Arizona republican., 1921-03-27

can collect money so much more caisly and take no chances at all? In .act. he has the law to protect him, when. with the car in his possession, he can hold up the customer until his pill is paid. Very attractive business. IS almost anyone will agree.
 And in the meantime the average automobilist with no money to waste, willing to pay for what he gets but needing to get all he pays for, who treats his fellow men on the level and believes he has right to expect square dealing from them in return, is con- demning all automobile service and re- pair men as grafters and criminals.
 Then, at the other extreme is the chap who, not understanding enough about what 1t costs to repair car. having nothing with which to compare, would thing any charge exorbitant just on general principles. If he got a S20U job for $50 the $50 bill would look so pig that he would be sure it was too much anyhow. because he just knows that all service stations rob, and that's all there is to it.
 Even business men who should
 1now better. have been known to take
 lis attitude A truck owner. who had ! car repaired without inquiring what t would cost, received an itemized bin for S20O which he didn't understand and declared that he would pay $50 and not one cent more. The service man ager. happening to be a psychologist,
 ealized that this man might not be as unreasonable as he appeared, so he called upon him and told him that he was going to explain the bill and woulS eettle with him when he got throug
 or just what he, the customer, decided
 owed. They went through the bil
 tenn by item and, try as he would. tho
 ustomer could not find more than s15
 -1s II, lx< ar1N1 x,t< As<.rK ak 1ect and so he settled his bill for s1S5 What is more to the point, he learned d lot he did not know about the cost of automotive work and is likely to take better care of his equipment ir
 he future so that he will not require
 epairs so frequently.
 Tn course of time car owners will become educated as to what are req
 sonable charges and will demand tc 1now in advance what contemplated
 epairs will cost. If they only would pegin this now they could be helpin remove the cause for dishonesty which
 s so prevalent and for which they are so largely responsible.
 More credit to them, many service stations are reforming themselves They appreciate than any charge at all is shock unless one knows that t is coming so they have adopted the very obviously successful methods e merchants in other lines and are hay ing exact understandings with thei' natrons before job is started. In tb first place they tell him what is the matter with his car. Then they figur out the cost and MT. Car Owner has the opportunity to decide before he or ders the work done whether, it is worth to him the sum that it will cost. If 1t
 is more than he cares to spend at the time perhaps he decides to put up with x.f later and has only the most necessary jobs done. For most of these jobs the shop has flat price just like a dealer In hats or shoes-a certain price for a certain operation-add up your opera tfons and there's your bill. The man knows before he leaves just what ev- erything is going to cost and when he comes back there can he no argument because he was advised in the
 ming, made a contract and accepted the conditions. He had his chance at thal time, if he did not like the conditions to go somewhere else perhaps where he could get the job done cheaper (and probably worse). Usually one experi- ence with a cheap shop teaches him to stick to the reliable service stations which generally are the ones that do things in a business-like way
 The other practically as good way to sell service is to give a maximum estimate that the job will not run over a certain amount. If the job is com pleted in less time than anticipated the customers bill is somewhat less than he expected and he has almost the same feeling as though he had received rebate or premium. At any rate it is not more than he expected and he has a cordial regard for that service sta tion.
 Now, as for these service stations that will not reform themselves-that have not foresight enough to see that permanent success depends upon busi- ! ness-like conduct. Car owners can do very much to help bring them to their senses in this regard by refusing to leave Jobs unless they do have a defi- l mite understanding, at least as to what | the maximum charge will be when the | job is finished.
 So. MT. MotoriSt, hereafter will you ! not do your part? When you take your car to service station do not leave ] it until an inspector has told you just | what is the matter with 1t, if you don't | know yourself, and then have a man who knows the cost of things tell you | just what the bill is going to be. De- eide then if the improvement in the 1 car will be worth that much to you, but under no circumstances leave your machine for work without knowing just what work is going to be done and nc more. Also have it understood that ii
 it is discovered after work is begun on the car, that other things need tc
 be done they must first notify you and 1 get your consent.
 | "A few such simple rules followed by all automobilists will very soon re- move one of the chief sources of com I plaint over automobile service"