine to turn with it all hooked up. They said they've been suggesting to their other 912E customers (who've had other 'pulley issues') to leave these things disconnected and keep it simple (and hope they will still pass smog), as these pulleys tend to be a problem area after years of use. Kind of sucks, because I was hoping to at least have some weak AC in it.

Anyway, he kind of mentioned the words (in the context of how we should stop trying now) that I'm spending a fortune trying to make this work. I don't know if he's alluding to the other work I'm having done, but is he suggesting that I be expected to pay for something that they could not pull off?? Is this normal? I've never been in this situation, because usually shops, well, can finish the job. But I know these 12E's are a beast of their own. I went into this because they said the part was right, and they felt like they could get it all to work.

[blau911]

If the shop is given the car and authorization to do something, then they have the responsibility of doing it. That is why they are being paid. They said they can do it, so you gave them the car. If they can't, then they have not earned their money. They are professionals. You are not paying them to experiment or learn thru trial and error. That is something you can do yourself for free.
I would stop them now, before they go any further, and tell them since they appear incapable of doing the job, you will take the car somewhere else.

PS. Unless you live in AZ or south Florida, AC on any early 911 or 912 prior to 1990 is crap. You might be better off putting an open ice chest in the back seat!

[ficke]

Since you did not say, and since a shop would have to be stupid to flat rate this kind of work I am going to guess this is a 'time and material' job. If so you are the boss since you control the purse strings and the shop can only advise, If this job is turning into a real can of worms, you have the choice of cutting your losses and stopping further work, but of course you would have to pay for time and materials up to this point.
Now if this was a flat rate job, foolish shop should have to finish work regardless till it is done and you should expect the kind of work performed by people who are losing money.

[Matt Monson]

You have taken a certain responsibility in this by providing them with a box of used parts and said "make this work". You went out and found another pulley because the first one didn't work. It's not their fault if there are broken or poorly working parts in the like you provided.

I think you are legitimately on the hook here. If they sourced everything and charged you for all the parts and it didn't work it would be different. But it's hard to hold them accountable when you supplied your own parts of questionable origin.

[Reddy Kilowatt]

Originally Posted by Matt Monson

You have taken a certain responsibility in this by providing them with a box of used parts and said "make this work". You went out and found another pulley because the first one didn't work. It's not their fault if there are broken or poorly working parts in the like you provided.

I think you are legitimately on the hook here. If they sourced everything and charged you for all the parts and it didn't work it would be different. But it's hard to hold them accountable when you supplied your own parts of questionable origin.

What Matt said. And if the OP wants to know what the shop is thinking about charging, the OP should ask them about it. Beating around the bush isn't useful.

[landstew]

This is all sort of what I was worried about. There was no flat rate quoted but they gave a round about estimate. (The original job was to reinstall all the FI, and they got held up at this smog pump stage, because they didn't have the correct pulley.) But I did consult with them carefully on what part I should buy. Showed them a picture when I found one, and they approved it was the right part. And again once it arrived in their hands they said it looked like the correct one. They said that everything looked good and that they would proceed, as it looks like they have everything to be able to complete the job.

[josborn10]

Cut your losses ASAP. These scenarios rarely turn out well. I would ask for a discount on labor given they were not able to help. Then, once you have your car and parts back, use this forum to find a trusted shop and/or the answers to the entire issue.

I hope this helps.

[JV911SYDNEY]

Originally Posted by Matt Monson

You have taken a certain responsibility in this by providing them with a box of used parts and said "make this work". You went out and found another pulley because the first one didn't work. It's not their fault if there are broken or poorly working parts in the like you provided.

I think you are legitimately on the hook here. If they sourced everything and charged you for all the parts and it didn't work it would be different. But it's hard to hold them accountable when you supplied your own parts of questionable origin.

+1

Originally Posted by landstew

The shop supposedly spent a couple, maybe few days trying to get it to work

And you expect them to do "a few days work" as charity?

I doubt they'll charge you the full hourly rate but in all fairness they have spent many hours trying to get it to work for you, so you should expect to be billed.