Please help, single female needs advice on dealing with a mechanic??

I have a car that was in need of repair, it was obviously shutting down and has no power and so I took it in and the mechanic said that they would run some diagnostics on it, ok, they did, said they couldnt duplicate the problem I had already had the car fixed with them a couple months before, , well so they charged me 200 dollars diagnostic hours and then it didnt fix it, so I said please check it out again, they did. Racked up 3 more diagnostic hours, said it was the ignitor, put that in, no it wasnt, then concluded it was the CPU, replaced that. Then without my consent, goes and replaces other parts. Then to the mechanics account, they put 8 hours more on the car but we can just call it a ';study'; and not charge you for all of them. So I am thinking its better, I drive it for 20 miles and it does the same thing it orginally did. How should I deal with them? They have a $1200 bill and nothing has changed! Tell them I wont pay until they get it right and stop dumping parts in it?Please help, single female needs advice on dealing with a mechanic??
Take them on a drive with you and show them what it is doing. Give them a chance to make it right. Legally you have to pay for the repairs. If they were done wrong or without consent then it needs to go to small claims court. Kneedeep is right if you don't pay they can put a lien on your car and possibly keep it. Unfortunately that is the way the system works but if you do the right things you have a good chance of winning, refusing to pay you usually will lose.Please help, single female needs advice on dealing with a mechanic??
You are being scammed, big time.......in most states, it's illegal to install parts or perform repairs without your consent beforehand...legally, they cannot charge you for any repairs you did not authorize in writing or by verbal ok over the phone that is documented by them. Never authorize more than 1 hour of diagnosing at a time...if it takes longer, ask for a report on what was done so far. Talk to the shop owner first may help to get the repair bill down but I would call the BBB and maybe be prepared to get a lawyer or the states attorney general involved for fraudulent practices....tell em you'll blow the whistle on them or have their business license revoked...call a local alderman or city licensing commitee. Raise a fuss...1200.00 for repairs or diagnosing that did not solve the problem is not your fault...it's theirs for not knowing what they were doing...you shoudn't have to pay for them to ';learn or study';. DO NOT authorize any more repairs...it's obvious they are just trying to scam you. Only thing you can do now is pay a smaller, justifiable? bill and take it somewhere else....spread the word about this shop. This site has a shop finder feature for recommended shops by other members.......


http://www.cartalk.com/content/mechx/


Or call AAA for recommended shops.
I'd start by calling the better business bureau to see if this outfit is on the up and up. Take a male friend who knows something about cars with you to talk to them. Most areas have mechanic shows on the radio on Saturdays - call in and see what their advice is. Good luck.
';Dumping Parts!'; Sadly all to common for (We Don't Know so we'll just throw parts at it and hope it will fix it!) $200 is a Lot Diagnostic Read Out that takes 10 to 15 Minutes. Need a Better Shop/Mechanic and Honest! Did they do a Diagnostic Check on a Road Test when they Couldn't find the Problem with a Static (Car no Moving) Test? Why Not?? Sounds like BBB and/or a Lawyer is called for?





Car Type %26amp; Year? Engine %26amp; Mileage? How did it shut down? Just turned off, Sputtered - Lost Power and Died? Did you get any lights on the Dash before Shutdown?
MOST ALL DIAGNOSTICS CAN AND SHOULD BE DONE WITH A SCANNER,I USE THE SNAP-ON MODIS SYSTEM IN MY SHOP.I CHARGE 85.00 DIAGNOSTIC AND THAT IS IT.THE SCANNER TELLS ME EXACTLY WHATS WRONG WITH THE VEHICLE,EVEN IF THE CAR IS NOT DOING THE SAME PROBLEM,I WILL EITHER PULL THE CODE FROM MEMORY,OR JUST RUN THE CAR AND GRAPH THE DIFFERENT SYSTEMS,ANY REPUTABLE SHOP SHOULD BE ABLE TO HELP,UNFORTUNATLY THEY CAN PUT A MECHINICS LEAN ON THE CAR FOR ANY MONEY OWED OR EVEN HOLD THE CAR TILL PAID.IF THEY DO NOT HAVE A SIGNED ESTIMATE BY YOU FOR REPAIRS THAT YOU AUTHORIZED YIOU ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY EXTRAS THEY DECIDED TO PUT ON.HOPE THIS HELPS YOU WITH YOUR QUESTION.
First of all you should have not taken it back to the same mechanic after they told you they couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. You should have taken it to the dealer's for a look over. In any case, I'd try and talk to the owner of this business and find out what they can do for you.
You DID keep telling them to redo it, didnt you? I would have taken it to another mechanic after the first try.
You are being duped and probably still owe them the money- take it to another mechanic.

smokey eye