IMO...there's mostly "normal" people on here. Please lend me your couch or pretend we're sitting around the campfire solving all the world problems and give me some advice or remedial training. We're all screen names here, so don't hold back. Seeking advice for when you get ripped off. How do you as a person deal with this? I'm failing at the "just get over it" part. Last couple months I've had two things happen that keep churning in my mind over and over. $42 for a 2 min phone call and $124.00 fan belt that the "book" calls for .80 of an hour, but actually took mechanic less than 10 min to complete. And of course I feel like I've been taken advantage of. I'm wondering what tricks or help do you employ when these things crop up in your life. What do you do? (Man, I pausing and thinking real hard before I hit the "post message" button)

well charging for auto repairs by the book number is pretty standard. my friend used to work at a car dealer and he was so efficient he could bill for 20 hours in a day at times. the slower mechanics took book time and their work usually came back for my friend to correct.don't know about the $42 2 minute phone call, unless it was to 1-800-hot-sexybumpy

Most of us learn how to do things ourselves and when to turn off the cell phones haha... I am 72 years old and still getting at it...The bigger your system gets the more it is going to cost to maintain it. No one said you was suppose to pull 2000SQ-FEET down the road...Since my downsize in 2008 My biggest maintenance cost on my OFF-ROAD POPUP has been two new tires. My battery bank is just now starting to show low performance. It has only been gasoline and Insurance haha...We get 18-21MPG going down the road with my F150 truck and I still can pull into a McDonalds and order a big mac from the drive thru window.I have all modern things the big boys have just less move around room inside... Well maybe alot of moving around room inside... Makes us enjoy the outside more I reckon..It's all in what you want to put up with and how much money you got to spend on it... I have done it both ways and finally made the decision that being smaller is better for the two of us.We will leave early and stop somewhere around 4PM on the trip days... I am never beat-up from a trip...Our best times is being setup on the mountain trails overlooking several rolls of mountains as far as you can see... UP there where ever it stops rolling is where you setup for the night... I'd much rather get excited at stepping in buffalo pooh than how much someone charged me to replace a fan belt.Enjoy yourselves - don't let the small stuff get you down... AS Tom T says in the end its all about old dogs and children and watermellon wine... Nothing else matters...Roy Ken

Just consider it lessons learned. It happens to all of us. And no matter how ticked off you may be, just remember there's someone else who wishes they had your problems.

Flat rate is the norm and can appear to be a rip off when a highly competent technician performs a repair very quickly. But that doesn't mean you are paying more than you should. If you didn't you have now learned that you should have simply asked, "How much is that belt and what is the installation charge?", then you wouldn't get upset.As far as the phone call, unless it was a 900 number as has been mentioned just call the phone company and ask them to take it off. Generally the first person who picks up the phone has the authorization to credit 50-75 dollars. At the end of the day I think we can only ever get upset with ourselves when we feel we get "ripped-off". We are,for the most part,an intelligent animal and we need to ask questions so that before there is an outcome we may not like we have an exact picture of what that outcome will be.

RE the auto repair, be aware that those times are supposed to be the times an average semi-experienced guy requires to read the shop manual and do the job by the book. As such, they are set to allow the repair shop owner enough slack that whoever he assigns to the task can complete it before the shop owner has to pay for it out of HIS pocket. If the guy doing the work actually knows what he's doing, he'll be faster, so both he and the shop owner get paid for being competent. Surely you don't really mean to penalize the skilled worker for having developed that skill, by paying him LESS for doing a given job than he'd get if he were a raw newbie, do you?I dunno about the phone call, but I do know that everybody gets ripped off from time to time. And it's perfectly ok to be angry about it, but after doing what you can about it, which might be nothing, there's no sense in dwelling on it. Life's too short to let it be spoiled that easily.

Getting over it and moving on HELP!! | Good Sam Community

time2roll
Nomad
Sep 04, 2013
Yes I agree it often seems like a rip with added charges and the like.
I just don't have the time and energy to do it all anymore so more and more I rely on others and it often cost more than it should. I have a cooktop going into a rental next week. I am expecting some nonsense upcharge of at least $200. Tough to dispute when I cannot be there. At least the place is rented and the tenant will be happy. I just shake my head and let it go.
DesertSpooners
Explorer
Sep 04, 2013
We have gotten lots of good deals over the years, but we tend to remember the times we are overcharged or get a bad deal on things. Vehicle repairs always seem outrageous when DH just does the work himself most of the time. We consider it part of the cost of enjoying the open road. Count your blessings. I heard this one time: If all your problems can be solved with money you don't have any real problems. It reminds me that there are others out there dealing with things that money could never help. Put it in a file and forget it and get back to enjoying the experience.
Bumpyroad
Explorer
Sep 03, 2013
shakyjay wrote:
Never heard of such a law I would ask for a citation. Now if you owe them money and refuse to pay that might be another story.

yep, a mechanics lien.
bumpy
colliehauler
Explorer III
Sep 03, 2013
I use to get upset about a lot of small things. When you look around at people that have serious problems mine don't seem near as important.
shakyjay
Explorer II
Sep 03, 2013
Never heard of such a law I would ask for a citation. Now if you owe them money and refuse to pay that might be another story.
bcsdguy
Explorer
Sep 02, 2013
path1 wrote:
shop refuses to release your vehicle citing some law saying they can't release a vehicle knowing it is not safe. I worked for a place that did this on a number of occasions. But then maybe it is California.

"shop refuses to release your vehicle" You didn't give them the OK to be seized did you?

It occurs if you've signed the papers allowing the shop to inspect your vehicle or make repairs.
down_home
Explorer II
Sep 02, 2013
down home wrote:
We've been victimized in other ways the last several years. We have always done business with a handshake and trusting people, mostly.
First of year we had someone try to charge us 12,00 for gutter screens. treated me like a retard or something. I went along with it but he didn't get our business and probably won't get a lot of others.
It's not my nature to be non trusting but get it in writing is the only way to go.
As far as repairs on your RV the more it cost the more they want to charge.
Shop around for Technicians that have reasonable rates. Bear in mind they may not know as much about everything on new and evolving engineering. Use your noggin and expect to pay more than it would cost you to do it. If you are able bodied you can take care of most things unless you are like one of my friends who likes to tighten until it breaks.

That was supposed to be 1200.00 even with two hands I can't hit the right keys.
path1
Explorer
Sep 02, 2013
shop refuses to release your vehicle citing some law saying they can't release a vehicle knowing it is not safe. I worked for a place that did this on a number of occasions. But then maybe it is California.

"shop refuses to release your vehicle" You didn't give them the OK to be seized did you?
Dog_Folks
Explorer
Sep 02, 2013
restlesswind wrote:
Holding on to anger is like holding hot coals in you hand and wishing that
the other guy will feel the pain.

Well said.
restlesswind
Explorer
Sep 02, 2013
Holding on to anger is like holding hot coals in you hand and wishing that
the other guy will feel the pain.