Automotive

Do you pay a mechanic who doesnt fix the problem?

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  • Mar 23rd, 2010 2:20 pm
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Deal Addict
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Mar 26, 2007
1525 posts
4 upvotes
Guelph

Do you pay a mechanic who doesnt fix the problem?

Basically i took my truck in to a shop to have it repaired. The mechanic made me order numerous parts but none of them were fixing the problem. My truck stayed in the shop for over a month so i got tired of his games and just took my truck back. I did not pay anything when i took the truck back since the owner was not in so i called him the next day. He said my bill is $1100 for labour. I said you didnt fix the problem but he replied by saying i can bring it back in. I dont want to waste more time with this guy because he clearly does not know the problem. I offered to pay $500 and he said no.

What do you think? Should i just pay the bill or fight it?
27 replies
Jr. Member
Jan 14, 2010
138 posts
6 upvotes
Toronto
Depends on whats the agreement with you and the mechanic.

Did you agree to replace all those part, and play the guessing game with the mechanic on finding the problem? If you didn't agree to replace those parts, then no, I would not pay the guy.

Did you pay for the part already or is the $1100 parts + labor?

The mechanic is just acting stupid and scamming you into buying parts you don't need to find the problem. If he was professional, he would of diagnose the problem, make sure you agree to replace the part, and then problem solved.
Deal Addict
Oct 13, 2003
1361 posts
28 upvotes
Of course he's saying "bring it in" because once he has your truck again he won't give it back to you until you pay.

A mechanic is supposed to ask you if you agree to have certain parts installed. If you agreed then just pay up, but don't go back to him again.
Deal Addict
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Mar 26, 2007
1525 posts
4 upvotes
Guelph
I did not agree to it. The mechanic did not tell me he was guessing what the problem was. First he told me to order a couple of parts so i ordered them. Showed up in 2 weeks then he tells me we need another part. I order the other part and when it arrives he tells me those parts were not causing the problem so we need to order another part. Luckily i found that part used ($100) because if i had bought it from the dealership it would have cost me $955. Then after everything the problem was still there and i cant even return the parts since they have been installed and taken off. I ordered all the parts personally and they cost me around $800. So the mechanic basically wants me to shell out $1900 in total to have my truck in the exact same shape it was in before. I cant justify paying him for doing nothing.
Deal Addict
Apr 8, 2006
1119 posts
271 upvotes
i am curious what is the problem with your truck?
Sr. Member
Apr 8, 2009
695 posts
24 upvotes
Mississauga
masalma wrote: i am curious what is the problem with your truck?
+1, I am also quite curious.
Deal Addict
Apr 22, 2009
1058 posts
50 upvotes
London ON
please do not bring it back in
they will hold it as a hostage and if you call the police the shop will say 'heres the work order he owes us money before we release the truck' - depending on what you signed

and then you will have to take him to small claims court as its a 'civil matter'
Sr. Member
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Feb 12, 2010
508 posts
9 upvotes
Ontario
1) +1 If you tell us what ur Truck problem is

2) Dont give them the truck again.

3) Tell us who is this Mechanic so we can avoid it in the future.
Sr. Member
Dec 12, 2007
774 posts
3 upvotes
Nanaimo
Nope. I wouldn't pay anything.
Deal Addict
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Mar 26, 2007
1525 posts
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Guelph
There was a problem with the suspension. I believe air was not filling up in it automatically like it should have been and there was a "Service Air Suspension" light on the dash.

And i have already sold the truck so taking it back isnt even an option anymore.
Deal Expert
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Jan 27, 2006
19790 posts
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Woodbridge
@DealHunter@ wrote: 1) +1 If you tell us what ur Truck problem is

2) Dont give them the truck again.

3) Tell us who is this Mechanic so we can avoid it in the future.
+1

I doubt I will run into this Mechanic, I wouldn't mind so I can let family/friends know.

I wouldn't pay, let the Court decide.
"I'll put up color bars before I'll put you in front of our cameras."

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THE NEWSROOM (HBO)
Member
May 19, 2009
467 posts
17 upvotes
Belleville
People pay "mechanics" who don't fix the problem all the time. It's called "Canadian Tire".
Member
User avatar
Mar 1, 2008
473 posts
15 upvotes
So you took your car to a mechanic, had work done, took the car back and now don't want to pay? Hmmm. I understand mechanics can be scammers but that's because its not an exact science or always so cut and dry. However I also understand by your post work was done to the car so the bill should be paid. Wonder if you tried this with you credit card company how it would work out.
No nappy no happy!!
Deal Addict
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Aug 11, 2008
2135 posts
110 upvotes
Regina
I dunno..... I went through this exact same thing with my previous car (Olds Alero). I spent $800 on the braking system before they actually fixed the problem I took it in for. The problem was that the power brakes wouldn't work if it got cold or wet outside. Replaced the rear calipers (apparently they were ceased), the rotors were rusted through (replaced all 4), did all brake pads since everything was apart, brake booster (last possible part), and then it ended up being some valves that weren't working right.

