As part of getting the scooter ready for sale, Zach took it in last week to get the oil changed and to get a side mirror replaced. It should have been a pretty simple deal, and inexpensive, as Zach had already purchased the mirror and it only needed to be attached. For the sake of simplicity he took the scooter to the same shop he bought it from maybe a year ago. He made it clear to them that all he wanted done was the oil change and mirror.
He called today to double-check if the scooter was ready, and they said it was but oh by the way it was due for the 25,000km servicing and so they went ahead and did that and the total's now gonna be $500.
Does this seem utterly baffling to anyone else? In the US I have never had a mechanic make a repair without getting my ok first (usually they even need your signature for approval). Can you imagine how bad it would be if already-questionable mechanics had the green light to just perform repairs as they saw fit without getting your permission first? (well, for starters, you'd end up getting charged $500 for something that should have been $100 at the very most).
Zach's currently in talks with the shop, they're offering to let him pay only $400 for the repairs, or to go ahead and buy the scooter off him (for $400 less than our original asking price). I don't know if they had any sort of a plan all along, if they're intentionsally being sketch, if maybe this is just the way things are done here. But it seems kinda shafty to me.
they shouldn't be charging you for the service period. you didn't ask for it, they did not get your consent and they can't make you pay for something that was not contracted either verbally or written. good luck!
ReplyDeleteI agree w/ cdn at least according to common law, which applies in England and the States. I know France is purely statutory.
ReplyDeleteI imagine they did this on purpose though with the intent to get it from you. What a mess!
that sounds super sketchy, we have been to mechanics a few times here and no one ever did anything without calling first. i actually had the opposite experience where i took the car in for a full service and in the end they told me it only needed a partial one (because we were driving it so little).
ReplyDeleteim not sure if its worth the trouble but i would bet you could fight them over it.