Just realized I was wasting hours on filler work after a job in Tacoma

I was doing a full quarter panel replacement on a 2018 Silverado at a shop up there last fall. The estimator had it clocked for 8 hours of filler and block sanding. I got the metal straight enough that I only needed maybe an hour of actual filler work. Showed the manager the time sheet and he said 'bill the full 8, that's what the system says.' Felt wrong. Now I push back on those padded estimates every time, even if it costs me money short term. How many of you guys are stuck billing for filler time you don't actually need?

2 comments

2 Comments

cora4007d ago

My uncle runs a body shop and says the insurance companies basically force that padding into the system.

willowroberts6d ago

Yeah, that "padding" thing is real. Honestly, I just got super detailed photos of everything and sent them myself. It cut out a lot of the back and forth.