Everything works until it doesn't! At what point will you default?!

[flintlock]

Re: Everything works until it doesn't! At what point will you default?!

I agree about the increasing complexity of vehicles, but I'd also add that there is the increasing inability of people to do this kind of work. Basic mechanical skills are becoming a thing of the past. People have become very specialized and can't or won't fix things themselves. I am continually in situations where I am almost embarrassed for the men who have to pay me to do some pretty basic stuff. I have to charge people for my time, but it's awkward when you simply reset a GFCI or circuit breaker. Or install a switch. And yes, even change a light bulb. Many simply lack the confidence to fix things. They never try, therefore never learn anything. Others are just lazy. And then some had just rather pay someone else to deal with it. I can understand that . But they just need to know that that can become a VERY expensive luxury over the course of a lifetime. I got a call this week from a woman in tears over a beeping smoke detector. Seems it had kept them up for days with it's beeping. I told her how to change the battery and after a few tries( she'd installed it backwards) got it fixed over the phone. But some people are amazingly helpless when it comes to taking care of things like this.

Autos are more complex, but most of the stuff that breaks is still stuff the average joe can fix. Alternators, brakes, hoses, fuses, that kind of thing. And the computer will often tell you what is wrong. I even changed a Jeep transmission in my garage. But that probably is more than most would want to take on. A good shop manual will at least show you whats involved and whether or not you should seek a professional or not.

I'm the same with my vehicles. Take very good care of them and plan on driving them a long time. Vehicles really are a lot more reliable than they used to be. Most problems are small and if well maintained, will go a long time. Trucks especially seem able to go on forever. Another plus is that they are easier to work on. Just crawl under them and the engine bays are huge.

[pianodoctor]

Re: Everything works until it doesn't! At what point will you default?!

Regarding the auto repair business, I think there must be strong 'local' factor to be considered. Perhaps where people have gone from lower-middle-class to poor it is one thing, and even necessary services like auto repair are suffering greatly. In my zone, there is a greater mix of higher income people, who have perhaps had their circumstances reduced, but are not outright broke. My regular mechanic says he is busier than ever, and the small inventory of used cars he used to offer for sale are all sold out due to high demand. On the other hand the local new car dealers are doing poorly. On the OTHER other hand, the used car dealers are reporting good sales. One is even blasting in their radio commercials they have had the best sales numbers in their history.

I do service related work as well (my screen name is a hint). I have survived OK, however the new piano dealers are suffering greatly. On the other hand they are getting a lot more people coming in looking for really cheap used pianos. Also newcomers to my kind of work are saying they can't get enough business. But the better technicians I know say they are doing OK. I also talk to people in other service fields when I get a chance (small engine repair, household repair, etc). They mostly report things are survivable for them. One 85 year old businessman I know advised me that in times like this the best service guys in their respective businesses will do OK, but the others will fall away.

Around here, things seem to be following the expected middle-class script. People have cut back tremendously on major purchases, but on the other hand they seem to be concerned with taking care of hearth and home and are perhaps "cocooning" quite a bit more. A lot of local retailers have closed, but on the other hand, the remaining ones are often quite busy. And hey- we didn't NEED a Borders only 2 blocks down from the Barnes & Noble, nor a Bed Bath and Beyond 2 blocks down from the Linens N' Things.

Of course that does imply most here are still employed or have some means of support otherwise. Unemployment is up here, but not as high as in a lot of places. Same story with unsold housing and the foreclosure situation. It is definitely 'felt' and far from the previous norm, but it's not Detroit or even inland SoCal. Incomes and standards of living were higher than average to start with. And there is also a generous sprinkling of very, VERY well-to-do people- so that helps support little guys like me. Maybe their net worth has gone from $200 million to $100 million (or maybe it went up)- in any case, those people are not going to cut back on everyday expenses like cars, food, repairs, etc. What they might cut back on is yachts.

[flintlock]

Re: Everything works until it doesn't! At what point will you default?!

