Provided by the Bucks County Department of Consumer Protection:
Q. I was utilizing a local garage for all of my vehicle repairs and always found them to be reliable and fair in their pricing. Within the last year they moved the shop too far away to be convenient for me and so I stopped using them. However, I decided to go to their new location recently because I received an incentive, discount coupon in the mail from them. Because of my past experience with them along with the discount I decided to make a service call with them to complete my cars annual inspection. I did not anticipate any problems with my vehicle passing inspection so was surprised to hear that, in order for my vehicle to pass the inspection, I would need to have new struts put on at the cost of $1,000. I told them to hold off on making their suggested repair and proceeded to take my car to another repair shop for a second opinion. The second mechanic informed me that my car did not appear to need struts at all and would pass inspection with no problems. I now believe that the original garage offered discount coupons as an attempt to drum up business, but in doing so was willing to take advantage of me. I just want to warn other consumers somehow so they may avoid this happening to them. – S.M., Bensalem
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A. It certainly sounds like you handled the situation exactly how consumers should. Anytime a consumer is unsure, feels that the price is excessive for the repair, or doesn’t think that the work is a needed or legitimate repair should not feel pressured to give permission to the mechanic to do the work. And it is highly recommended that you obtain a second or even a third opinion until you are satisfied that you are not being taken advantage of or paying for repairs that were never needed.
Consumers should be aware that Pennsylvania Auto Regulations require that a repair shop obtain the consumer’s written or verbal authorization before performing any repairs. They must also obtain additional authorization from the consumer before performing repairs that exceed the dollar limit set by the consumer when initiating the inspection.
A few of the other regulations set forth is that the mechanic should inform the consumer as to whether the parts replaced are new, used or reconditioned, inform customers of their right to have replaced parts returned to them, and finally, provide a detailed bill itemizing the charges for parts and labor.
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For additional consumer tips and informational brochures including Choosing the Right Repair Shop please visit the Bucks county Consumer Protection website at http://www.buckscounty.org/government/CommunityServices/ConsumerProtection/ConsumerTips
