RAWCLIFFES SERVICE CTR

Honest work; not-so-honest pricing. I'm a new resident and a friend suggested Rawcliff's (Found out later they were talking about the small one-man Rawcliff's garage at the other end of town and not the large service center covered by this review). I had two cars needing inspection. Before making appointments, I went in and asked if their pricing was flat-rate or actual time spent. Flat-rate pricing is becoming pretty popular these days, and when you consider the advantage for the garage, it shouldn't be surprising. A flat-rate manual lists repairs and the amount of time they should take. While the manual itself lists the job time for an experienced, not-so-experienced and beginner mechanics, the flat rate you'll be charged is always based on the time it would take a beginner mechanic (about twice as long as the experienced mechanics who will actually be fixing your car). Simply put, flat rate pricing will charge you for two hours of labor when the job only took one hour. In responding to my question, the service technician said that the flat-rate manual was used in making estimates, but I would be charged only for actual time spent. and quot;We're not a flat-rate shopand quot; said the service technician, with another technician standing beside him. Simply put, he lied. When I went to pick up the car, I compared my and quot;estimateand quot; to the actual price I was charged. The estimated time and the time charged were exactly the same for every repair. I stopped by a few days later and talked with Jeff, the owner, a likeable, soft-spoken guy. and quot;I don't like to think of us as a flat-rate shopand quot; he said. and quot;I'm sure you don't,and quot; I replied, and quot;but this bill says you are.and quot; He went on to say that they only bill 85% of the hours worked by their mechanics. and quot;There's a place downtown that bills 150%.and quot; He also stated adamantly, and quot;we don't pay commissions,and quot; referring to the most egregious spin on flat-rate pricing whereby mechanics are paid according to the hours they charge the customer. Rawcliff's posts an hourly labor rate of $78. With flat-rate pricing, that quickly becomes $156. For example, I had my two rear hubs replaced less than a year ago (I bought the hubs myself and apparently they were of poor quality). I sat and waited as my former mechanic replaced them and took the car for a road test. Time elapsed? 40 minutes. Time charged me by Rawcliff's? 90 minutes. Consumers will be told that with flat-rate pricing, there's a limit to what you can be charged for a job, and therefore flat-rate pricing protects the customer in case the mechanic runs into complications. A former service manager at a large dealership said and quot;that's what we told people, but we'd always find a way of charging for any additional timeand quot; (I'd like to think Rawcliff wouldn't do this). Besides flat-rate pricing, you'll also find Rawcliff's making the most of another popular and deceptive pricing practice: the additional charge for and quot;shop suppliesand quot;. Consumers have come to accept this, so the industry is quickly implementing it. What are and quot;shop suppliesand quot;? Everything from cleaning supplies to toilet paper to coffee. In other words, it's just a catch-all way of adding to the cost of every repair job. Rawcliff will add an extra 10% for and quot;shop suppliesand quot;, capping it at $40. By my calculations, this adds about $5 an hour to the rate you're charged, bringing Rawcliff's actual hourly rate to $161.
On the positive side, Rawcliff's treats their customers like royalty. They're very courteous and professional. They will not charge you for unnecessary work (my and quot;estimateand quot; listed a repair that was later found to be unneeded) and they guarantee all of their work for two years. You'll receive good, honest work from them and they'll stand behind it. Judging by their business levels, many people think they're worth $161 an hour, and compared to the competition, perhaps they are. As for me, I've found someone who charges $80 an hour, has a great reputation, and bills only for time actually worked.

Service was performed quickly and the technician gave lots of info about my car. I was very happy.

I was getting some bumps and thumps from an older vehicle that I was trying to keep running for another year or two. The mechanic showed excellent knowledge of the vehicle and let me personally inspect the areas where work was performed. Work was done for a reasonable rate and met the estimate. I am very happy with the work performed. It was great to actually get to talk to the mechanic doing the work and see the car up close with an informed expert. The mechanic went above and beyond what was required by making sure the tires were properly inflated and fastened on to the wheels firmly (I mentioned that we had had an issue in this area). That kind of service is not something you get at the larger garages.
My only issue is that it did require two visits to get the work done to my satisfaction, as the steering wheel was miss-aligned after the initital front-end work. So even when the car was going straight down the road, the steering wheel was maybe 20 degrees off center. The mechanic was able to correct this problem without having to do a full front-end alignment - but it did require the second shop visit and another 30 dollars or so for labor. However, I still feel that I got my money's worth and would recommend them to anybody.

They were recommended by a friend, got the work done promptly and updated me throughout the process. They were good at explaining what was wrong with my car and were organized. I will use them again in the future.