Hi Geza,

This is very much like how warranty work is paid for by Apple Computer Inc.. They know what amount of time it takes to fix a problem and that's what you get paid for. If you diagnose incorrectly and throw too many parts at a situation they reduce your labour rate for that month's billing. You have the tools and info and you do what's required, and nothing more than that.

But a computer new enough to be under warranty is NOTHING like a 25- year-old vehicle.

Personally, I wouldn't touch your conditional deal with a 10 foot pole. Not even for a spark plug swap. And this is exactly why most dealers won't work on Vanagons any more.

Happy Trails,

Greg Potts 1973/74/77/79 Westfakia "Bob The Tomato www.pottsfamily.ca

On 16-Jan-07, at 9:54 PM, Geza Polony wrote:

> Another question to ask of technicians out there is this. What if, > before > you begin, the customer says, "Ok, I'll pay you $85 an hour to > diagnose and > fix the (whatever), but only on the condition that you're ultimately > successful." Would you go for it? What if the number of hours or > cost had a > cap on it? > This approach seems fair to the customer, but I bet most car mechs > would > rather do brake jobs than a deal like this. > > Yes, a grey area. The only thing I can think of is to specify the > conditions > as much as possible in advance--but then you sometimes get caught, > as Joy > did, in a place where you're dependent on the mechanic, and don't > have much > room to drive a hard bargain.