What do you do when the mechanic gives you a huge bill?

[don_lee103]

A friend of mine took his car in for a regular maintenance. Apparently, his car was diagnosed with several risks of big problems. Without asking the owner for approval, they went ahead and replaced these parts and gave him a huge bill when he tried to pick it up.

What would you do?

[rayt-]

I believe this is against the Consumer Protection Act.

Authorization required

58. (1) No repairer shall charge for any work or repairs unless the consumer authorizes the work or repairs. 2002, c. 30, Sched. A, s. 58 (1).

http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_02c30_e.htm#BK71

[HBP]

A friend of mine took his car in for a regular maintenance. Apparently, his car was diagnosed with several risks of big problems. Without asking the owner for approval, they went ahead and replaced these parts and gave him a huge bill when he tried to pick it up.

What would you do?

Tell him you're not paying or to put your parts back. Then wait and watch him put everything back.

[Pete_Coach]

You can take action but, it will be your word against his and any Judge will just throw it out. As for the e-law, well, again, your word, his word. In the meantime you have no vehicle became the shop will not release it until the bill is paid.
Lets be realistic. Your only recourse is to pay the bill and then try to recover some money. The shop will not remove the new parts and reinstall the old. It just won't happen.
I am afraid your freind is in a bad situation. No pay, no car, no matter what.

[Engi-Nir]

A friend of mine took his car in for a regular maintenance. Apparently, his car was diagnosed with several risks of big problems. Without asking the owner for approval, they went ahead and replaced these parts and gave him a huge bill when he tried to pick it up.

What would you do?

It this a DEALERSHIP? cause they would not take such a risk on a lot of money. They have a business to run, yes, they make tell you upfront the costs or after they check your vehicle, you will still get ripped off, but at least you gave the go ahead.

[l69norm]

Against the BC "Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act":
http://www.bclaws.ca/Recon/document/freeside/--%20b%20--/business%20practices%20and%20consumer%20protection %20act%20%20sbc%202004%20%20c.%202/00_act/04002_02.xml#section13
Unsolicited goods or services

12 (1) A consumer has no legal obligation in respect of unsolicited goods or services unless and until the consumer expressly acknowledges to the supplier in writing his or her intention to accept the goods or services

Call BPCPA and complain:
http://www.bpcpa.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=119&Itemid=951

Inquiries and Complaints
For general consumer and business information and complaints regarding a consumer issue in BC, please leave a message on our toll free inquiry line and your call will be returned as soon as possible.

Phone: 604 320-1667
Toll Free: 1 888 564-9963
Fax: 250 920-7181

[LoveRFD]

I take my car to dealer for services. They always let me know what need to be done and how much the cost is then ask me to sign the paper before doing any work. I think OP should have the right to refuse to pay.

[googoo]

If they claim they called you at work, ask for the call log for the day they said they called, if the call isn't there then they lied.

This is assuming they don't have written approval

[Pete_Coach]

Against the BC "Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act":
http://www.bclaws.ca/Recon/document/freeside/--%20b%20--/business%20practices%20and%20consumer%20protection %20act%20%20sbc%202004%20%20c.%202/00_act/04002_02.xml#section13
Unsolicited goods or services

12 (1) A consumer has no legal obligation in respect of unsolicited goods or services unless and until the consumer expressly acknowledges to the supplier in writing his or her intention to accept the goods or services

Call BPCPA and complain:
http://www.bpcpa.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=119&Itemid=951

Inquiries and Complaints
For general consumer and business information and complaints regarding a consumer issue in BC, please leave a message on our toll free inquiry line and your call will be returned as soon as possible.

Phone: 604 320-1667
Toll Free: 1 888 564-9963
Fax: 250 920-7181

All well and good. Go get a lawyer. Pay his retainer. Get him to send letters. Wait for response. No response? Send another letter. No satisfaction? Set a court date. Wait until the the trial. Argue, your word against the shop owner. Wait for ruling. Pay the lawyer a truckload of money. In the meantime, you are without a car because he does not have to release the car till you pay.
Lets be practical and real. If you want to go the route of BC Laws and BCPA after you get the car, all of the above is still the same and, but will have still to pay for the car to get it out of hock.