Anyways where I was going with this, is that when they diagnose a car it's only the mechanics opinion on what's wrong. The opinion on what's wrong may differ from mechanic to mechanic. After arguing for a while we agreed I wouldn't have to pay the diagnosis fee since the diagnosis was incorrect. But regardless of the problem the car was originally brought in for... my car was still unsafe and had other problems that needed to be addressed. Originally I thought they were lying to me till I had them take me in to the shop and show me the problems. I've found asking shops to do this really separates the good from the bad. I'm not mechanically inclined, but if there's something wrong you can usually tell.

Your truck might be similar. It could have had multiple problems it's tough to say. Then again the idea of a mechanic cheating someone doesn't seem very far fetched. You should post the problem and post the work order with a list of parts they used. That is the easiest way of determining what is actually going on.
Deal Addict
Dec 2, 2008
2831 posts
371 upvotes
DONT PAY!

If the nub took the part OFF, then NO WORK WAS DONE!

this guy needs to go back to canadian tire school.. even then the highest graduate probably knows less that the average kid on the street...
Deal Fanatic
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Jul 23, 2005
5983 posts
159 upvotes
-Jatt- wrote: There was a problem with the suspension. I believe air was not filling up in it automatically like it should have been and there was a "Service Air Suspension" light on the dash.

And i have already sold the truck so taking it back isnt even an option anymore.
are you sure ur not trying to pull a quick one!?
rockybun wrote: So you took your car to a mechanic, had work done, took the car back and now don't want to pay? Hmmm. I understand mechanics can be scammers but that's because its not an exact science or always so cut and dry. However I also understand by your post work was done to the car so the bill should be paid. Wonder if you tried this with you credit card company how it would work out.
+1

this situation doesn't sound right
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Deal Addict
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Mar 26, 2007
1525 posts
4 upvotes
Guelph
rockybun wrote: So you took your car to a mechanic, had work done, took the car back and now don't want to pay? Hmmm. I understand mechanics can be scammers but that's because its not an exact science or always so cut and dry. However I also understand by your post work was done to the car so the bill should be paid. Wonder if you tried this with you credit card company how it would work out.
Its not like i dont want to pay completely. I am willing to pay him because yes, he did spend time working on my vehicle but i also dont want to pay him fully because my truck left exactly the same as it came in. I will probably just pay the bill but never return to the shop again. I will post the name and location of the shop when i get home so people can avoid it if they want to.
Tomy wrote: are you sure ur not trying to pull a quick one!?
How am i trying to pull a quick one?
Deal Expert
Mar 23, 2004
35606 posts
18999 upvotes
-Jatt- wrote: Basically i took my truck in to a shop to have it repaired. The mechanic made me order numerous parts but none of them were fixing the problem. My truck stayed in the shop for over a month so i got tired of his games and just took my truck back. I did not pay anything when i took the truck back since the owner was not in so i called him the next day. He said my bill is $1100 for labour. I said you didnt fix the problem but he replied by saying i can bring it back in. I dont want to waste more time with this guy because he clearly does not know the problem. I offered to pay $500 and he said no.

What do you think? Should i just pay the bill or fight it?
Well the problem is... Who has the truck?

And that's the problem. He's not going to release your truck until you pay, and the mechanic can even put a lien on your truck should you decide not to pay him the full amount.

Now you can dispute it in court, but that's not going to get your truck back very quickly.

If you sold the truck now you're going to have another problem because if the mechanic puts a lien on it you're going to have to deal with the buyer who will probably then sue you for the money. Selling the truck "from underneath" the mechanic is not going to get you out of paying him.

I don't get how the buyer would have paid you for the truck anyway, given you don't even have the truck. I mean what did you tell the buyer about when they are going to actually receive the truck? :confused:

As for disputing the mechanic's work, well yeah you can do that as mentioned. What did the mechanic say he did to the truck (like what parts and labour?). If he can prove he did that stuff then you're likely going to be on the hook for it, especially if you agreed to the work being done by signing an invoice or something.

Now if the mechanic didn't actually do any work on the truck and is just trying to scam you, that's another story. Also if you didn't agree to the work that he did on the truck before hand, then that's also another story.

In any event, your main problem right now is going to be with this alleged buyer because I'm sure it's not going to be long before they will want answers about where the truck they paid you for is, lol. It seems like you have two options given you've sold the truck already. One is to pay the mechanic and give the truck to the buyer, the other is to refund the buyer and sort the matter out with the mechanic before selling the truck. Right now you are only creating more headaches for yourself.
Deal Fanatic
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Dec 11, 2003
5731 posts
199 upvotes
Toronto
Actually it sounds like the shop had no idea what was wrong, and instead of ordering "non returnable" parts through the shop ...... ones that you wouldn't pay for if they didn't solve the problem, and they'd be stuck with .... they got you to pay for it, so only they had you paying for labour, and you'd be stuck with them..

My guess is that they never offered you the old parts back?

Brent
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HEATWARE.... if you bought from me ... thanks

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