Thank you all for responding to my question. I did not intend to step on anyones toes concerning shop hours, I found out this is a very sensitive subject. I do realize that a specialized MB tech. is worth a lot of money @ hour and the work itself is physically difficult to perform. I understand overhead costs, and how many years professionals spend learning their trade (myself included).

It seems that when a shop charges $70 to $80 per hour that would be more than enough to make the owner a large profit, and cover his overhead costs (the tech. being part of that overhead). Without having to use "Enron" time charges. (oops, there I go stepping on toes again).

I just have a hard time with this concept of "I will charge you 5 hours for perfoming this job; now if it takes 2.5 hours I will still charge you 5 hours; if it takes more time, well...I will have to charge you for the extra time involved". What a great business!
Why even publish rates PER HOUR? Why not just admit it is purely subjective as to how many "billable" hours we want to attach to your repair?