must a car repair man uphold his quote?

Question

i just put my car in the shop to get fixed, and after estimating me and someone else who called to verify, i was quoted for 300. after a day or two i got a call letting me know that the car is done, but there were more repairs to be done and that the final cost will be 480. is this legal, and or what can i do?

Answer 1

That's always a Bad Deal,,,and unfortunately Too common.

As the lady said who 1st answered,,,
IF>>IF it was a Firm Quote in Writing,,,yes they must honor it according to various consumer laws in most places.

If it was an ESTIMATE,,,,even in Writing,,,,you're outa luck.

What happened is not unusual---finding more extensive repairs being needed.

What the shop SHOULD have done was to Contact You,,,tell you the situation,,,and let YOU decide.

What goes "wrong" in that communications chain is not necessarily Deliberate.
Inconsiderate,,Yes,,but not always sinister.

Mechanic just "Does the Job",,,if he needs extra parts or must do extra labour,,,he just Does it without making the Mgmnt/Service advisor Aware there's an OVERRUN of expenses.

So Customer gets an expensive surprise.

Some Shops just take it for granted,,,figuring that You Need it Fixed,,,you brought it in to Get Fixed,,,and when they find stuff that's a matter of No Choice/MUST fix it----they go ahead and do it.

Well,,in such cases where it IS a legit and Proper Repair,,,,at least you got done what NEEDED Doing.....and what MUST be done.

You would have been compelled to agree any,,,,,or have your car towed outa the shop.

But still WRONG too NOT TELL the Customers.

Myself,,,I always
* ESTIMATE a bit High
*Make Customer FULLY & CLEARLY Aware that OTHER Probs MAY exist
*And ask them Upfront how THEY want to handle possibility of cost Overruns.
--some say Call Me
--Some say "Just FIX it"
--some say,,Call me if it's TERRIBLE,,way beyond estimate,,,,which leaves Much to MY discretion of how much of THEIR money I spend for them.
----A "stranger",,,I will always contact with Updated Figures
---Regular Customers,,,ya get to know after a while WHEN ya need to call
--ANYBODY--with any substantial over-run,,I ALWAYS call outa common courtesy.

Bad Business manners,,,dont always mean Bad Repair Quality.

If your car NEEDED the extra expense,,
AND,,it was related to what you Authorized
And the work was done well,,
It's a small consolation ,but at least you got what you paid for.

If you brought it in & was given an estimate for CERTAIN Repairs & agreed to that......
And the Shop took the liberty to fix something ELSE Unrelated to what You Agreed to.....
I would give them BigTime Hell about it.

If it's generally a Good Shop,,and they do good work,,,
and you are confident they DID do the work you're being charged for,,
and it was something you would have Agreed to fixing anyway...

You can negotiate the price.

Offer to pay for parts,,,,let Them eat Labour as a "Fine" or penalty for their action.

The reasoning is this---
If You Needed the Parts,,and Got the parts,,,,,You really dont wanna beat anbody outa CASH they spent for parts that YOU needed and Had to have.

But since it was THEIR CHOICE of how they spent THEIR time,,
I think it may be fair if THEY dont make YOU pay for that portion of the bill.

Or however you want to try to reach an agreement that YOU feel is truly FAIR considering the Entire circumstances.

TRUE,,,You really were NOT treated RIGHT by not being told of the extra expenses.

But you'll come out Miles ahead by being Cool,,and Negotiating a Fair Settlement that You're satisfied with IS fair to You.

Otherwise,,,those kinda deals CAN get MESSY and Frustrating.
They can "keep the car",,or Try to.

Then you call the Cops.
Then you get a Lawyer.
Or go file in Small Claims Court.

$180 is a bit better than "lunch money" for ANYONE.
And it's a BIG Overrun on a $300 estimate.

On the Otherhand,,,,it's probably NOT worth the grief/hassle/Time/expense of slugging it out with the Shop.

Certainly not for THEM,,,,,,You can Easily Cost them MORE than a Fair Settlement.

You shouldn't just take a beating and eat the entire amount,,and forget it.
But you will likely have a hard time getting them to totally Drop the overcharge.

If You feel they DID what they say they did,,,,
Negotiate a Discount.

