I have had customers watch me install engines in their van, do electrical
work and do things like change brake pads or shocks.

Generally I don't mind people watching, but, as with any job, sometimes
things can go wrong like a bolt stripping and there is a bit of head
scratching.  Generally when this happens the customer can get a little
"what's wrong, is it broken, oh my can you fix it" - I don't like this as I
know I am always on top of the situation and sometimes smeg does happen, I
would rather just do the job, take my time doing it.  If I want to stop for
some lunch, I will do it on my own time and when I want to.

So, does it piss me off - no.

Is it irritating - not really, depends on who it is and how much they
interfere

A waste of my time - no, I love showing poeple how to do stuff

Whould I charge more - yes, it is all by the hour and the more the customer
gets in the way, the longer it takes - not being mean, but time is money.

At 11:44 AM 14/02/2000 EST, Douglas Demarest wrote:
>So I'm still trying to decide which local mechanic I'll have do my head
>gaskets.  Both reputable,  one says about $750 the other $1200.  Are these
>quotes for the same job, or is one including work the other will just omit?
>
>Anyway, the part about watching mechanics is that I'm very interested to
>learn more about my van and how to work on it.  I've been wondering if I
>could be around and observe while they do it and maybe learn a few things.
>
>To you folks who are professional mechanics:  would this piss you off?  be
>very irritating?  a waste of your time? would you charge more?
>
>Thanks,
>
>
>Doug Demarest
>
>

--   David Marshall -                    - Quesnel, BC, Canada   --
--    78 VW Rabbit, 80 VW Caddy, 84 VW Westie, 85 VW Cabriolet   --
--       87 Audi 5000 Quattro, 88 2.0L VW Syncro Double Cab      --
-- David's Volkswagen Home Page        http://www.volkswagen.org --
-- Fast Forward Autobahn Sport Tuning  http://www.fastforward.ca --
-- david@volkswagen.org (pmail) or vanagon@volkswagen.org (list) --