So, I hopped on my motorcycle one day and the battery was dead.
I called around to a couple of shops near where my motorcycle was, and the one closest to it (without an Uber), also had the battery.
They were about $10 more expensive than another shop, but they were closer to my powerless bike, so I thought,
"That sucks, but it's only $10, right?"...... little did I know.
On top of paying for the battery, they also charged me:
* a $20 fee for putting acid in it and topping off the charge, which in my 30+ years of riding motorcycles, I've NEVER seen. EVERY other motorcycle shop I've EVER been to, sells you the battery ready-to-go, price inclusive. If they (the other shops I've been to over the past 3 decades) rolled that service into the price of the battery before telling me what the battery costs, that's fine....I, like most people, am a
"WHAT'S-THE-OUT-THE-DOOR-PRICE?" kind of guy.
And to be fair, they (MotorGrrl) did tell me about this charge over the phone, but I still don't agree with it. I don't like finding out that a shop sells the battery (itself) for close to the same price as other places (who are providing a fully-functioning battery), but then I have to pay extra, at this shop, for the battery to actually work.
This is the same as you going to get new tires, and the tech puts the new tires on the rims and then says,
"Oh....you wanted air in those?....Oh, then I'm going to have to charge you extra if you want a functional tire."
Or going to a supermarket, buying a bunch of groceries, and then having the clerk be like, "Oh...you want to carry these groceries home?...I'm going to have to charge you for shopping bags."
Who does that?!...
New tires come with air in them, batteries come with acid and fully charged, and groceries come with shopping bags...all price-inclusive.
ALSO, they charged me:
* an 8% "Tech Supplies" fee.
This was not mentioned to me on the phone, but in all fairness, as the gentleman behind the desk pointed out, when you call in looking to purchase (and then pick up) something, they usually email a provisional receipt with all taxes and fees before you purchase/show up, so you know exactly what the FINAL, OUT-THE-DOOR-PRICE is going to be.
He didn't do that this time because I was headed over almost immediately after getting off the phone with him to pick up the battery, so while he did mention the $20.00 Acid/Charge fee, I know I wasn't told about the "Tech Supplies" fee over the phone because, when I picked up the battery, and handed him my credit card, he told me what the total was and, being quick with math in my head, I knew that the total he was now giving was higher than I'd calculated when we were on the phone.
When I looked at the receipt, and saw the additional "Tech Supplies" fee, I asked what that was, I was told that it went to cover the cost of their rags, shop supplies, office supplies and whatnot.
Umm...what?...has ANYBODY, EVER seen this someplace else?
When I buy something at Amazon, or anywhere else, they don't charge me the full price of the item, and then tack on an additional charge to cover every toilet flush in their warehouse in Poughkeepsie. All of those business costs are factored into the price of their products.
So, for those of you who aren't good at Math:
You're going to pay an 8.875% NY Sales Tax...
AND...
an ADDITIONAL 8% "Tech Supplies" Tax/Fee.
That's a 16.875% TAX on your order...
There is a stipulation on the receipt that the "Tech Supplies" fee caps out at $25.00, but why am I having to pay that in the first place?
True, I was in a bind, and needed the battery, and they did have it in stock, hence the 3 Stars (meaning that a motorcycle shop should be decently stocked to be considered at least average).
Having said that, the $20 charge for putting acid in the battery (when other shops include it in the price of the battery), and the "Tech Supplies" fee on top of that, made me fee like Clark Griswold in the movie "Vacation", when he had to pay $500 for a tow and 4 wobbly tires...true, he didn't have a lot of other options at the time given that his vehicle, too, was broken down/immobile, but I, like him, didn't appreciate the price-gouging (IMO) cost of the solution to my problem.
The NET-NET is:
1) True, I agreed to the $10.00 higher battery price (making it 10% more expensive than their nearest competitor). And I agreed, reluctantly, to the $20.00 Acid charge, bringing it up to 30% more expensive (ouch!). But, then the undiscussed "Tech Supplies" fee made it almost 40% more expensive than their nearest competitor (yikes!).
2) True, they did have the battery in stock. But, any shop worth their salt should have basic necessities like batteries, on hand (it's not like batteries are special-order engine parts).
3) They seem like a very nice, popular shop, but if you patronize them for the first time...GET A WRITTEN ESTIMATE, OF ALL TAXES/FEES, BEFORE YOU MOVE FORWARD, so you can compare the TRUE, OUT-THE-DOOR-PRICE before purchasing. read more