<VV> Service Rip-Offs

[Charles Lee]

Yes, and the "stings" on TV (and all those other "What you you do ?"-type 
shows) may have a positive effect, because businesses have to consider that 
they are being "tested" and keep some of them honest ?

Hmmm... maybe I look like a dumb female ?  Sorry, ladies ...

In California, you do not even have to ask for an estimate, the shop is 
bound by law to give one, and they cannot exceed the estimate without 
written approval.

Plus, the shop MUST have receipts for all parts they claim to have put on 
your car (though this is easy enough to fake, but as Kar King found out, 
diligent research can prove that the evidence was fabricated 
www.yourbuyersinn.com/KarKingWorkExample.htm)

When you say that a friend who runs a service shop and he eats the overage 
work over the Flat Rate hours.

You don't say what happens if your mechanics beat the flat rate ?

It may "come out even" for you, but doesn't that mean that the customers 
with the "easy" jobs are paying more to subsidize the "hard" jobs" that you 
"eat" ?

This is tangentially related to Corvairs, because had I done my own work, I 
would have learned more to work on my "toy" car, and might still have either 
of my two "appliance cars" running.

Ironically, I bought the second "appliance car" (the Probe) 
(www.yourbuyersinn.com/Cars/1996FordProbeSE.htm) when Kar King was running 
me around on my Escort ZX-2 (http://www.yourbuyersinn.com/Cars/ZX2.htm) with 
excuses you simply would not believe (that I guess some people actually DO 
believe ?!?!?)

I would also have enough money to have at least one car running, and to 
practice my skills to fix the others myself !

Thanks for your support !
Charlie

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dave Keillor" <dkeillor at tconcepts.com>
To: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 2010 11:16 AM
Subject: <VV> Service Rip-Offs


> This topic is getting a little old, but having said that, I'll keep it
> going.  I guess I'm really fortunate to live in Rochester, MN.  In my
> experience, the majority of the shops in town are honest, and the ones
> who practice egregious rip-offs don't last long because word gets around
> (I can cite at least one recent example).
>
> My wife is a good litmus test for an honest shop.  She's not a
> mechanical wizard, but she sees that her cars are maintained well and
> can smell a "dumb female" rip-off a mile away.  If she judges a shop to
> be honest, it is.  A recent example of an incident that happened at the
> shop where she has her "appliance" car maintained (as opposed to her
> "toy" car which I maintain):  The car had hit 100K miles so she asked
> them to change the tranny fluid.  They looked at her service record and
> told her it had been done at 70K (at her request) and didn't need to be
> done at this time.  Btw, the shop isn't cheap, but they are honest and
> do very good work.
>
> The use of flat rate manuals is at least partially driven by consumer
> protection legislation which often demands binding estimates.  Minnesota
> state law states:
>
> # You have the right to receive a written estimate for repair work, if
> you request one.
>
> # Once you receive this estimate, the shop generally may not charge more
> than 10 percent above the estimated cost.  A shop may impose an
> additional charge for disassembly, diagnosis and reassembly of the item
> in order to make the estimate if the customer is told about the charge
> before the estimate is issued.
>
> I have a friend who runs a service shop.  Sometimes his mechanics beat
> the flat rate and sometimes they don't.  When they don't, he eats the
> overage -- flat rates don't assume old, rusty cars.  (I used to run a
> charity that fixed cars at not cost for low income people, so I know
> some of the repair issue he has to deal with.)
>
> Finally, ask anyone in the automotive repair business about dishonest
> customers and THEIR rip-off tactics.
>
> Dave Keillor
>
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