[CheapScotsman]

A friend of mine took his car in for a regular maintenance. Apparently, his car was diagnosed with several risks of big problems. Without asking the owner for approval, they went ahead and replaced these parts and gave him a huge bill when he tried to pick it up.

What would you do?This is what I would do

Have a chat with them about the things that they did, why they really needed to do them and


if I felt VERY comfortable with what they did they I would pay it.
If I didn't feel comfortable I would ask them how they want to solve this. I would offer to pay what I agreed was reasonable and not go any higher ... then just take my car back using my spare key.

[HP_John]

What that shop allegedly did does not fit within the law I believe. If they really did that, your friend should not have to pay anything.

[don_lee103]

Thanks for your help guys. I've asked my friend to read this forum and he should be taking appropriate actions as you guys have mentioned.

The car is still at the mechanics. They are strongly insisting that they won't give him back the key until the full payment is made. He DOES have a spare key but he's afraid that he might get in to a big mess.

[mystery]

Call the police????

[Capt.]

If the shop is shady enough to go ahead and do repairs without even telling you there was an issue, I would question if they needed to be done at all. Tell the shop you want to keep the old parts and want to see invoices for all the new parts. You still own the old parts whatever he says. You can hire a professional appraiser to look at your car & old parts to determine the value and necessity of repairs. That will run you about $150 though, less if you bring the parts to them. They can also review bills to determine if the labour charges are reasonable.


In the meantime, you are without a car because he does not have to release the car till you pay.


I would say this is debatable. He could try to put a lien on your vehicle that will not allow you to get your car back. But ultimately the shop has broken the law by performing repairs without your authorization. Likely the lien wouldn't hold up. I'd think the onus would fall on the repair shop to prove they had authorization.

[Pete_Coach]

I would say this is debatable. He could try to put a lien on your vehicle that will not allow you to get your car back. But ultimately the shop has broken the law by performing repairs without your authorization. Likely the lien wouldn't hold up. I'd think the onus would fall on the repair shop to prove they had authorization.
Again, he has the car, with the shop's parts on it. The parts belong to the shop till they are paid for. The shop can keep the car because they have control of it. There could come a time that the shop may return the car, devoid of the parts they installed. This would be as bad for the owner as just paying the guy because he now has to have it towed away and find someone else to put it together.
Having said all that, as someone else has stated, there should be an attempt to come to some sort of understanding.
My Dad, when I was apprenticing, had a situation where the customer could not pay. He kept the car. Eventually, after his lawyer got involved and letters were sent to the owner, my Dad sold the car, kept the money for repairs, some for storage and a selling commission and gave the remainder to the customer. All above board, all legal and in Vancouver.

[Dealz-4-U]

no matter how you justify it, thats a b!tch move by any mechanic and trying to defend it is like saying its perfectly fine... :confused:

I would pay for the car repairs by credit card, then do a charge back explaining it all. :mad:

[at1212b]

Something sounds a bit fishy here to me.

If its really that big of a work, I assume the car would have spent alot of time at the shop to the point where its obvious its staying more for a extended period of time then it should. From my experience, if its a big job, it always takes time for parts to come so the car would be there for over a day usually, or until late. So the OP's friend should have had an idea something was wrong or something was being done, and would have at least gotten a call during the day from the mechanic. Or should have followed-up during the day.

Unless the mechanic/shop is really shady, and purposely tries to trap consumers which then they wouldn't stay too long in business. In that case, the mechanic/shop is in the wrong if the customer explicitly said no or the mechanic did not tell the customer anything whatsover. I've taken my car to countless shops over the years and they always ask me to sign something, or a clear and definite 'Yes' or 'No' over the phone. Especially since they don't want to waste their time to do something and not have it paid by the customer.

My guess is there was a mix-up of communications (over the phone) or when the customer dropped the car off and both somehow both feel justified in their position.

Ie: Customer: "Can you take a look at it?"
Mechanic: "Sure, I'll take care of it"

[Spidey]

did he replace the muffler bearings and the fu fu valve

[mystery]

Again, he has the car, with the shop's parts on it. The parts belong to the shop till they are paid for. The shop can keep the car because they have control of it. There could come a time that the shop may return the car, devoid of the parts they installed. This would be as bad for the owner as just paying the guy because he now has to have it towed away and find someone else to put it together.
Having said all that, as someone else has stated, there should be an attempt to come to some sort of understanding.
My Dad, when I was apprenticing, had a situation where the customer could not pay. He kept the car. Eventually, after his lawyer got involved and letters were sent to the owner, my Dad sold the car, kept the money for repairs, some for storage and a selling commission and gave the remainder to the customer. All above board, all legal and in Vancouver.

