Originally Posted by
reptilezs
we have the highest labor rates in the boston area with no shortage of customers. our biggest draw is efficiency and turn around time. many shops in boston have a 3+ week turn around during the season(even for a flat fix). we do flat fixes on the spot unless they choose to leave the bike. our turn around is 2-3 days, 4-5 days if i order a part. most of the labor pricing in the boston market is very competitive. 45-60 dollar tune ups is easy to find.
This sounds a lot like our shop. We're even w/ the highest prices in our area, have the most experienced mechanics around, and manage to get pretty much everything done on schedule. We are never backed up more than 4-5 days and do pretty much everything by appt. We are consistently busy and have a constant flow of new customers. I see absolutely no reason to lower our service prices so we can make even less profit on an already low profit part of our business.
It's pretty obvious to me that [MENTION=2159]surreal[/MENTION] has some pretty firm ideas about how retail works, but they're not very realistic.