Thicker skin may help. I set my prices high and then cut them some slack. Then, I also turn down business to be exclusive. works like a charm most of the time.

I turn down probably more work than I do. I've found you have to be selective. My skin is pretty thick, just ask my wife! My gripe is that they won't get off their lazy ass and compare prices. Instead they just gripe about how YOU don't deserve it. Not that fun when you then have to spend the next six hours working closely with THEM in their home. It's different when you just send someone else to do the work. I've been there done that too. Then I could care less what they thought.

I've found that setting firm prices cuts down on the negotiating time and hassle. Works well when your average job is just a few hundred dollars and you are pricing up to 5 jobs a day. I just don't have time for all the back and forth. Of course that all depends on the type of business you are in. My favorite retort is " Well I quote you my best price first!". They love that. It also helps when you do a lot of work in the same neighborhood to have consistent pricing. Neighbors talk you know!

[flintlock]

Re: Everything works until it doesn't! At what point will you default?!

I was going to say that perhaps its the car dealer shops and the larger shops that have been hit the hardest. It's good to read here on Itulip that my perception of the economy and how it has affected small business is not off base. I kind of like it. There does seem to be a bit of "nesting" going on, with financially secure people fixing up their homes and facing the fact they will probably be there for the rest of their lives. The day of climbing the house ladder is over now that homes are no longer sold as good investments.

[lektrode]

Re: Everything works until it doesn't! At what point will you default?!

[QUOTE=flintlock;182826]
I've noticed even fairly well off customers bitching more about the price of things.

ditto... and some seem to think that i'm making so much on even small items, that i can afford to give em away, "what, with how much your charging for labor?" - or that i should charge less for _really_ simple repairs: "you know, i could do this myself" - to which i react a bit harshly with: THEN WHY DID YOU CALL ME, did you think i have nothing else better to do? my rate is the same, no matter how easy or nut-busting-difficult the job is and they seem to forget that.

flintlock's comment about people being clueless these days or simply too lazy to fix the dumbest stuff themselves being spot-on, and then bitching about how much it costs em to have me do it for them leave me feeling no sympathy whatsoever! (speaking as one who mostly couldnt afford to pay others to do stuff like fix my cars etc - even if it was a great/major inconvenience to have to do it myself)

and now that money is getting tight all around, they suddenly object to having to pay the same rates as they were a few years back? meanwhile _everything_ that i buy these daze is skyrocketing in price, or declining in quality/quantity - yet they expect us small-scale, hard to replicate, experienced tradesmen to charge less?

"try bringing your f___'g imported car in for _anything_ and see how much i'm _not_ charging!!!..."

[lektrode]

Re: Everything works until it doesn't! At what point will you default?!

piano doc wrote:
What they might cut back on is yachts.

right, precisely (and painfully) for me, speaking as a 'canary in the coal mine'
that is, being a guy who repairs boats - who, at the time without the benefit of this eye-opening forum - knew that the 'recession' started in mid-october of 2007 - there was an upturn in 09 and the double-dip began in may of this year.

i ROTFLMAO nearly every night watching the lamestream media cheerleaders try to convince us that "the worst is over" (now that bernanke & geithner have bailed out the big banks, while the dems in congress bail out the welfare class) and that all them green shoots are popping up - what ? - you mean after dumping _another_ trillion on the bon-FIRE, krugman and his buddies think the fed didnt spend enuf???

oh yeah - just sorry i didnt find EJ's lil chatroom here years ago!

[don]

Re: Everything works until it doesn't! At what point will you default?!

I was going to say that perhaps its the car dealer shops and the larger shops that have been hit the hardest. It's good to read here on Itulip that my perception of the economy and how it has affected small business is not off base. I kind of like it. There does seem to be a bit of "nesting" going on, with financially secure people fixing up their homes and facing the fact they will probably be there for the rest of their lives. The day of climbing the house ladder is over now that homes are no longer sold as good investments.

By your postings I can see you never ate the track housing market poison fruit. Kudos to you! That was a miasma in the best of times.