I pretty well knew that wasn't you, JHEnt, and my reply was not ment to be overly critical toward you.    You basically said this is how it is done here, and perhaps there was an implication that you disagreed, but you were not outright claiming some sort of dishonesty was involved.   I did, however, intend to be overly critical toward the anon "employee" poster.  He is the one who was getting all full of attitude and running down the people who give him a way to make a living by claiming they were unethical. My reference to padding hours was simply intended to illustrate what an unethical shop practice would be, vs one which I would not consider unethical, although it may still be detrimental to customer relations and in my opinion is generally counterproductive on the whole. 

I agree with Tim that it might be wise to consider your statements, but perhaps you already are considering them and are comfortable with the level of disagreement you show.  That's your call, you know your position better then we do.  

Looking ahead to your other replys, I would agree that negativity can come from the top down, but it can also be grown from the bottom up.  One bad apple truely can spoil the cart.  I'm not saying this relates to you, but I will say that one person's whining can fester and build regardless of whether they are at the bottom of the organizational chart or at the top.   As Barney Fife used to say "You've got to NIP-IT-in-the BUD, Andy. NIP IT IN THE BUD"

Going to a strictly flat rate system would have pluses and minuses to the customer.  Where we have an experienced man to make the decisions, it might offer and opportunity to shop work between flat rate shops and hourly shops depending on whether or not we thought the flat rate hours were realisitc for the job at hand.  Of course this doesn't really apply unless you start moving substantial amounts of work out into the market rather then doing it yourself. 

Far as I'm concerned you've caused me no foul here, JHEnt.