derektinder

When speaking in my shop I make sure I refer to my employees as "technicians" as they prefer that. As far as customers saying they are at the repair shop that is fine as long as they know how to reach us. 

In high cost SF Bay Area I am now $180/hour labor rate from $155 for a few years and the dealers are all at least $200/hour. My senior tech makes $40 an hour flat rate and he is worth it. My B tech is $30 and my two C techs are $24 and $22. I also keep my reputation high so people are choosing to come to my shop. 

We moved our rate from $120 to $132.50 this year and have had no complaints or loss of customers. The dealers in are area are $160+. Wait had one complaint from an online shopper who said I was the most expensive of the franchise shops he surveyed. Guess I will take that as a compliment.

We have used a few loaner cars for years. I have to be careful with what insurance companies give us quotes. Yes cars cost about $600 a year for insurance but as a transmission shop paying for rentals become costly. We always use the "borrowed vehicle agreement" from Reynolds & Reynolds. This transfers the liability to the borrower first and my shop second. Without this we would have been on the hook for the one incident we have had lately.