Charging £48 to change a light bulb?

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Car went in for MOT yesterday. Needed headlight bulb changed but other than that it passed. Was charged £48 for labour, £25 for the light bulb and £54 for the MOT.
Took less than 5 mins to change the bulb (I was there when it was changed). AIBU to feel £48 labour is a bit steep for 5 mins work? Don’t think they are supposed to charge labour for the actual MOT? Didn’t quibble at the time as I don’t notice the charge until I got home and he didn’t actually tell me how much it was I just paid stupidly.

That’s very strange, headlight bulbs are generally standard wattage.

Does your invoice not say how much time for the labour you have been charged? My always states how many hours, or parts of an hour x garage hourly rate, they are charging me for.

The new led ones are super bright! Have you not noticed how intense many are now! Looks like cars are driving at you on full beam but they are not!

I thought You were talking about a lightbulb in the home and I was about to say that was ridiculous, but you’re talking about a lightbulb in an actual car so I think the cost was reasonable

So general consensus is that I have been overcharged and I would be reasonable to question the £48 charge?

no

They didn't charge you labour for the MOT, they charged you labour for changing the bulb which would have left you with an MOT failure otherwise.
I imagine they have a minimum of 15 min for doing jobs and charged you for 15 mins which covers the time to get the bulb, fit it and dispose of the old one + packaging - time they can not use working for anyone else.

5 mins thou - you are lucky, some of the new cars changing a headlight bulb can be a 2-3 hr job as you have to disassemble the front of the car to get at them sometimes.

The only thing you can do in this situation is go back to the garage and explain that you feel the labour charge is unreasonable without prior authorisation (it clearly is) & see what they say.

If it wasn't a mistake & they won't budge / don't have a reasonable explanation (difficult to see what they could be if you know it literally took 5 minutes), then you are a bit stuck in terms of getting your money back.

A review on Google etc would be helpful so other potential customers are aware of their practice.

Unless they have made a mistake (e.g. default to units of 1 hour labour and forgot to manually adjust..), I would strongly suggest you don't use this garage again. Willingly charging a customer £48 to change a headlight bulb is not something a "trustworthy" garage would do...

Doesn't work like that. Every mechanic I've been to has always had a minimum charge which is normally an hours labour, some might only charge for half hour. You will find the £48 is that mechanics minimum charge.

Has the bulb been changed since the previous MOT test and why was only one too bright?

I think you should question the charge but there also seem to be some details missing

They replaced a brake light for me during my last MOT, it was £18.50 and thought that was a con. I'd definitely be questioning £48!

You’re not replacing an LED headlight for £25 though. If a bulb is being changed then it’ll be a traditional halogen bulb which are a standard wattage. When an LED headlight fails you’re generally looking at £1k+ for a new complete headlight unit.

It depends a little bit on car make. Not all bulbs have easy access. A couple of my lights take a while to change because of this. It’s a pain in the arse.

Just FYI Halfords charge £10 to fit a single headlight bulb.

Yes, a garage might chose to impose a minimum labour charge.

However, the reality is that any half-decent independent garage would warn a customer that it was going to cost £48 to change a headlight bulb, and give them the option of doing it elsewhere as a consequence. Unfortunate, many would not, and that should serve as a clear warning they are not to be trusted.

Change the bulb yourself?

It's like any service - you're paying for the time and cost of the service provider to develop those skills, whether that's specialist veterinary surgery on a race horse or changing a car light bulb. If you don't have the skills to do it, you pay someone else, and they set the fee.

It was the bulb fitted by the dealership that has been replaced. Drivers side. The passenger side bulb was changed six months or so ago when someone drove into the front corner of the car and took out the front headlight etc.

I have absolutely no issue paying someone to do the job. Nor have I questioned the mechanic about the charge. I’m perfectly happy to pay the going rate. If the going rate is £48 an hour then that is fine. It is what it is. But I wasn’t sure it wasn’t a bit steep.

I wouldn’t use Halfords ever. Never had good service from them. This is a small independent garage which I have used for 10 plus years without issue. Indeed he has always been very honest with me and not charged for unnecessary work quoted by other garages.

Halfords fitted my indicator bulb for free at my last MOT

No it’s a replacement bulb not a complete unit. My car has led bulbs that are replaceable.

Halfords charged me £27 total- I think it was £17 for the bulb and £10 to fit it! You’ve been had. It is a tricky job in some cars- including mine- you sometimes have to go in behind wheel arch but it’s still a quick job!

Edit - Sorry went back and read the OP properly - ignore me!

THANK YOU! I hope more bulbs are changed before we head into next winter.

It is very steep, but if you didn't ask for a run down of costs prior to them doing the work, nor ask about it when presented with the bill the only person you can be annoyed with is yourself.

That said, if you trust the garage then put it down to experience.

She’s happy to pay the going rate. She just wants to know what it was. And if you read the op she wasn’t even aware she’d been charged until after