charging for estimates? : V-Twin Forum: Harley Davidson Forums

ellerja · 10-13-2009, 07:32 PM

friend had his bike backed over sent it to bayside HD.they charged him 150.00 for an estimate?ive always had free estimates for repair work.

Ed Y · 10-13-2009, 07:39 PM

Some do, some don't. Very little few stuff anymore even at most indy shops unless they are gonna do the repair.

ryanl · 10-14-2009, 05:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed Y

Some do, some don't. Very little few stuff anymore even at most indy shops unless they are gonna do the repair.

Indy I used to use charged $175. If they fixed it, the money was put towards the repair bill.

Big-G · 10-14-2009, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryanl

Indy I used to use charged $175. If they fixed it, the money was put towards the repair bill.

Makes total sense to me.

arealinvestor · 10-14-2009, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ellerja

friend had his bike backed over sent it to bayside HD.they charged him 150.00 for an estimate?ive always had free estimates for repair work.

I wouldn't do business with them anymore!!!

ponderopa · 10-14-2009, 02:06 PM

Is it an estimate for insurance covered damages? Otherwise, I guess I'd try to figure it out myself before I'd take it up the wazoo like that!

Fourcats · 10-14-2009, 02:26 PM

While waiting about a month for the insurance adjuster, the bill on my Sportster went to $670...look out for "storage charges".

deuce04 · 10-14-2009, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fourcats

While waiting about a month for the insurance adjuster, the bill on my Sportster went to $670...look out for "storage charges".

Thats the norm for most businesses.
Friend of mine owns a body shop and he sees this all the time.

The insurance co will/should cover the storage charges

ellerja · 10-14-2009, 05:18 PM

yes it an insurence claim.maybe i should get into the motorcycle business sounds like the easy way to rape people.oh and get away with it!no charge for lube.

blackjackcustms · 10-14-2009, 07:07 PM

writing a crash damage estimate can take hours of research, To do it well, and make sure the customer does'nt get screwed by missed damage, and inaccurate pricing, is not easy. Many customers then forgo most of the work, and only fix the worst of it. Ins companies are difficult to work with, and usually put up a fight, requiring even more work to argue it out with them. If it was easy, you would'nt need a shop to do it, right?

ellerja · 10-15-2009, 04:54 PM

my question would be if you took it to more than one shop and had to pay for estimates then it would get real expensive.dont most insurance co. want more than one estimate?

Jeff53404 · 10-15-2009, 05:01 PM

It depends on the situation.

I was rear-ended and the driver who hit me was 100% at fault. I let my insurance company pay for the repairs (less my deductible) and they went after the driver's insurance company for all expenses (including my deductible). I submitted one estimate from my preferred HD dealer. I was not challenged, lots of pictures were e-mailed and no one personally inspected the cycle.

I believe the reason it was handled so professionally and quickly was that no one was injured, no lawyers were involved and the driver was cited. YMMV

Bud Man · 10-15-2009, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ellerja

my question would be if you took it to more than one shop and had to pay for estimates then it would get real expensive.dont most insurance co. want more than one estimate?

The adjusters are overworked like most jobs these days; they will usually take the first shop estimate and not look any further.

For those who don’t want to pay for your estimates, do you do work for free? Did not think so, the average estimate takes about two hours.

Nowadays everyone wants something for free, parts lists ECT. Would you accept an estimate from me on your bike after a crash of; $4327.76 parts and $3120 of labor? And when you ask what’s that for I say "Parts & Labor" If that’s not good enough buy a parts book for $60.00 and look up the broken parts yourself. When you tell the adjuster all the parts numbers he can give you the labor cost and cut you a check.

Bud Man · 10-15-2009, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fourcats

While waiting about a month for the insurance adjuster, the bill on my Sportster went to $670...look out for "storage charges".

My bet is you had the work done at another dealer, or decided to do the work yourself. Most shops do not charge storage if the work is done with them.

aharp · 10-16-2009, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryanl

Indy I used to use charged $175. If they fixed it, the money was put towards the repair bill.

That's how we do it.