I need a bit of help for my class project

[Remus Lupin]

I'm suppose to interveiw someone who has felt he/she got ripped off by a auto repair shop
Here is what I'm suppose to do:
Find an individual among your friends and family who feels that they were “ripped off” by a mechanic or auto repair shop. This incident should have been recent enough that the consumer has good recall of the details. You will work with this individual and their story throughout the quarter as we explore several layers.

Listen to them tell their story. Provide synapses of the details. What did you hear about how the customer felt? Write 200 – 300 words addressing the specific concerns of your consumer and your reactions to their experience. Stay focused on the customer service perspective rather that the actual problem with the vehicle. Due Monday October 19, 2009.

If someone could help me via PM it would be great. I ask a few of my co-workers and my friends, and non ever been ripped off so far.

[Remus Lupin]

bump!

[DLaw911]

Sounds like time for creative writing.

[Samm]

Sounds like time for creative writing.

Most likely... rip offs by reputable auto mechanics are relatively uncommon. At least incidents that are clearly a rip off are. Padding hours spent working on a vehicle by using "book estimates" rather than actual time are common, but that is standard practice so unless you were standing right there timing the mechanic you would never know it occurred.

(The mechanic I use has a window between the waiting area and the workshop so if you choose to, you can watch them work on your car. I have never witnessed anybody doing so, but it indicates a willingness on the part of the garage to be honest.)

[DLaw911]

Most likely... rip offs by reputable auto mechanics are relatively uncommon. At least incidents that are clearly a rip off are. Padding hours spent working on a vehicle by using "book estimates" rather than actual time are common, but that is standard practice so unless you were standing right there timing the mechanic you would never know it occurred.

(The mechanic I use has a window between the waiting area and the workshop so if you choose to, you can watch them work on your car. I have never witnessed anybody doing so, but it indicates a willingness on the part of the garage to be honest.)Just Google "auto repair ripoffs" and get some examples. Then take some creative license. The stories are purportedly real so the paper would carry an element of truth. Seems like a good way to do the assignment

Maybe I can add one of my own: My car was making a loud squealing sound while I was on vacation so I went to the first auto repair shop I could find. They told me it was a bad water pump and it would cost $600 to repair with a new pump. I told them OK and came back that night to pick it up. The car ran fine for about a week and then the same noise started again. So since I was no longer on vacation I took the car to my local dealership service department and found out the "new" pump was a rebuilt pump and it was defective. To add insult to injury their cost to replace it with a new pump was $350.00. I paid for the work and complained to the first repair shop. They lied and said I authorized a rebuilt pump and they would not give me a refund. I disputed the charge on my credit card and the amount I paid was credited back to me. What I learned was to get everything in writing, make sure the new part is specified as OEM and ask for the old part back.

[malnila]

Most likely... rip offs by reputable auto mechanics are relatively uncommon. At least incidents that are clearly a rip off are. Padding hours spent working on a vehicle by using "book estimates" rather than actual time are common, but that is standard practice so unless you were standing right there timing the mechanic you would never know it occurred.

(The mechanic I use has a window between the waiting area and the workshop so if you choose to, you can watch them work on your car. I have never witnessed anybody doing so, but it indicates a willingness on the part of the garage to be honest.)

Ex-husband was a mechanic for an auto dealership. It's called national average and the way the mechanics could make decent money was to do the job faster than the national average. Most mechanics worth their salt could do double the jobs in one day then the national average. Just think of it as a "base cost" for a certain repair. Only privately owned repair shops would charge you by the hour but then of course, they pad the hours they actually worked on your car.

[CaptainPike]

I got ripped off a long time ago. It's been so long I don't remember all the details.

I had a 1990 Mustang. A real clunker since it was a 4 cylinder. Like a gold coin made of out of a cow pie.

Anyhow, it started stalling when I pulled up to stop signs. I would hit the gas and nothing would happen, then suddenly it would surge forward. I take it to a mechanic that my dad knew. All he did was run a bottle of fuel injector cleaner through it. It must have been some special bottle of cleaner because he charged me 250 dollars for the work.

A week later, it starts doing the same thing again. My dad talked to the mechanic and he offered to look at it again, but he was going to charge me again. I was under the impression that he would warranty his work. I was wrong.

[PeterGriffin]

Most likely... rip offs by reputable auto mechanics are relatively uncommon. At least incidents that are clearly a rip off are. Padding hours spent working on a vehicle by using "book estimates" rather than actual time are common, but that is standard practice so unless you were standing right there timing the mechanic you would never know it occurred.

(The mechanic I use has a window between the waiting area and the workshop so if you choose to, you can watch them work on your car. I have never witnessed anybody doing so, but it indicates a willingness on the part of the garage to be honest.)

The whole point of being a highly trained mechanic with oftentimes a six figure invesments in tools, equipment, and training is so that you can do the job faster than the MLE (Mechanical Labor Estimate) guides indicate the billable hours for repairs, and you can make more money. If the MLE indicates 4.0 hours on a clutch and it takes a mechanic 6.5 hours, are you going to stand by your 'actual time' gripe? I suspect your 'actual time' contention only applies to when it takes less than the MLE.

MLE hours are quite fair for the mechanic and the customer and eliminate the vagaries of "actual time". If a mechanic sucks and it takes him longer than the MLE indicates, then he is punished. If a mechanic is highly skilled and can do a repair in less time than the MLE indicates, then his skills and training are rewarded.

[CaptainPike]

The whole point of being a highly trained mechanic with oftentimes a six figure invesments in tools, equipment, and training is so that you can do the job faster than the MLE (Mechanical Labor Estimate) guides indicate the billable hours for repairs, and you can make more money. If the MLE indicates 4.0 hours on a clutch and it takes a mechanic 6.5 hours, are you going to stand by your 'actual time' gripe? I suspect your 'actual time' contention only applies to when it takes less than the MLE.

MLE hours are quite fair for the mechanic and the customer and eliminate the vagaries of "actual time". If a mechanic sucks and it takes him longer than the MLE indicates, then he is punished. If a mechanic is highly skilled and can do a repair in less time than the MLE indicates, then his skills and training are rewarded.

If you were paying a fixed price for work, would you care if it took the mechanic all day to do a 1 hour job?

I wouldn't care if as long as the work was performed correctly.

[Gabby]

Let's see. I had a shop put my brakes together wrong. I did not find this out until I was almost killed on the way home.

I had a VW in college. It needed a new alternator. The local VW shop did the work for me. About 3 months later the part failed. I took it back to the shop. When the mechanic called me back he said I needed a new alternator because the one I had was toast. I told him I just had a new one put on 2-3 months before. His response was that whoever told me they put a new on in ripped me off. My response was 'You are the one who did the work. I have the receipt.' He got very quiet on his end of the phone line. He did the work and gave me a new alternator for free. It was the last time I took my car to him.

Last year my son took his car to a shop to get a new tranmission put in. They promissed the car back in less than a week. They kept it for a month. When he got the car back they did not put it back together right. It was a mess... they never made good on it. Unfortunately I had given my son the money to pay for it thinking that he had it under control.

There's a few incidents....