T&T: Marine Air Blower and Experiences with Service Companies FLL

[Frank Burrows]

Michael:

I am not disputing that the charge is excessive but I wanted to point out 
something. The company is paying this guy a salary and providing him or her 
with a big truck full of tools and supplies. If he spends the whole morning 
driving somewhere and searching out a boat and then driving to the next job 
or back to the shop they have to somehow cover this cost. If he gets stuck 
in traffic, who is responsible for their time? If they need parts or 
something else you are paying them to drive around and find it. The company 
providing this service is selling the persons time. The same charge applies 
if the guy is driving the truck or working on your boat. They are going to 
charge the same rate for an estimate as for a repair. Experienced, well 
trained, qualified service people are in short supply and well paid with 
all the benefits other industries provide.

There are a couple of thing that you can do to minimize these expenses. If 
it is a simple job ask the company to try and combine this call with 
another one in a nearby marina. If you see the service truck in your marina 
then ask the technician if he can look at your boat while he is there. I 
always try to be there when they are working on my boat. One reason is to 
watch what they are doing and learn more about my boat. Another reason is 
that I become the mechanics helper. I run for parts, hand the mechanic a 
tool, or if he did not bring one on the boat hand him mine and in general 
try to make this guy more productive.

Most of the time I don't have an issue with what is charged. I was there, I 
know how long it took and what went into the repair.

Frank Burrows


>I've found by expensive experience that the service companies around FLL
>charge humongous amounts of money just to come out and tell you how much
>it's going to cost, including charges and time from their place of business
>to the boat.