Why do mechanics STILL take advantage of women?

Question

EX: I brought my 94 BMW 740iL in for a paint job and windshield replacement. The car is MINT! However, when the windshield was replaced, they did NOT put the Insp. sticker back on (it was a month old). They told me I was going to need 4 new tires (the ones on have only 11,000 miles) and rear brakes. Yeah, Riiiiiiggggghhhttttt. I took it to where I got it inspected and THEY replaced the sticker (nothing wrong with my baby) I went BACK to the dealer and they didn't CARE. I'm PO'd and very very sick of being taken advantage of just because I've got a nice car and female. Any mechanics out there care to discuss this??

Thanks for the GREAT responses! I DO know a little bit about cars, well about my Beemer, and the reason I went to this particular dealer is they are the ONLY cert BMW body shop in Maine and NH. Believe me, I WON'T ever go there for any kind of service, not even an oil change, that I can do myself. Like I told the manager, if a customer is happy, they MAY tell a few people, but if they are unhappy....they tell EVERYONE!

Answer 1

i own a repair shop,and i don't ,i have been in business for 36 yrs,and i don't need to cheat anyone,but i know what your talking about because i know some mechanics around where im at that do this,,i treat everyone the same regardless of age or sex it don't matter to me ,a job ,is a job whether its for a woman or a man,,people who do this wont be in business that long,something always happens to them in the long run,one shop over from me got sued and had to close there doors forever over a similar incident,and i doubt them ever re-opening ,but your right ,there are shops that do this and its wrong,my wife is my secretary and she does a good job ,and together we have built a real good business up,the bigger shops are the ones that tend to do this,and there the ones that are going to have to pay when they get caught at it,anyway ,all mechanics aren't bad,just remember their are still a few honest ones left,,good luck,i hope this help,s.

Answer 2

I have spent 30+ years in the auto business & still can't justify why they try to get away with it. This problem doesn't always target young ladies or women in particular. Mechanics who are devious target most everybody who has little or no knowledge about automobiles. The great majority are honest hard working individuals trying to make a living just like you & I. There should be an agency Or government department in your area to file a complaint with. My suggestion is to find a small independant auto. service operation that you can depend on & trust. Stay away from the Dealerships. The labor rates are higher than the independants & the service is only personalized until you have a problem. Never take them at their word. Demand they show you the worn out parts before authorizing them to proceed. If they tell you that you are not allowed in the service areas because of insurance reasons it's a crock. Leave & get a second opinion. If they want your business bad enough they'll show you. I agree that women are prime targets but so are the majority of folks in general. Dealerships are a nightmare. You're only a work order number on a repair invoice. Find an independant mechanic who'll appreciate your business, give you the time of day; give you the personalized service you expect & charge you a lot less. Dealerships only remove & replace parts now until they find the problem. You pay for all the things they put on the car whether they're defective or not until the problem is found. Particularly electrical parts. Small independant garages actually do repair things & you only pay for the necessary parts. Dealerships have gotten away with it for years & until they are properly regulated they'll continue to do so shamelessly.

Answer 3

It has nothing to do with mechanics or even cars for that matter. Some men feel a need to think that they are superior over women although most of this type of men are not. The best saying is, "it is better to let someone think you are stupid, than to open your mouth and prove you are beyond any doubt." They must take a class at B@## S^*& accadamy or something. When they open their mouths they show just how stupid they really are by thingking that they can take advantage women (people). I'm sorry to say that it makes men in general look bad. But, what goes around, comes around. Word will get out, and they will get hurt from what they have done. Even then, some of them will be to ignorant to even understand. Even after they have to close down and the doors get locked behind them forever, they will still try and BS their own mind as to what really happened. Bottem line, they do it because they think they can. My younger brother used to work for a dealership in their parts / shop, and quit because he didn't want to have to keep lying to people everyday. Or charging ten different customers for the same tube of grease.

Answer 4

Not all mechanics take advantage of thier customers. Did you check around before choosing the place you did? I would recommend talking to friends, checking the better business bureau, ask questions at the shop before choosing it. when a shop tells you something needs repair or replaced ask them for a written estimate and to show you what is wrong. If you choose the have repairs done tell them you want all old parts. I would recommend purchasing Chilton's Total Car Care manual. It will have enough info in it so if a shop tells you you need something done you could research it in the manual and have a better idea of what you are being told.
I know people get ripped off by shady mechanic's but we all are not like that. I am sorry you had a bad experience.

