POLL: would you be upset about this?

[MyThreeSons]

Long story, short version. Sunday evening my van was towed to a mechanic I don't know by a tow truck driver I'd never met. Work was done without my authorization. Why? Because the tow truck driver authorized it!! Mechanic makes me out to be the bad guy when I complain. Would you be upset?

[Remudamom]

I'd be furious. If they authorize the work then let them pay for it.

[Trivium Academy]

Yes. Work to be done should have had an estimate and a contract of some sort with YOUR or dh's authorization, not the tow truck driver. I don't know what the process should be from this point but I hope you get it settled and get your van back soon. :grouphug:

[crazycoffeechic]

I'd be furious. If they authorize the work then let them pay for it.

:iagree:

[Mom2GirlsTX]

The only person who can authorize work is the owner or the person who will pay for the work. Now if the tow truck driver is one of those, well okay. Wait he isn't, so he should never have done that. I'm really surprised that he would (1) authorize the work (2) mechanic would do work based on word from tow truck driver. :glare: I can not imagine any mechanic doing any work based on the word of tow truck driver and not car owner. This is so strange.

I feel so bad for you, you are entitled to be upset.

[Plaid Dad]

Yes, I'd be upset, and it sounds like a scam to me. I would refuse to pay.

 

I'm left wondering what the circumstances were that led to your van being towed. Why would it be taken to a mechanic you didn't know in the first place? Were you far away from home and unable to get the van back to your normal mechanic? In any case, no reputable mechanic should work on your vehicle without the owner's authorization and without giving the owner an estimate first - if not for the sake of good business practice, then at least for his or her own protection. Hence my sense that the mechanic and tow truck guy are in cahoots.

[MyThreeSons]

I'm having a tough time finding out if there are even any laws here (SC) which require an estimate before work is done.

 

This is a matter of principle. Frankly, even if he had just replaced the part that was obviously broken -- the one that the tow truck driver and I talked about Sunday evening -- I wouldn't be happy, and I would have told him so, but I wouldn't have filed a complaint. BUT, he went beyond that and replaced another part that he said was leaking, halfway across the enigine. This vehicle has over 200,000 miles on it -- lots of things are leaking. I regularly top off all the fluids. It's not ideal, but it's reality for us right now.

 

I ended up paying and picking up my van yesterday. I was seriously concerned that he would do damage to it, because he "offered" to remove the parts he'd put on. But I told the gal in the office that I didn't consider the matter closed.

 

Oh, and get this -- I had to put in coolant before I could drive it away. It was towed in because it had overheated when a coolant hose coupling had broken, and he didn't even refill the coolant.

[MyThreeSons]

I'm left wondering what the circumstances were that led to your van being towed.

 

I was about 20 miles from home, in a different county. I called AAA. It was over an hour before the tow truck showed up. The guy didn't want to tow it to my mechanic -- it was "so far". I was feeling pressured to get the vehilce towed quickly because

 

 

• it's sitting on the front lawn of a business I don't know

• there's a severe thunderstorm headed our way, and it's oppressively hot and humid, and about to get dangerous

• my dh, who has Alzheimer's Disease, is getting increasingly agitated, as are my 12yo and 14yo sons who are trying to deal with him while I'm dealing with the tow truck driver

• I have a ride home lined up (they're in church down the street), but I don't feel right asking them to wait another hour or more while I try to get AAA to send a driver who will take me where I ask

• the tow truck driver and I have looked at the problem, which is obvious -- a broken hose coupling -- and he tells me "his" shop will have it repaired for "no more than $60"

The complaint I've filed is with AAA. They've reprimanded the driver for taking the call if he wasn't going to tow me where I wanted. But I was wrong to accept the tow. They don't seem to be too upset about the unauthorized work.

[Laurie4b]

I guess my answer is, "I'm not sure." If he replaced a part which was obviously broken, and you had talked with the tow truck driver about it, and the price was reasonable, I might be a bit upset, but since I would have had it done anyway, I wouldn't make a big deal about it. It is possible that it seemed authorized to the mechanic and he did it as a nice thing, not a scam thing, so that the car would be ready earlier.

 

The other repair was unauthorized no matter how you look at it. However, if you've now paid, it's over and done with. You might file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau or something, but you're probably better off emotionally moving on.

[Remudamom]

BTW, I'd want to knock the crap out of the mechanic too, who in the world does he think he is? It'd probably be better to move on, but I'd have him un-doing his work just to teach him a lesson, and have my own mechanic fix it. Even if it meant another tow.

 

Can't help it, I'm mule headed.

[lynn]

I would have called the police to go with me to pick up the van and told the mechanic the tow driver authorized the tow driver pays and took the van, not much he would say or do with the police there. Did the mechanic sign an autorization. Start documenting everything and take it to small claims court to get reimbursed by the towing company and call AAA and let them know what the towing company did possible the Better business Bureau. Refusing to do something because it's to far??? is there a policy that states they can only go so many miles?

[Scarlett]

I was about 20 miles from home, in a different county. I called AAA. It was over an hour before the tow truck showed up. The guy didn't want to tow it to my mechanic -- it was "so far". I was feeling pressured to get the vehilce towed quickly because

 

• it's sitting on the front lawn of a business I don't know
  
• there's a severe thunderstorm headed our way, and it's oppressively hot and humid, and about to get dangerous
  
• my dh, who has Alzheimer's Disease, is getting increasingly agitated, as are my 12yo and 14yo sons who are trying to deal with him while I'm dealing with the tow truck driver
  
• I have a ride home lined up (they're in church down the street), but I don't feel right asking them to wait another hour or more while I try to get AAA to send a driver who will take me where I ask
  
• the tow truck driver and I have looked at the problem, which is obvious -- a broken hose coupling -- and he tells me "his" shop will have it repaired for "no more than $60"

The complaint I've filed is with AAA. They've reprimanded the driver for taking the call if he wasn't going to tow me where I wanted. But I was wrong to accept the tow. They don't seem to be too upset about the unauthorized work.

