I know different industries are different, and maybe I should apologize for being so jumpy about that. In this area at least there are quite a few shops with the "lie, cheat and steal" from the customer reputation. I've worked very hard to make sure my name and the shop I work for are not part of that. For me I'd rather sink or go broke with a good honest reputation and be able to sleep at night, than to excel though dishonest business practices.
Well I'll say I've seen this area change a lot. It use to be very rural, but now Boeing and Microsoft are not that far away. Now it's not so rural. Where my home and farm is the immediate area has some hold outs like me so that still feels somewhat rural at least. At the shop I have to take money for repairs made and generally I can't do work on credit though, though I have done it for a few long time customers that truly were in a pinch, and not one of them has welched. With the farm yea I definitely do stuff in trade for the farm.
@AuroraGirl good for you for taking a stand. If there were more people willing to do that the automotive industry would have a different story to tell.
@eric 87 Just one of the down falls to auto repair industry has been flat rate pay and parts incentives. The shop I'm at now every single one of us including myself is on an hourly rate. But that's not true in 99% of shops. Most shops have their technicians on flat rate pay which means whatever that labor time in the guild says is what the tech gets paid + a bonus on parts sales. This really drives up quick shotty workmanship and sales of parts that are not needed. I could go on and on really. The automotive repair industry is about as broken as the healthcare industry you just see less of it on the news. Here's one last one for ya. Keep in mind this area currently has one of the highest costs of living. So in this area fast food places are hiring at $18 an hour. Automotive $18 - $20. Plus tech needs to provide his own tools, and should have gone though 2 years of trade school. So guess what no one decent gets into this business..... I'm sorry I could still go on, but I'll stop here and just say it's very frustrating to me to see what has happened in the last 25 years or so.