They may have the car, but they didn't have authorization to do the repairs. This situation is just ridiculous.

I say threaten to call the Police for illegal seizure of property. If they still don't budge, actually call the Police and explain that the garage is holding your car hostage for repairs not authorized by the owner. The onus would be the shop to prove otherwise.

[skidz88]

During the day, the car would be parked outside in the shops lot. If I were your friend I'd just take my spare key and bring the car home. If they call the cops after you've driven off, tell the shop to produce the paper work stating you authorized the repair work. They won't be able to, and your friend would get off scot free, minus the cost of having another key made. What car is this?

Not 100% sure about BC, but in Ontario the shop would have no legal recourse, since what they did was totally illegal.

[l69norm]

All well and good. Go get a lawyer. Pay his retainer. Get him to send letters. Wait for response. No response? Send another letter. No satisfaction? Set a court date. Wait until the the trial. Argue, your word against the shop owner. Wait for ruling. Pay the lawyer a truckload of money. In the meantime, you are without a car because he does not have to release the car till you pay.
Lets be practical and real. If you want to go the route of BC Laws and BCPA after you get the car, all of the above is still the same and, but will have still to pay for the car to get it out of hock.

OP should just contact BPCPA for advice as it's free.

Words? Law clearly states "...until the consumer expressly acknowledges to the supplier in writing his or her intention to accept the goods or services..." Note: "....If it is alleged that the supplier supplied unsolicited goods or services, the burden of proof that the goods or services were not unsolicited is on the supplier...."

Either the shop has the written authorization to proceed or not. If not, then the shop could be in a lot more trouble than just not getting paid for the job : BPCPA levied penalties range from license suspension to administrative fines up to $50K. If the shop is taken into court by BPCPA and convicted:


(1) An individual who commits an offence under this Act is liable to a fine of not more than $10 000 or to imprisonment for not more than 12 months or to both.

(2) A corporation who commits an offence under this Act is liable to a fine of not more than $100 000.

(3) Despite subsections (1) and (2), the court may increase a fine imposed under this section by an amount of up to 3 times the court's estimation of the amount of monetary benefit acquired or accrued as a result of the commission of the offence.

[spf1971]

OP should just contact BPCPA for advice as it's free.

Words? Law clearly states "...until the consumer expressly acknowledges to the supplier in writing his or her intention to accept the goods or services..." Note: "....If it is alleged that the supplier supplied unsolicited goods or services, the burden of proof that the goods or services were not unsolicited is on the supplier...."

Either the shop has the written authorization to proceed or not. If not, then the shop could be in a lot more trouble than just not getting paid for the job : BPCPA levied penalties range from license suspension to administrative fines up to $50K. If the shop is taken into court by BPCPA and convicted:


(1) An individual who commits an offence under this Act is liable to a fine of not more than $10 000 or to imprisonment for not more than 12 months or to both.

(2) A corporation who commits an offence under this Act is liable to a fine of not more than $100 000.

(3) Despite subsections (1) and (2), the court may increase a fine imposed under this section by an amount of up to 3 times the court's estimation of the amount of monetary benefit acquired or accrued as a result of the commission of the offence.


Do you have a link for your quotes? Verbal contracts are just as binding as written contracts.

[l69norm]

Do you have a link for your quotes? Verbal contracts are just as binding as written contracts.

Taken from:
http://www.bclaws.ca/Recon/document/freeside/--%20B%20--/Business%20Practices%20and%20Consumer%20Protection %20Act%20%20SBC%202004%20%20c.%202/00_Act/04002_00.htm
Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act
[SBC 2004] CHAPTER 2
Assented to March 31, 2004

Law explicitly says approval must be in writing - verbal agreement is not enough.


Again, he has the car, with the shop's parts on it. The parts belong to the shop till they are paid for. The shop can keep the car because they have control of it. ...

This is no longer allowed. Shop needs to prove they had written approval:

(2) Unless the consumer has given the acknowledgment referred to in subsection (1), the supplier does not have a cause of action for any loss, use, misuse, possession, damage or misappropriation in respect of the goods or services or the value obtained by the use of the goods or services.

