dogtown tom
Member
Then you SHOULD understand the fallacy of your "shop rate" calculation.Well, DTT, I often do work "by the job" or by the task (and do all the invoicing, etc.), so I certainly understand the bookkeeping aspects of business. With that understood, it is certainly possible that the gunsmithing shop time for that particular establishment is billed at $85 per hour and they may have a minimum charge of 1 hour for any walk-in-and-wait-for-it task.
Horsehocky.If so, it would have been the ethical thing to advise the customer (or potential customer) of those charges. To have just taken advantage of the ignorance of the customer as seems to have occurred per the OP is unethical at least and (IMHO) borders on theft.
Absolutely NOTHING was unethical as described by the OP.
Ignorant customers are not the fault of the business.
Theft? Oh good grief.
Please explain what was unethical.I never have in my 29 years as a registered professional, conducted business in such an unethical manner nor will I.
Is it the price? If so, Five Guys Burgers are wholly and completely unethical. McDonalds serves a hamburger for a dollar. Anything over a dollar is thereby unethical.
THAT IS unethical. It's also stupid. And not in any shape, manner or form the situation described by the OP.There is store with gunsmithing services in this area that I live that I had do a project for me that kind of parallels the one being discussed in this thread. I was quoted an hourly rate and a time for completion. We agreed on the price on a handshake. When I returned to pick up my item and pay for the work, the price had jumped to 2.5 times the agreed price. The proprietor just said, "Well, that's the price."
But its not always so.........often while doing a repair, additional issues are discovered. Those issues may involve additional time, labor, parts, etc. Typically, the person performing the repair will notify the customer of the problem and get their approval before proceeding. If the customer (or patient ) declines....then the repair is completed as agreed.
As I mentioned above, a range of pricing should be discussed with the customer before hand. The OP doesn't know if the kid had called and discussed it earlier and if he didn't he sure as heck seemed okay to pay that fee.
The "principles of mathematics" has nothing to do with anything in this thread. You conjured up a calculation of a fictitious "shop rate" to make a feeble attempt to show that the gunsmith was making exorbitant profits off his work. Again, junk math. It proves nothing but you misunderstanding what a "shop rate" is.My point is you accuse others of not knowing the principles of mathematics and business while you express a disdain for those that dare conduct business honestly and ethically. Why?
Not one word was written by me expressing "disdain" for business ethics. Why? BECAUSE THERE IS NO EVIDENCE that the gun shop or the clerk was dishonest or unethical in any way.
Was the kid lied to? Nope.
Was he mislead? Apparently not.
Was the shop charging outrageous fees? Nope.
Was the kid ignorant? Possibly.
Was the OP so outraged that he complained to the clerk about the injustice? Nope.