Date:         Tue, 16 Jan 2007 20:28:16 -0500
Reply-To:     John Jensen <mudbug@TOAD.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Jensen <mudbug@TOAD.NET>
Subject:      Re: Moral question--no Bob-related content
In-Reply-To:  <vanagon%2007011617264349@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

In the first case it could go either way.  I think a compromise would
be the best solution.  It sort of depends on the conversation you had
with the mechanic before you started.  Trouble shooting is a time
consuming activity; and if you pay someone to do it for you, it should
come as on surprise when things go bad.  However the mechanic is
offering his services as a professional and asking professional wages.
At those prices you can expect the mechanic should know what can and
can't be done.
  In the second case, I think you would have a right to expect the
mechanic to know how to install the machine, so he should be expected
to "eat" the lost time in the cause of his own professional education.
Outright incompetence shouldn't be paid for or rewarded. You might
make a case for a refund on some of the installation money, since in
effect you had to complete the installation yourself; but in the real
world that would never happen.

For what ever all that might be worth...
'80 Westy
John Jensen, Homewood Pottery
homewoodpottery.com
johnjensen@homewoodpottery.com

Case #1: I took a '93 Saab to a
> reputable
> local mech to have the vacuum cruise control fixed, something which
> I now
> know is by definition impossible. After five hours of labor at
> something
> like $85 per hour, the mech came back with a kind of sheepish look
> and said
> he just couldn't figure it out.
> 
> He put in the time, so he should be paid. I didn't get the problem
> fixed, so
> he shouldn't be paid. What's the answer?
> 
> Case #2: an HVAC installer put in a $4,500 water heater in one of
> our
> buildings, but could not get it to start. After countless hours on
> the phone
> with the manufacturer and other information sources, we had our
> maintenance
> guy reverse the polarity on the AC supply. Five minutes and it
> worked fine.
> We paid the installer around $2K for his labor but balked at the
> second bill
> he sent for his (worthless) hours troubleshooting.
> 
> He put in the hours. Should he be paid? Should we, for the damage to
> our
> company's reputation from irate tenants without hot water? For the
> hours we
> put in?