Shop disposal and environmental fees getting out of hand

[walterjay]

Took daughters car in for new tires. Replace one fwd axle, tie rod end and repair to exhaust. Was charged $59.19 for enviro fees.
I know there are disposal fees to contend with but $39.99 of it was for the parts disposal fees etc. other than tires. Seems like a money maker. I would think half of that for what was done.
Oh well what are you going to do. And this is a good independent shop.
Another way to add on money.

 

[nomas]

Built in profit . Sometimes it just makes no sense . Get your wheels balanced and get charged for shop supplies , etc.

 

[supton]

Seems crazy, but, if they just gave you a single price, with no breakdown as to the charges, would you have cared?

 

[Warstud]

Tell them you will dispose of the old parts and leave them out by the street for the scrappers

 

[nomas]

Tell them you will dispose of the old parts and leave them out by the street for the scrappers

Doesn't work that way . Try buying tires and telling them you will take the old ones with you . You'll still pay the disposal fee .

 

[SC Maintenance]

Doesn't work that way . Try buying tires and telling them you will take the old ones with you . You'll still pay the disposal fee .

That part is usually mandated at the state level. In SC they charge you $2 per new tire, whether you leave an old one or not. Its supposed to offset the cost of dealing with all the old ones.

$59.19 the OP posted look like junk fees - aka margin .

 

[SC Maintenance]

Seems crazy, but, if they just gave you a single price, with no breakdown as to the charges, would you have cared?

Thats true but why do it then? If they give a written estimate then I don't have an issue. If they add it at the end then its just a junk fee you weren't informed about.

 

[nomas]

One way or the other you're going to pay extra . Call it disposal fees , shop supplies , whatever .

 

[supton]

Thats true but why do it then? If they give a written estimate then I don't have an issue. If they add it at the end then its just a junk fee you weren't informed about.

Not a business person, couldn't tell you. Most people would be clueless, so, not sure who this is for. Most people just need a bottom line number.

I guess enough people want to know how the bill stacks up. Parts, labor, misc. Maybe state law mandates the practice for auto repair, maybe for most forms of repairs, some means of protecting the consumer (at least intended to do that).

 

[wwillson]

Was charged $59.19 for enviro fees.
I know there are disposal fees

There is a huge market for discarded tires in the US. Where do they go? They get shredded and put into a 4-6 foot thick layer in the bottom of landfills to protect the waterproof membrane that keeps water from leaching into the groundwater. The landfill close to my hometown just built a new cell. They hauled in a huge pile of shredded tires, like 50' tall x 200' x 300' and that was just for one cell. That takes a lot of tires.

Any shop that charges anything more than the state required fee is ripping you off.

 

[walterjay]

They only charged me the state fee for the tires. The rest was for other.

 

[GMBoy]

I charge $10 shop supplies on every job. That little profit is way less than other shops and I could get away with more but I am a small shop with a loyal customer base .....because we are honest and don't over gouge. I just use that to cover my brake cleaner, brake lubes and misc. I win some and lose some and that's all fine by me. I own the shop and the land its on so my overhead is low enough.

 

[Wolfshead]

I charge $10 shop supplies on every job. That little profit is way less than other shops and I could get away with more but I am a small shop with a loyal customer base .....because we are honest and don't over gouge. I just use that to cover my brake cleaner, brake lubes and misc. I win some and lose some and that's all fine by me. I own the shop and the land its on so my overhead is low enough.

Why not Include the "Shop Supplies" in the estimate,instead of a separate Fee ?

 

[GMBoy]

Why not Include the "Shop Supplies" in the estimate,instead of a separate Fee ?

Tax reporting and transparency. (It is also in estimates)

 

[D60]

So they're apparently charging for disposal of non-hazardous parts?

Interesting approach and does seem questionable. I fill up a few 55 gal drums and take them to the scrapyard. Radiators and cast brake parts are held out separately. If I did enough alternators and starters I'd make a pile of them, too.

I understand high volume shops don't have time for this but $40 seems steep. Your job was pretty routine so if we figure they're averaging at least $40 per invoice that would seem to more than offset paying to have the scrap hauled away or dumpster service (I hope they're not sending metal to the landfill).

But as others said, they can always just re-categorize it as something else or just increase mark-up on parts. You're likely going to pay it one way or another.

 

[ripcord]

The scrap metal place down the road pays cash money for those used parts. They get paid twice for those old parts.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I mean at the end of the day its the bottom line price so it doesn't much matter - but I will never understand these fees. If its a state mandated fee then fine - for accounting makes sense. But everything else is normal - should be baked in. Why not a lift maintenance fee, or a tool cleaning fee, or a floor scrubbing fee? A calculator fee to figure how much to mark up the parts. I mean these are all business costs, just like every business you have supplies you need to buy .

Its usually a percentage of the hourly rate. Why not just raise the hourly rate?

I realize those in the industry think its justified, but no other industry does it. I grew up in a small business - we had an hourly service rate and that was it. I work in a small business now. We have a hourly fee and minimum charge - no fees. Restaurants don't charge you a dish washing fee. Some guys painted my house. They didn't line item the masking tape and paint brush fees.

Its just strange.

 

[BAJA_05]

The government has there hands in almost everything --- EQUALS === BIG MONEY!!!

 

[Cheetah-kins]

I think rather than just give you a bottom line price with everything built in, shops want to show you that their prices - which many consumers consider huge - are partly because they have to pay all these fees. The customer can see for themselves the shops have no choice but to charge what they do. In other words telling you to blame part of what you're paying on inescapable gov't fees, which is something everyone understands. I agree the fees do seem excessive sometimes but it is SO hard to make a go at a small business these days, owners are just taxed to death in every way imaginable. I honestly see a time in the future where only large chains/companies will be able to survive. All that said, the fees aren't going away, haha.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I think rather than just give you a bottom line price with everything built in, shops want to show you that their prices - which many consumers consider huge - are partly because they have to pay all these fees. The customer can see for themselves the shops have no choice but to charge what they do. In other words telling you to blame part of what you're paying on inescapable gov't fees, which is something everyone understands. I agree the fees do seem excessive sometimes but it is SO hard to make a go at a small business these days, owners are just taxed to death in every way imaginable. I honestly see a time in the future where only large chains/companies will be able to survive. All that said, the fees aren't going away, haha.

Maybe right, but no government charges $39.99 enviro fee. It would have been $40. Was likely $4, or maybe zero.

Discount tire direct charged me the $2 state fee which is legitimate and makes sense, but added another $2.50 tire disposal fee on top for each tire. Did they not expect to have to dispose of the tire? I assume they charge everyone. Why not mark the tires up another $2.50?