Again, OP should contact BPCPA for help

[spf1971]

You took that from "Unsolicited goods and services". As the vehicle was brought to the garage for servicing, this is not a cut and dry case of unsolicited goods.

[l69norm]

You took that from "Unsolicited goods and services". As the vehicle was brought to the garage for servicing, this is not a cut and dry case of unsolicited goods.

I can only go by what the OP posted:

A friend of mine took his car in for a regular maintenance. Apparently, his car was diagnosed with several risks of big problems. Without asking the owner for approval, they went ahead and replaced these parts and gave him a huge bill when he tried to pick it up.
What would you do?

OP needs to post more detail, but it sounds like an XX,000 km scheduled service. The OP's not complaining about paying for what he asked for - the regular maintenance.

If he brought the car in and said fix problem X, signed a work order, then the shop fixed problem X (did what the OP wanted) - it's not unsolicited.

OP should contact BPCPA

[don_lee103]

I can only go by what the OP posted:


OP needs to post more detail, but it sounds like an XX,000 km scheduled service. The OP's not complaining about paying for what he asked for - the regular maintenance.

If he brought the car in and said fix problem X, signed a work order, then the shop fixed problem X (did what the OP wanted) - it's not unsolicited.

OP should contact BPCPA

To clarify even further,

My friend took his car (He owns 2005 Jetta) to a dealership as it was time for the oil change. (He just hit 100k) A day or two later, he gets a call from VW that his car is ready to go. When he tried to pick up the car, he received a bill of $600. (approx)

These things have been done without any approval.

1. Tranny oil change with new gasket, gap, plug or whatever.
2. Some other thing. (He has not mentioned this to me but I think it was a MAF sensor)

[spf1971]

Why did he leave it there for a day or two if it was only in for an oil change?

[don_lee103]

Why did he leave it there for a day or two if it was only in for an oil change?

There were busy? He was told in advance that his car will be serviced whenever there's free time to do so. (No, he did not book an appointment.)

[Whitedart]

To clarify even further,

My friend took his car (He owns 2005 Jetta) to a dealership as it was time for the oil change. (He just hit 100k) A day or two later, he gets a call from VW that his car is ready to go. When he tried to pick up the car, he received a bill of $600. (approx)

These things have been done without any approval.

1. Tranny oil change with new gasket, gap, plug or whatever.
2. Some other thing. (He has not mentioned this to me but I think it was a MAF sensor)


There were busy? He was told in advance that his car will be serviced whenever there's free time to do so. (No, he did not book an appointment.)

It sounds like these were scheduled service items, and the car owner did not fully comprehend what was involved or the cost, and told the dealer to go ahead with a scheduled service.

[skidz88]

MAF sensor on an 05 Jetta? What kinda of warranty does this car have? Sounds like it should be covered. If not then yes MAF sensors do cost a lot of money. Regardless, they were not authorized to do the work(or so it seems). Just head over with the spare key and walk around to the back, get in the car and drive away with it. If they come after you with the law later on, offer to pay for the oil change only.

[dealmeone]

I always insist that they authorize any repairs with me before they are started, otherwise you might as well be handing them a blank cheque.

[l69norm]

To clarify even further,

My friend took his car (He owns 2005 Jetta) to a dealership as it was time for the oil change. (He just hit 100k) A day or two later, he gets a call from VW that his car is ready to go. When he tried to pick up the car, he received a bill of $600. (approx)

These things have been done without any approval.

1. Tranny oil change with new gasket, gap, plug or whatever.
2. Some other thing. (He has not mentioned this to me but I think it was a MAF sensor)

I'm surprised a dealership would do other work without an explicit permission to proceed. OP - you should call BPCPA in the morning.

[googoo]

There is still something wrong with this story, if you take the car in for an oil change you sign a form that is filled out with "oil change", but if you go in and sign a form that say "100 000K scheduled service" then they aren't the same thing.

I've also never heard of a 2 day oil change regardless of how busy a dealer is, usually they are 30-40 minutes "while you wait" things, OR you drop off the car on your way to work and tell them you'll get it later in the day.

Sounds more like your buddy asked them to find out why the "service engine" light came up, or why the engine was lagging or something.

Brent