The Top 10 Rarely Voiced Justifications Mechanics Use When Ripping You Off

The following is a list of ten excuses that mechanics use to justify excessive car repair prices. This list is the result of numerous interviews and question and answer sessions with a variety of automotive technicians, shop owners, and managers across the world. A bit of humor is used to highlight the insanity of it all.

Number 1: The costs of doing business are outrageous!
The number one rationalization mechanics use to charge excessive car repair prices is their own costs. When the bills roll in for them, they roll them out to the service customer. Don’t get your car fixed during tax season.

Number 2: It’s not easy, you know!
After mechanics are done crying about how much it costs them to rip you off in the first place, they lament about how hard their jobs are. It’s dirty AND there’s so much technical mumbo jumbo to keep up with.

Number 3: Industry pricing guidelines are unfair!
Not satisfied with the industry experts, mechanics emphasize the “guide” in guidelines to justify their prices, and to guide them to ever increasing profits.

Number 4: The car’s rusty!
This unfortunate characteristic of metal is commonly used to defend a host of charges. Those pesky nuts and bolts accumulate a lot of rust, you know!

Number 5: The repair didn’t include that!
Mechanics frequently use this “hazy ignorance” when justifying multiple charges on a repair that was supposed to include the multiple charges.

Number 6: The guy’s a jerk!
There’s an old adage in the industry: Never Piss-off a tech!

Number 7: I can get away with it!
No remorse here.

Number 8: I screwed up!
Charging the client for mechanic errors…it’s like paid training!

Number 9: Somebody else screwed up!
I’m not paying for the wasted time! Damn parts guys, delivery guy, machine shop guy, owner guy….

Number 10: Everyone else is doing it!
Finally! The TRUTH!

98% of ALL Repair Shops Are Ripping You Off!

-Theodore P. Olson
www.repairtrust.com