Nobody is rich enough to spend more than is necessary. Just because somebody has the money to pay an outrageous repair bill doesn't mean they're psychologically unbalanced because they don't want to. If a homeless man washed your windshield at a traffic stop and then demanded two hundred dollars from you for the service, would you pay? Would you check yourself into an institution if you felt like you were overcharged and refused? Why not? If you're driving a car, it's a safe bet you have more money than a homeless person. Doesn't that give him the right to rip YOU off?

The suggestion to get an estimate prior to approving the work is a good one. I've never been to an auto mechanic who didn't give some estimate prior to starting the work.

If the repair bill was significantly higher than the estimate and you weren't notified that it would cost more prior to having the work done, you have every right to be pissed.

I try to avoid lawsuits at every cost because they usually are a waste of time and the only people who make any money are the lawyers.

What I have done in the past when I was in a similar situation is this: If refusing to pay the bill would only get you a "tough s**t, we're placing a mechanics lien on your vehicle and you won't get your car until you pay the bill" attitude from the cashier, I'd go ahead and pay for the repair with a check. Get your keys. Get the car. Drive off the lot and IMMEDIATELY cancel the check.

I know in California at least, that is illegal because when you wrote the check you had no intention of honoring it but so what? Depending on where you live, this may or may not work for you. I was living in Los Angeles at the time and I know that it's likely that the District Attorney is going to have the time or resources to go chasing every bad check that's reported. Your mechanic wants his money. If he called the police and they took a report (likely), the detectives gave the report more than cursory glance before setting it aside (less likely), decided to pass it along to the District Attorney (getting into the improbable here), criminal charges were filed (ha!!) and you were hauled into court (not even really a possiblity) and sentenced to jail or probation or a fine (yeah right. Monkeys would fly out of my butt before that happened), your life would suck for however long you were in jail but your misery won't make your mechanic any richer. Your mechanic knows this.

Your mechanic could file a civil lawsuit against you but that takes time, expense, aggravation and even if he wins a judgement, he still has to collect. The mechanic knows that he tried to ream you and opening up this fact to the scrutiny of a criminal or civil court isn't going to do him any good. If you were to offer him a reasonable payment for his services, he would settle. If he didn't, he would need to make the next move. Meanwhile, you're out only whatever it cost to cancel the check.

I think it's always better to have your opponant in a position where he needs to fight you for the money rather than have you fight him for the money.

 

heres a stupid charge

I picked up a huge *******G SPIKE in the dealers entrance, no further than 20 feet from the service doors. Guess what, I have to pay to fix it.. They say it will be 40 dollars, but when I picked up the car it was magically doubled to 80. I told them I wasn't paying for it, and they said fine we keep your car untill you pay... Oh yeah and they also didn't want to fix it, they told me and my family to drive it home the way it was... A quarter inch spike, my family and I, 70 mph for an hour home... And mercedes is safe? I filed a complaint with the better business buearuo...

OH YEAH the name of the dealership is "MERCEDES BENZ OF TAMPA"

Don't go here theres more too!

1. They don't change your filters
2. They overcharge
3. They F your car in the tailpipe along with your wallet and bank account!


I have more stories too

I get the car back from service A and the check engine light is on! It wasn't on before I took it in, so I told them about it and they said when I bring it back for service B they would take care of it free of charge..

Service b comes around and guess what? $170 bucks to reset the check engine light, plus the MAF and Thermo needs replaced... I took out the parts myself, and there was bearing grease on the MAF sensor plug... I wonder how that got there??? The thermostat was fine as well, no over heating or anything of the sort...

To sum it up, MERCEDES BENZ OF TAMPA is out to rip you off... I suggest you stay away, because I still haven't recieved a dime back yet!

By the way, I tore the living hell out of the rentals from the dealership while my car was being serviced.. I guess that gets them back for ruining my car as well.. .I wonder if the oil has ever been changed, or if they are just reseting the cars computer??? Interesting...


Anyone care to commenT?

 

And to top it off there was an article about how Mercedes Benz was miffed at Consumer Reports for naming 3 of their vehicles the most unreliable in it's class.

 

should just tell them to take off the taillights

 

So, you've decided to revive a four-year old thread to make complaints? Hmm. OK.

By the way, tearing the living hell out of rentals is a childish thing to do. Try not doing that again.

 

I remember someone having the same problem, that the dealership wanted to withhold the car until a bill of a couple hundred dollars was paid. cant recall though if theyre allowed to. anyone know for sure?

 

I know one person did that but he kept their courtesy car until they settled the issue with him

 

i say the hell with those jerry *******s and their rentals... They gave me a 2006 C class and I used every last one of those precious 6 gears... Even slid it sideways on dry pavement! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't trash the rentals???

 

you can get w203 tails on ebay for around 200usd... the pair .

(100 each then.. :P)