Uber expensive repair at United Radio

a tradesman electrician and a highly skilled electronic tech cannot be compared - may as well compare a butcher to a surgeon - yes they both have skills but they live in different worlds, solve entirely different problems, do entirely different work

hourly rates are used in all sorts of businesses for estimation and also for charging on jobs where there is uncertainty in scope (and the customer is willing to accept the open ended risk) -- if there is trust between provider and client then it works well, prevents the provider from 'padding the cost' to cover him/herself, otherwise it may well become a platform for abuse

bottom line, you own expensive/rare hifi stuff, there are times you need to pay up when repairs and/or maintenance are needed - it is just heartbreaking when people with expensive stuff bellyache when it is time to pay the piper  😂😂😂

+1 jjss49

hourly rates are used in all sorts of businesses for estimation and also for charging on jobs where there is uncertainty in scope (and the customer is willing to accept the open ended risk) -- if there is trust between provider and client then it works well, prevents the provider from 'padding the cost' to cover him/herself, otherwise it may well become a platform for abuse

Agreed completely, jjss49.  I had a complete kitchen rehab done by a remodeler who worked by the hour.  Of course, I had experience and trust with him.  Lower pressure for him, in an unpredictable older house, and I didn't have to pay extra for his "surprise insurance."
And of course, hourly rates can be useful for comparison shopping when the the temporal parameters of a job are pretty well known, as in the case of sokogear's example of grass cutting.
Bottom line: the hourly rate is not the bottom line, but can certainly be information useful information in shopping and assessing value.

If all things are equal that may be true, but rarely are all things equal....

Back in 2019 I bought a Mark Levinson amp used. Around a month later I was hearing a channel acting up. I shipped it to United Radio, who I had to call to learn it arrived. They diagnosed it and claimed everything was working as it should. Which I had to call to find that out also. Then asked did I want to donate the amp or have them ship it back. Suspicious huh?

After receiving the Levinson back I still hear the annoyance. Decided to ship to Pyramid Audio in Texas. They diagnosed and said you could obviously see an issue with one channel on the test equipment.

All said and done, Mark Levinsons trip to United Radio in New York, cost $345. I could buy a lot of music for that. We live and we learn