Secondly, thanks for checking in, Mark.   I know I said I didn’t want to start a whole other discussion on this, but I recently had an experience which is perfectly illustrative of the principle involved and one which I believe will clarify the matter.  During a recent service visit, we determined that my truck needed to have its front disc brake pads and rotors replaced.  Although I do possess the requisite skill set necessary to perform the task, I elected to have it done at the shop, which charged me $87.99 for the pads and $99.40 apiece for the rotors (this is in addition to the labor charge).  

Now, I’m a car guy, so I know for a fact that my local auto parts store sells those pads for around $30 a set; rotors for my truck run about $65 apiece.  You do the math.

Anyone want to venture a guess what would happen if I told the shop manager that I’m only going to reimburse him for what ‘he’ paid for those parts?  That’s right, sports fans…he’d laugh in my face and impound my vehicle until I settled his bill in full (which he has every right to do under Pennsylvania law).  So my question, then, is what is the difference between the example I cited and imposing a reasonable mark-up for something extra that the customer did, in fact, ask for?

Regards,
Scott Perry