Mechanic goes ahead and does work w/o my consent/estimate. WHAT? How do I react?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I took my car in to the mechanic to get a problem diagnosed, and as per custom, told him to call me with an estimate when he figured out what was up. He called a few hours later, told me the problem, and that he “was working on an estimate for me” and that I should call him back in 30 mins for the estimate. No problem.

So I call back, and he says “yeah, we’re finishing it up right now. It came out to be $xxx.xx.”

I was completely taken aback - that he had done the work without my consent and without having given me the estimate, and that the work in question came out to cost about twice what I expected it to. In all honesty, if he had given me that figure, I would have declined and taken the car elsewhere or saved up for when I could really afford it.

Since he had already done the work, I felt like I had no choice but to just go along with it and pay for it. When I got there, I explained the problem, but my anger had built up to the point where it came out more along the lines of “let me explain why I’m not going to be bringing my car to you anymore” than “I think we had some sort of misunderstanding…” I just don’t think what he did was excusable and normal; I feel like it was unethical at best.

Should have I refused to pay for it, flat-out? I’ve NEVER had a mechanic pull that sort of crap with me. It was expensive for the work he did and most importantly, he never gave me an estimate and got my OK before he did the work, which is just how it’s done, period in my opinion.

2

Of course, you are absolutely justified in your feeling.

I wouldn’t have paid. I would have done what I needed to to get the keys back and drove off, never looking back.

3

What country/state are you in… Here in Cali there is an explictic law concerning this, they can’t charge you unless you explictally ok it (or excempt them in writing)…

4

I’d say it was unethical, and probably illegal. It would have been reasonable for you to pay for the testing and inspection, which it appears you explicitly or implicitly authorized, but you had no obligation to pay for the repair*.

I would have raised a stink along the lines of “I didn’t authorize that, and I’m not paying for it. I explicitly asked for an estimate before proceeding with the repair.” Most shops would realize their mistake and not hold you to paying for what you didn’t authorize.

I’m not sure how it would go if he refused to release the car to you. I would think that the law requires the shop to have some evidence of the customer’s authorization** to keep the car without payment. It’s possible a police officer could help. If not, the city or state attorney’s office and/or your personal lawyer might be needed. If your laws are like most states’, the shop stands to be charged with an offense and there’s probably a fine. They would have to be pretty ballsy (and stupid) to make an issue of it.

In this age of longstanding consumer protection laws, I find it flabbergasting that a repair shop would pull this crap.

*In some cases, the line between diagnosis and repair isn’t always clear. For example, a situation may call for an adjustment to see if that will take care of the problem. If the adjustment fixes it, it ends up being the repair. If it doesn’t, it remains part of the diagnosis, having eliminated one possible cause. In a situation like tracking down a wiring problem, it’s not uncommon for the detective work to take, say, three hours, and the physical repair to take five minutes. It’s rather pointless not to go ahead with the repair once the problem is identified.

**A signed work order constitutes pretty clear authorization. Most shops will have the customer sign when dropping the car off, to proceed with diagnosis and items the customer already knows he wants. Practically speaking, people don’t want to have to revisit the shop in the midst of things to sign authorization for further work, so phone authorization is generally acceptable. Careful shops make notes of whom they talked to on the phone and when. In a worst-case scenario, however, there could be a case of the customer’s word against the shop’s, and either one could be lying or mistaken. If push comes to shove, it would have to be decided in court.

5

Sorry, I omitted this part:

Bottom line, a repair shop with any sense will not allow a situation to develop where the customer is surprised by what he owes. I sometimes have cases where all I can say up front is “It’s likely to cost between $X and $Y for the testing to determine the problem.” Sometimes the customer authorizes me to proceed as far as necessary, other times he wants me to stop when a particular dollar amount is reached to confer with him. And of course, once I know what repairs are needed, I can quote a specific price for them. But I bend over backwards to make sure no one comes to get their car without knowing what to expect to pay. “Five o’clock shock” sucks. For everyone concerned.

6

Looks like the shop made a boo-boo

Read the link for full information…
If you consult with the AG’s office they will probably tell you to pay the bill and file a complaint. Here in California those complaints are taken seriously, and do get the BAR’s attention.
Good luck.

7

Did you sign a blank estimate when you dropped the car off? Many shops have you fill out and sign an estimate when you drop the car off. The part you sign says basically that you agree to the above repairs etc. Most shops are honest and do this so that they don’t have to fax the estimate to you to get signed. They call you up, tell you the price, and if you agree, they write it up and do the work.

A dishonest shop could do the work without calling you up if you signed the blank estimate. Signing the blank estimate is sort of like giving them a signed blank check. I never sign the blank estimate when I drop the car off. I have them fax the estimate over and I sign that.

If you did not sign the estimate when you dropped the car off, I don’t think you would have to pay for those repairs.