There's all sorts of ways to deal with situations like that.
"Fighting " with the shop is almost never as desireable as trying to calmly and rationally but FIRMLY negotiate.


**In the future,,,I suggest ALWAYS making it perfectly clear to CALL YOU in event of any additional work/expense that's discovered.

Most shops Normally WILL,,,,sometimes they Dont.

You have the right to make that stipulation,,,if Shop does not agree to call if there's an overrun,,,,go elsewhere.

Plus,,it leaves you in a Much stronger position if a situation like this arises,,,because you were Clear upfront & so were they.

Wish I had a better suggestion,,,I HATE when that happens to me,,and I Hate just as much see it happen to others cuz it's abusive and just ain't necessary to treat Customers that way.

Good Luck,,I hope all turns out well for you.

Answer 2

Depends on what you signed when you left your car there.

More unethical than anything else. They should have called you first to ask you if you wanted to proceed.

Mind you - $180 extra in a car repair is not too bad. This happens occasionally because they can't really tell what's going on until they start to take everything apart. That's when they discover that the problem is bigger than they expected. I guess that's why it's only an estimate.

You should look at what you signed, and check with a couple of other places to see if they think the repairs were necessary. If it's something as simple as a break job, then they should honor the quote.

Answer 3

I would check the written estimate if you got 1 and see what the fine print is. If it was verbal then you may have to just go in and pay and ask why they didn't call if it was gonna be more than the estimate. Make sure you take in the person that called to verify. You can always put in a complaint with the bureau of automotive repair in your state. They will go after the repair shop to make sure they are following the law in your state. You might want to call the bureau of automotive repairs in your state before you go get your car and ask them if it is legal for the shop to do this.

Answer 4

It depends on what went on after they took a closer look at the car to see exactly what is wrong. Normally they will phone and say something like "After we took off the brake rotors to turn them down we measured and found they were already down to the minimum. We can't reuse them and they aren't safe for driving as they are right now. Should we go ahead and replace them for an extra $240 or do you want to pick up your car and just pay us for the work we did so far?" They know that 99 out of 100 people will say "Go ahead, I really need that car fixed to get home after work."

The only problem was the lack of a call before starting the extra effort. If they uncovered essential work that needed to be done then you don't have much room for negotiation. They can say they tried to call and couldn't reach you so they went ahead because you said when you brought the car in that getting the repairs done today was critical. I am not sure that if you complained to the state's consumer affairs office you would get anywhere in terms of the law backing you up.

Answer 5

Usually an estimate if just that - an estimate NOT a quote of final payment...however, most repair shops will call the customer if the bill if going to more than that to get approval. Check and reread the small print in your written estimate...and if you do not have a written estimate then you are really out of luck

Answer 6

It depends on laws in your state, check your state attorney generals website. Usually, in the fine print on the repair order that I assume that you signed, there is a statement that says that it is only an estimate. State law would determine how much over the estimate they can go without your written authorization, but I'm sure that 50%+ is more than they can go. In WV, where I live, the limit is 10%. Usually, the threat of going to the attorney Generals Office or the Better Business Bureau will bring the issue to a more satisfactory conclusion.

Answer 7

From my experience a quote is just an estimate, however the repair shop always should call if the cost will exceed what they originally told you. I'm not sure about the legality of it all, but that's how it has always worked for me.

Answer 8

A quote is nothing more than that, a quote.

There may be something unexpected that may pop up when he is digging around in there that will add to the cost. There is a quote sheet that he has you sign that has the quote on there. If the quote exceeds $50 or more, he is then liable to call you and tell you of the cost overruns. At that point you can authorize the work to be done or not. If you want him to continue working on it, he will and work off the amended quote. If not, he may then bill you for the labor and parts involved up to that point. He cannot go and do the extra work without your authorization.

Answer 9

you were given a estimate which means the approx. cost of repairs. while i think a customer should be called if cost goes over the estimate by 50.00, most mechanics don't call. this is perfectly legal. if you were to take your car without making full payment, you could be charged with theft of services.

Answer 10

If it's in writing. If it a chain type service center I've found calls to a corprate office to be just the thing to get a verbal agreement meet. The corprate office is more willing to take a hit than the guy that gets ten bucks an hour to fix your car.