Being a painter. Is it worth it?

texasking said:
The Mitchell or Motor programs are bought and sold by the insurance companies. For instance, a new 2003 F150 bedside replacement paid 14 hours, now pays 9.5. All body and paint times insurance companies are constantly finding ways to cut estimates. Paint times look extra hard to cut. The hourly labor and material is higher per hour than body times. Material is impossible to break even. Cost is not close to keep up. Paint time, for instance, a fender pays 2.5 then blend door to match pays 1.0. One hour door to sand panel, mask area, blend color, and clear. Our area is $52 pr/hr, $38 material. $150 labor, $133 material. My areas here are grouped into Houston labor and material rates. There is no cut and buff, color match, block and prime, etc., every time they cut paint saves insurance $. Blend times are a battle also. The same fender might pay the door, but hood, windshield pillar, etc. panels adjacent are a battle. And if any color says black, according to them, will not pay to be blended. As a painter trying to double pay hours to actual labor hours is getting harder than it was in past.
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After reading this post about insurance cutting the way they pay, I want to call them and ask them why my policy rate never goes down...
 
It's been a long time since I was on commission, but they shared the "real" estimates with me. I sold them on the idea because I had some estimating skills, and ended up making them more money than they would have cut by double ticketing. Jobs should almost always have a supplement.
 
crashtech said:
It's been a long time since I was on commission, but they shared the "real" estimates with me. I sold them on the idea because I had some estimating skills, and ended up making them more money than they would have cut by double ticketing. Jobs should almost always have a supplement.
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The fact that it is so common really pisses me off. :mad:
 
crashtech said:
Knowledge is power!
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crashtech said:
It's been a long time since I was on commission, but they shared the "real" estimates with me. I sold them on the idea because I had some estimating skills, and ended up making them more money than they would have cut by double ticketing. Jobs should almost always have a supplement.
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So were they open about writing two tickets? Did they still do it to other guys at the Shop you were at? Think I would have told the guy to shove it, sabotaged a repair and left. Guys like that need a punch in the face. Compensation for flat rate hours are almost always less than what an hourly wage would be and getting cheated on the hours really stinks.
 
Chris_Hamilton said:
So were they open about writing two tickets? Did they still do it to other guys at the Shop you were at? Think I would have told the guy to shove it, sabotaged a repair and left. Guys like that need a punch in the face. Compensation for flat rate hours are almost always less than what an hourly wage would be and getting cheated on the hours really stinks.
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Well it was a two bodyman shop, and the other guy was the boss's son-in-law. I didn't need to worry about him, he always had plenty of gravy, lol. This was in the 90's, and I think hand-written cards were pretty common back then in the area I worked.
 
I've gotten bitter and suspicious after 30 years. I just don't trust any of them anymore. I've worked at three places that shaved the hours. A different place I was at the Boss's wife would try to shave your hours every week. Literally. If I didn't write it down before I handed my time slip in on a Friday I wouldn't be able to go in each time when she would write my check for 3 or 4 hours less. This was your actual time not a flat rate place. Worked at another shop that the owner torched for the insurance money. Lost all my tools that I had there. 50K+ in tools. Later found out that he torched the place (claimed it was lighting) and that he moved all the valuable stuff out (including my tools) before it happened. Never been able to prove it or find my stuff. That damn near killed me, both emotionally and physically. One shop I was at the owner and chief estimator would actually damage a vehicle further in order to write higher estimates. I could go on with the dishonest, criminal behaviour I've witnessed but I'll stop there.
 
Well... I worked for some shady characters before, too. I used to let it bother me, but I am my own person now. Our industry having a poor reputation doesn't have anything to do with me personally. I got away from all that, and now you have, too. It's been really gratifying to run an honest business and have the community respond to that over time. I don't think I'll ever have a lot of money, but more importantly, I have a lot of happy customers, and I think of most of them as friends.
 
Seems like there's a concerted effort in all businesses to squeeze out small business owners. Not sure where that's going, but it doesn't look good to me.
 
I'd be curious to know how many small, reputable operators are left in coastal metropolises. With all sorts of government mandates on one side and big consolidators on the other, independents there must be becoming an endangered species. Being in a small town such as we are, our shop escapes notice but also has more limited potential for growth.
 
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