Answer 5

I don't know why they do it, but I feel your pain. My old car had severe issues under the hood, but nothing that couldn't be kept in check with a vigilant eye on fluid levels. I swear every time I would pop my hood at a gas station though, you would have thought I morphed into a giant cockroach. Gasp - a girl checking her oil AND her transmission fluid?

Also, every time I did need something like tires, etc, I got patronized and attempts to rip me off. Unfortunately, this is why I tend use my dad as an interface for this kind of thing. Not only is he an official GUY, but he knows mechanical stuff enough to know when someone is full of sh*t.

My other weapon: my own knowledge. It's hard for them to BS you if you can call them out on misinformation. Know what things are, know what they're called, and know when to take your business elsewhere.

But I do agree, its not just us gals, its anyone that a mechanic takes a non-liking to. If there was a cure for inferiority complexes and insecurity, the world would be a much better place.

A nice little revenge? Use your girl power to your advantage. It's amazing what a smile can get a guy to do. Get a stranger to fix your flat. Sure, you could do it yourself. But why get all greasy?

LOL

Answer 6

I'm afraid you'll find that mechanics take advantage of most people! I recently had my 1 year old Vauxhall serviced at an authorised Vauxhall dealership. Last week I discovered that there was hardly any oil left in the engine - the service department lied to me saying that this particular model uses up oil at a higher than average rate. A different dealership told me that it should have been filled up to the maximum level and that it would take a few thousand miles to use up that much. Basically, grease monkeys resent people who are better than they are (i.e. they service cars they couldn't afford) and if they can pull the wool over your eyes, they will from time to time. It's not just because you're a woman, trust me!

Answer 7

Your appropriate coverage is to marry a routinely prone guy or woman then. i don't think of mechanics attempt to take income of shoppers just about as much as shoppers attempt to take income of mechanics. some people only force there autos till they ruin and desire a mechanic, in no way doing any preventable maintainess. Then they convey there automobile in with to get repaired yet It incredibly has multiply problems different then what it needs to in basic terms get working back. it could force yet another week and a distinctive component fail , yet they are going to undesirable mouth a mechanic for there own self inflicted mess ups. Mechanics gets a commission by ability of the job, in accordance to a countrywide e book time not by ability of the hour. So If something breaks like a bolt it value the mechanic, time and funds to extract or drill and re faucet the broken bolt. The e book situations do not grant further time for those circumstances, so the mechanic only has to eat it. If a jobs e book time is two hours at $50 an hour and it takes them 4 hours , they lose pay ($25 hourly) think of your self being paid in this way. to not point out everybody attempting to distract them from there next job by ability of attempting to get something else fastened , yet they might't have adequate funds to pay the place of work for it. And if a mechanic dose a timing belt and for some reason it breaks , the place of work will pay for yet another belt , however the mechanic dose not gets a commission to do the job the 2d time , yet has to do it back if it grew to become into his mistake. people could shop everybody distinctive unnessasary time and funds ,by ability of only doing regularly occurring schedualed nessasary maintanesses. No........... Many only force themselves good in to Hell and rage approximately everybody else . Fail to devise.............Plan to Fail

Answer 8

I have been a licenced mechanic since 1969 and have run several very succesful shops,I never have and never will rip off a customer.you need to look at the whole picture,a lot of places pay bonus money for extra work that the mechanics find and as we all know from the news.GREED drives people to do strange things.I know people that have been riped off and it pisses me off as well,i have also filed complaints against shops like that.I was once acused of riping of a customer on an estimate,he involved the police,the ministry of transport(licencing division) and a local paper,when they were done all of them agreed with me as to the acuracy of my estimate.Yes i think the dealership was triing to get one over on you,did you report them to BBB or the parant company of the dealership.If you did then great,if you didnt then why not,you are going to allow them to keep doing that to others.

Answer 9

Dear friend, I was once fired for telling one of my customers he didn't need a new radiator after he asked for one.

The owner said: "If someone comes in here and asks for a new radiator, we GIVE 'em one", so there is sometimes two sides to a story.

The fact is, in ALL businesses, there are people willing to take advantage of you in order to make more money, not only mechanics.

The thing that kills me is, these guys never figure out that if they do business honestly, the word spreads quickly and they soon have more work than they can do.

Answer 10

Mechanics will take advantage of any one they can, man or woman, Most men have had some kind of on hands experience with cars, so they can usually see through a mechanic who is not being truth full, believe me when I tell you that 90% of mechanics including new dealerships should not be trusted.