Prices
When Money Changes Hands, and Why It Is Staged That Way
50 percent at authorization on any job over $2,000, with additional 25 percent when parts arrive on any job over $10,000. The balance is due at pickup and vehicles are not released before it is settled. A 3.5 percent surcharge applies to card payments over $1,000.
Why a deposit at all
Deposit: 50 percent at authorization on any job over $2,000. On a coach job the shop commits a bay for weeks and orders parts that are frequently non returnable before any labor is billed. The deposit covers that exposure.
Parts draw: Additional 25 percent when parts arrive on any job over $10,000. On a large job the parts outlay alone can be five figures, and that money leaves before the work starts.
The balance and release
Balance: Due at pickup. No vehicle leaves the property until paid in full. That is not a negotiating posture, it is a lien and liability reality, and every shop operates this way whether or not they say so up front.
What we do differently is tell you the number before pickup day rather than at the counter. There should be no surprise on the invoice, and if there is one it means we failed to communicate a supplement.
The card surcharge
Card surcharge: 3.5 percent on credit card payments over $1,000. On a $30,000 job the processing cost is real money and burying it in the labor rate would mean everyone paying it, including the customers who write a check.
Under $1,000 there is no surcharge. Check, cash and transfer carry none at any amount.
How insurance changes the sequence
On a carrier billed job the deposit conversation usually becomes a deductible conversation. The carrier pays their portion directly to us, and you are responsible for the deductible plus any scope the carrier declined that you chose to have done.
Where a carrier issues payment to you rather than to the shop, which happens, that money needs to reach us before release, same as any other balance. It is worth knowing which arrangement your carrier uses before pickup week.
Questions
Questions on this
Do you offer financing?
We do not originate financing. Some owners use a home equity line or a personal loan for a large interior or structural job, and some carriers will advance a portion of a claim. What we can do is stage the work so a large job proceeds in phases you authorize separately.
What if the final number is higher than the estimate?
It should not be, unless a supplement was found and authorized. Nothing gets done that you have not approved, and a supplement is presented before the work rather than after. If you get a surprise on an invoice from us, say so, because that is our failure.
Is the deposit refundable if I change my mind?
The portion covering labor already performed and non returnable parts already ordered is not, because that money is spent. Anything beyond that is. Tell us early: the day after authorization is a very different conversation from three weeks in.
Do you charge storage while I decide?
Not during an authorized repair or while waiting on parts. On a vehicle sitting after an estimate with no authorization there is a point where it becomes storage, and we will tell you when that point is coming rather than adding it to an invoice.
Turn a band into a number
The band tells you the territory. A priced estimate on your vehicle tells you the number, and it is credited against an authorized repair.