Any mechanic that maliciously told a customer that their automobile needed repairs that they really did not need could be prosecuted under a new law I would like to see made. Realize though that this would be a very complicated accusation. I envision a report coming into authorities that states a certain mechanic or garage may be inflating the repairs necessary for a vehicle. Just their accusation is not enough though - the authorities would bring a vehicle into the shop undercover, certified to be perfect mechanically or with only a few well documented problems. In essence the undercover officer would have to pay them a visit covertly and document the entire thing. Highest number of complaints at a location puts them high on the priority list for visit. I don't want to see an innocent mechanic get in trouble, but at the same time I don't want to see vulnerable segments of our society subjected to bills that are not necessary. That is the same as stealing from these people, and this should not be tolerated. Additionally a website would list every garage in the country and the number of complaints and number of arrests, so the public can better determine where to go for fair service. If out of town a quick visit to the Internet would point you in the right direction for car care wherever you are at. I believe females and senior citizens in particular would benefit from this the most. A good portion of mechanics are honest, and the ones who are taking advantage give the others a bad name. Let’s clean up this long ignored problem.
Does anyone know of any departments doing work like this, or of any work toward this type of concept? Thanks.
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This sounds like something the private sector could handle, like the Consumer Reports people.
My first impulse would be to handle this problem in the same manner as medical malpractise or fraud. However, with the cars, we have the luxury of actually testing the mechanic again, rather than trying to determine what happened during a previous incident.
Perhaps a test like this could be part of a class-action lawsuit. I don't know if any new law are necessary.
This is my first time on this site. If we could get E-Bay to set up a site to have a car shop listed to pay "Pay pale" your bill and charge maybe $.50. Then when you pay your bill you can leave feedback just like you do on E-Bay and the shop would have a change to comment also. This way the shop would build up a record just like on E-Bay and you could look at the Car shop record and see how they do. Joes car repair (99.%) Bills one stop (75.3%) Don's tire's (92.3%) Where are you going to take your car? I am not going to bills one Stop.
Joe in Florida
Most states have consumer fraud laws to deal with this. Be warned, you have to provide proof you were actually bilked- "sticker shock" isn't proof. You'll need an opinion from a credible witness that repairs done were not necessary, or were done improperly, or that you were charged for work that wasn't done, or for merchandise that you didn't receive.