 

Oh my. That sounds like a very stressful situation. :grouphug:

[ljf]

I'd be mad, and I'd report him to the Better Business Bureau in your area. Regardless of the law, work should be authorized before it is done. That is just good business practice. Having said that I don't believe that SC has a law requiring a written estimate. I found a SC bill to do so, but it is not in the code when I pull that up.

 

The bill

http://www.scstatehouse.net/sess112_1997-1998/bills/3843.htm

 

Title 56, with no chapter 33 (the chapter that the bill would have added)

http://www.scstatehouse.net/CODE/titl56.htm

 

Linda

[Scarlett]

The other repair was unauthorized no matter how you look at it. However, if you've now paid, it's over and done with. You might file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau or something, but you're probably better off emotionally moving on.

 

 

:iagree:

[michaeljenn]

Yes, I would be very upset. You should have the option to at least get a quote to know what you may be paying. I am a little in shock about this. I hope that you get everything worked out though. Try to stay calm. What's done is done and getting extremely upset at them may make things worse.

 

Blessings

[dirty ethel rackham]

I would raise a huge stink with the mechanic and with AAA. You were in a stressful situation (which I would explain) and you felt pressured into doing something. Inappropriate business practices. If any work was done beyond what you would have authorized, I would insist that the mechanic get payment from the tow truck driver.

 

About the small claims court thing, it is my understanding that you have to prove that you were harmed by what happened. If unauthorized work was done that was unnecessary to get the moving, you would have evidence of harm (work that may have been a good idea, but not necessary to get the car back on the road.) If what was done was absolutely necessary, and you were charged a fair price, you would have a hard time proving that you were harmed by their actions, however wrong they were.

[beansprouts]

Yes, I'd be upset, and it sounds like a scam to me. I would refuse to pay.

 

I'm left wondering what the circumstances were that led to your van being towed. Why would it be taken to a mechanic you didn't know in the first place? Were you far away from home and unable to get the van back to your normal mechanic? In any case, no reputable mechanic should work on your vehicle without the owner's authorization and without giving the owner an estimate first - if not for the sake of good business practice, then at least for his or her own protection. Hence my sense that the mechanic and tow truck guy are in cahoots.

 

I completely agree!!

 

About ten years ago in the middle of winter dh and I pushed a car from a job we were doing to the nearest garage to have a new battery installed. The mechanic announced that I did not need a new battery but an alternator. I have experienced automotive electrical problems before and I know what they look like. In this case, I had replaced the alternator in this very car just a few months prior. The mechanic continued to insist that I needed an alternator and refused to do the work I requested. They attempted to take advantage of our desperate situation, but I refused to give in. We were stranded for hours in a snowstorm and finally found someone to tow us and our vehicle home (where dh installed the battery himself and the car ran fine. Go figure.)

 

I still fume when I think of this story.

 

But I have learned we have to be VERY careful who we deal with on automotive issues. In this case, you don't even know if the work was necessary. Nor did you have a say on whether it should be done or other solutions should be explored. Nor did you have the chance to shop around and look for a better price. I think you've been had, and I would *not* be paying the bill.

[MyThreeSons]

I have experienced automotive electrical problems before and I know what they look like.

 

Oh yeah -- I was trying to explain to the guy that I have a BS in Mechanical Engineering and that it's important to me that I understand what is being done and why, he mocked me!!

[MyThreeSons]

Having said that I don't believe that SC has a law requiring a written estimate. I found a SC bill to do so, but it is not in the code when I pull that up.

 

The bill

http://www.scstatehouse.net/sess112_1997-1998/bills/3843.htm

 

Title 56, with no chapter 33 (the chapter that the bill would have added)

http://www.scstatehouse.net/CODE/titl56.htm

 

Linda

 

 

Thanks!! That's what I was beginning to suspect. I think I'm about to become very familiar with my State Representative.

[Adrianne]

At first I'd be pretty mad. But if the work was needed and the price was not inflated, I would pay it anyway.

 

I would file the a complaint, mechanics are supposed to get approval from you.

 

I am sorry this happened to you.

[MyThreeSons]

From the AAA website:

 

AAA therefore urges that at a minimum, state laws require:

 

• A detailed description of specific actions that are unfair or misleading with appropriate civil or criminal penalties.
  
• A requirement that customer rights and responsibilities are prominently displayed at the repair facility.
  
• A written estimate of repair costs and a guarantee that the price will be within 10 percent of that estimate, unless otherwise authorized by the customer.
  
• Repairs to be covered by a warranty for 90 days or 4,000 miles, whichever comes first.
  
• Replaced parts offered to be returned, which the exception of those that must be returned to the manufacturer under a warranty or refund policy.

South Carolina currently does not have a bill of rights for auto repair.

 

Even more reason to be sure you deal with a mechanic you know and trust!!

 

I guess I'm about to become very familiar with my State Representative and the legislative process. My youngest son is taking Civics this year at the co-op. This would be a great class project, don't you think?

[HollyinNNV]

Isn't that illegal? Sounds like a scam to me.

[Plucky]

It's illegal here.