Labor for sticking parking brake?

[casey111]

Hi, all! We just had the 3000 mile service performed on our 2019 RTL.

The parking brake had stuck in the "on" position one time, so I asked the service department to look at it during our visit. Our Spyder still has about 1 month of factory warranty left, and the Best warranty after that.

They were unable to duplicate the problem. My bill included 1/2 hour for diagnostic time for the brake issue. The service writer said that the diagnosis time was not reimbursable under the factory warranty. Does this seem right?

[Wmoater]

I hate to say it but yes that sounds right. It shouldn’t take 1/2 hour but they rounded up. I had a stuck brake light pedal switch guncked with mud about a month ago. If they would have done the service and it would have taken the hour or so to do the service and the switch would not have been broken they would have charged me full price even though under warranty. I too had my 17 parking brake act up when I first got it. I loosened the 12 mm nut and drove it there as they said to do. When I got there they checked the brake fluid level and retightened the nut right in front of me. It worked fine. I got charged $20 for the service. It took 10 minutes. After seeing that I don’t take it in till I know it’s broke.

[canamjhb]

No. But I would make sure they have documented everything so you're not double charged when the same issue comes up again..... Jim

[casey111]

Thanks for your input! At least my brake hasn't acted up again...

[gkamer]

Most every place I know of is charging some type of diagnostic fee, usually at least $100.00 or standard shop rate per hour. The way it was explained to me was because in the past the shop is expending time and resources to find a problem and when the customer was told how much the repair was going to cost they would decide it wasn’t all that important. So the shop was out the cost. So now they charge a diagnostic fee which is credited to the cost of the repair if you have it taken care of at the time.

[jcthorne]

Hi, all! We just had the 3000 mile service performed on our 2019 RTL.

The parking brake had stuck in the "on" position one time, so I asked the service department to look at it during our visit. Our Spyder still has about 1 month of factory warranty left, and the Best warranty after that.

They were unable to duplicate the problem. My bill included 1/2 hour for diagnostic time for the brake issue. The service writer said that the diagnosis time was not reimbursable under the factory warranty. Does this seem right?

So to rephrase your question,

You had a problem with the parking brake and asked them to fix it. They could not figure out what was wrong with it and charged you a half hour labor for trying. Sorry, but NO. You pay a diagnosis fee to find the problem, they do not get to charge the fee if they are unable to diagnose.

I own and run a shop myself and I do understand the need for diagnosis fees when the customer decides not to do the repair or to do it them selves once the trouble is found. But in this case they are charging for something they were unable to do. No, that is not right and I would have no trouble refusing to pay it.