Equipment Dealership Defrauding Customers

My question involves a consumer law issue in the State of: PA
We work for an equipment dealership in the service and accounting departments. The owner will not keep his hands out of the labor on workorders. He insists on marking up the time by sometimes hours. We have been adjusting them back down, but now it is next to impossible to do that. He is changing not only the time billed, but the timeclock punches. Of course customers are irate when they get a bill that is twice what they expect. What can we do? We cannot walk out without other employment. Is there some place we can turn him in? He is forcing employees to do illegal (?) things.

This sounds more like a labour issue than car issue. Be more detailed about the illegal activities you are forced to do

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He is forcing employees to do illegal (?) things.

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What illegal things?

why do you feel it is improper for the owner to do this? It is based upon his contract with his customers and if he wishes to add charges to the bills for whatever reasons, he can. It is up to the customers to contest the charges, not you. You altering what the owner has done is grounds for termination (although Indiana is an employment at will state and no grounds are needed for termination anyway) but you altering what the boss has specifically done is grounds for termination with refusal of UI after termination unless what he is doing is actually illegal, which may not be the case at all.

Maybe there is labor he is aware of that is not accounted for on the time sheet. Maybe he is adding time for some aspect of the job you are not aware of.

Have you asked him about any specific situations so as to allow him to tell you why the increase time on the sheets?

Repairs on based on time and materials, no contracts. So it is ok for him to add time to workorders? Not just minutes, but hours at $70 an hour. Not a labor issue. I assumed that when you go in to have something repaired that you have an expectation that what you are being billed is actual time worked on the machine. Time and material is what the consumer is being told. That is what I am asking. And if you can't make that assumption what can any of us do as consumers to know we aren't being overcharged everytime we bring in a car or tractor to be repaired? I would have thought that would be a misrepresentation.

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Not a labor issue. I assumed that when you go in to have something repaired that you have an expectation that what you are being billed is actual time worked on the machine.

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what about if somebody had to drive to get a part for the machine while the mechanic was working on the machine? What about the time spent looking for that part? Any outside labor on this job?

There are a variety of things that would add time to the job above and beyond what time the mechanic spent on it.

Have you asked the boss where those extra hours came from?

It is not valid time. I understand what you are saying. My question is, is there a place for employees to report this? I found out that customers can report it to the state Attorney General's office.

Let's go at this another way.

What are you trying to accomplish? If you call in the state and they do, indeed, find something illegal, the place is closed down and you are out of work.

If you start telling the customers what is going on, they will go somewhere else to have their stuff repaired, the place is closed down and you are out of work.

Look for another job and let the universal karma take care of your boss.