You are lucky he said to change magnetic clutch only. He could have tried telling you to change whole compressor. That would cost even more.

You might have overpaid a little but it's okay if the job is completed nicely. Reasonable would be RM260-RM300 for everything.

Workmanship of 50 does not make sense. As our country is moving towards being more developed, human workmanship is the most valuable resources. That much work disassembling the compressor then replacing the magnetic clutch then re-install then add gas and oil. It should be the most expensive. I think workshops should start charging things as what it should. Markup a bit on the parts but charge a proper workmanship is the right way in 2021. Only old people mentality will think paying workmanship is not worth it.

100 - magnetic clutch
150 - workmanship
60 - gas + oil
Total should be 310. That should be the way. If cust want to bring their own parts, sure..deduct like RM90 on a RM100 magnetic clutch..citing I am making less. I am sure most users are okay with that. Also, this way, people will appreciate pomen skills. Mechanics will look to upgrade their skill to charge more and provide better proper service.

I think you misunderstand me. I am saying workshops should charge correctly. Don't do things like low low workmanship and then put the value into the parts. This actually reduce the value of skills. That is why people look down upon these skills or think that it's not worth paying that much. It's not actually a lot if they understand that skill and time involved. This make it more clear on parts and workmanship. It represent a better picture of fixing cars. A lot of countries measure it by estimate hours. Like you said, different places or different sifu level different price per hour. The public need to learn about these things. That's how an industry advance and it's skillset workers too.

Because they have already clearly define the rates, if you bring your own parts they can add a bit more on the workmanship alone. That is fine. Not like now, if you use their parts, workmanship is 50. If you use you own parts, workmanship is 150. It doesn't represent the correct value of the workmanship. It should be 100 per hour if use their parts and 110 per hour if use own parts. This makes it not much different whether you bring your own parts or not.