Pay for parts up front?

At most, I would pay 50% up front.

Alabama Jim wrote:
Must be a small dealer if they want payment upfront. If they won't accept a deposit of some smaller amount you may want to find another dealer.

I don't think CW is a small dealer but as a repair shop myself I would still want to be paid upfront for special order parts unless the vehicle was on my lot waiting for parts.

I was a farm equipment parts manager. If they had an account I just ordered the special order the part. No account I put it on a pending charge card. When parts came in I called them to let them know their part was in. If it wasn't picked up in a couple of weeks they got another call. Still not picked up the part was billed to them and an invoice attached to the part. You would be surprised the amount of parts that would get paid for and still not picked up. Those parts were returned to the manufacture with a 20-50% surcharge. Some were not returnable.

Must be a small dealer if they want payment upfront. If they won't accept a deposit of some smaller amount you may want to find another dealer.

The bottom line is that you got paid up front by the insurance company, and now the shop wants to get paid up front so they don't get stuck with a non-returnable custom ordered part, a fairly common practice. As previously said, pay the up front parts bill with your CC so you can dispute the charge later if there's an issue.

DrewE wrote:

Wrong Lane wrote:
If you have a cheque in your name only leave it without your signature with the business manager and let him know you'll sign it off when the work is complete.

They hold the cheque for security, you sign off when satisfied, should work for all involved

What sort of security is that? Put another way, how does that prevent you from skipping town and leaving the business owner with a (presumably non-returnable or not trivially returnable) special order on their hands? An unsigned cheque is not negotiable, nor a guarantee that the funds are actually in the account. It's just a little slip of paper with an account and routing number on it that you cannot legally use without the signature.

Many, possibly most, businesses require payment up front for special order parts or supplies. I've never had any qualms about paying that for a reputable business. If they aren't a reputable shop, I'd rather not do any business with them regardless.

Your right, an unsigned cheque is worth nothing, except leaving it with the repair shop is a show of good faith that you aren't going to blow the insurance settlement on booze or smokes.

The insurance company isn't going to issue a second cheque so once the dealer has your insurance cheque you kind of have sent a strong signal that you will be back to have the work done.

I assume the dealer or repair shop would have your rig there, on their lot, for the repair. I guess if you want to skip town and leave your rig and an unsigned cheque with them then -- well what can I say.

If the repair facility was crazy enough to let you take the rig away without getting the cheque signed then again they deserve the kind of customer that would rip them off.

Tom N wrote:
I suspect this shop has been "stung" a few times ordering parts for customers and those customers never returning to have them installed.

I worked as a service advisor at a major RV dealer / service facility a few years back and we instituted a policy of getting the customers credit card number before ordering parts for the same reason ... in case the customer didn't return. This policy was put into place after it cost the dealer several thousand dollars in shipping charges over a period of one year to return parts for customers who never returned.

Last month this same service facility ordered a replacement in-dash/GPS unit under warranty, and asked me for my credit card number. I understand why, so no problem.

Look on the bright side, you'll see the charge, and know they didn't mark it up.

Prowler .... I just sent you a private message... Please take a minute and read.

This is a common practice for custom orders..... a awning is hard to ship and costly........ If the shop doesn't know you I would ask for the cost of the part up front........ return shipping would be costly......