I don’t understand why the shop owner doesn’t understand that the problem the community sees here was the original estimate and now your megalomaniac, my shop has nothing to learn here, attitude. Along the megalomaniac tendencies, I would have liked to see if your tune would be a bit different back in 2008-2010 when most everyone, potentially even yourself, took some kind of financial hit.
You are arguably the most knowledgeable Sprinter mechanic in the US that this community is aware of, and yes, you supply some of the most valuable information within this forum. Your team has done how many head jobs?? 100, 500, 1000+!?!?!?? Why you and your team could not give this POTENTIAL customer a better idea of what the cost might be before he made the long drive is beside me. Your team can’t say something to the effect:
‘The minimum labor for this job is $1,500 and if everything comes out nicely and can be reused you’re looking at something just over that and $2,000. Now, usually there are some things that need to be replaced. The head for one is suspect because it’s leaking which means integrity could be suspect, the injectors could be another, etc, etc, etc. The average cost for this job comes in around $4k. We have done hundreds of these heads and will offer warranty to the work. If this sounds reasonable, please let us know and we will pencil you in. Given our record of doing amazing work and having a satisfied customer base we currently have a three week wait for our next appointment.’
Perhaps this type of communication would have garnered trust, given a real idea of what the cost could be, and would have probably brought in an even financially strapped customer knowing they might pay top dollar, but they are receiving the BEST attention possible to their problem.
Even gurus make mistakes, need to keep learning, and often need to project a modest and humble attitude towards the base who fuel the megalomania which may be in their head..