Ever Got Burned By A Dishonest Auto Mechanic? |
|---|
|
Beatrice E. Johnson
29 October 2012
Winter storms and blizzards will be coming very soon and as you already know, cars do what they want regardless of whether it's winter time or summer. If your car have any major mechanical problems now, you had better start making the necessary auto repairs soon before the winter kicks in.
Do you have an auto repair shop in mind and do they offer reasonable prices?
For years, people have been getting duped by dishonest auto mechanics, and it appears that it's
never going to stop any time soon.
When searching for an auto repair shop, always look for a repair shop that has a certified mechanic.
When it comes to your vehicle, repairs made by an honest and trustworthy auto mechanic are very important.
When getting your vehicle repaired, never let an auto mechanic
work on your vehicle without establishing a firm price or estimate.
Get several price quotes and estimates from numerous auto mechanic shops.
Once you have gotten a price quote and/or estimate, make sure you get it in writing.
Ask if auto repairs are guaranteed, if so, get it in writing.
Ask auto mechanic to return any replaced auto parts to you.
Never let an auto mechanic dupe you into paying for unnecessary repairs.
Make sure auto repair shop honor any existing warranties on your car.
Also, it's a good idea to keep records of all auto repairs made on your vehicle because some mechanics will intentionally lie about your vehicle needing certain auto parts replaced when in fact they know it's not true but in attempt to get more money out of you, they are willing to stoop that low.
So if a mechanic say that you need a new fuel injector pump and you know that you just had a new one installed 3 months ago, then you should be very skeptical about letting that mechanic work on your car.
Several months ago, I had the misfortune of crossing paths with a very dishonest auto mechanic. I took my van in for a tune up and was charged $179.00. The van appeared to drive better then it had been for about 2 weeks then afterwards, it begin to cut off several times while I was driving it. It had gotten to a point where I had to put one foot on the brake and one foot on the accelerator just to backup.
I couldn't understand it, so I took my van back to the auto repair shop on the corner where I had gotten it tuned up. The auto mechanic who originally did the tune up was no longer employed there so a new mechanic checked out my vehicle. I was shocked when the new mechanic told me that I needed a tune up.
I explained to the new mechanic that I had recently gotten a tune up by one of the shop's auto mechanics who was no longer
employed there and told him the price that I had paid which was $179.00. I had misplaced my receipt so I wasn't able to provide proof but the owner of the repair shop remembered me and you would think that the owner wouldn't charge me for a repair that his employee didn't do in the first place but he did. The repair shop owner didn't quite charge me as much but he still charged me.
Sure, I could have took my vehicle else where but it was so convenient to have the tune up done there because it was around the corner from where I lived. Big mistake, my mode of thinking should have been not to get my vehicle repaired there even if the repair shop was next door to me.
Some times the auto mechanics are as crooked as the auto repair shop that they work for. In regards to the mechanic not doing the tune up and the repair shop owner charging me again for a tune up that was never done in the first place by his employee. So, basically what we have here is a dishonest auto repair shop owner and a dishonest auto mechanic employee.
You may have been lured into an auto repair shop by some promotional advertisement such as for example: "Oil Change Only $15!" Or "Free Brake Inspection" That's the old bait and switch trick. When you bite the bait, in addition to offering you a free or low cost product or service, the auto repair shop will try to upsell you on additional higher priced products and services to make up for the free or low cost service that they're offering you.
That has happened to me before, and it will happen to me and you over and over again. It's just the repair shop's method of getting people into the shop to make more money off of them.
Make sure that whatever mechanic you choose to do your vehicle repairs that they do a good job and that they inform you first before they do any repairs on your vehicle.
I remember a case in particular in which my husband took our vehicle to the emissions testing facility and it failed. We needed to make the necessary repairs so my husband took our vehicle to a nearby repair shop that charged him $200.00.
My husband had told the auto mechanic twice NOT to make any repairs without informing him of the price first. But this auto mechanic had a mind of his own. Greed was on his agenda as well as dishonesty. So when the time came for my husband to pick up our vehicle, he called the shop first and spoke to the auto mechanic who was in charge of repairing our vehicle.
The auto mechanic had stated to my husband that he had finished making the repairs. My husband was pretty upset, he informed the auto mechanic of his instructions to not make the repairs without contacting him first. My husband stated that he wasn't prepared to pay the amount that the auto mechanic was charging and indicated that he would only pay half and would pay the other half once our vehicle passed the emissions test.
The auto mechanic said that he had made a few adjustments on our vehicle and that it should have no problem passing the emissions.
After our vehicle was so called "Repaired", we took it back to the emissions facility and again, it failed. So, here's another example of a dishonest mechanic, knowing full well that he was told not to perform repairs without first notifying the owner.
For future references, if something similar like this should happen to you, report it to your states attorney or the better business bureau.
Auto mechanic performance as it relates to making repairs is a very important and a much needed service but if the repairs, no matter what type are not performed professionally or not at all, can have a negative reflection on the auto mechanic's repair shop.
Some auto repair shops have auto mechanics who perform very poorly and unprofessionally to the extent of leaving tools underneath the hood of the customer's car, lose and untightened nuts,bolts, screws and more.
Do your research when looking for a good mechanic by surfing the net, talking to friends and family and make sure that when you find one, he doesn't burn you.