Nearly getting ripped off

My car wouldn't start outside my ex-wife's office building late one night after going to just pick-up some papers. Car was running fine but when we tried to start it after coming back with the papers, nothing. So we call AAA and get a tow truck to bring the car to the closest AAA repair shop.

We take the train home and I call the shop in the morning. They say that the alternator, starter and battery all need to be replaced. Whole thing is going to cost $700+. I speak with my ex about it and we decide to call a mechanic we heard about through a friend and is located out in the Bronx. The guy says to first just get the car out of the AAA shop since they all rip you off. He also said that he didn't care if we brought it to him but we should just get our car out of where it was currently.

I call AAA and they say they can't tow the car from one shop to another. I'd have to pull the car out of the shop myself, push it down the block and then get a tow to the new shop. I go with a relative in his car to pick-up my own. For some reason, even with all the "problems" after they jump my car it runs fine all the way from midtown Manhattan to the South Bronx. My cousin follows me the whole way in his truck just as a precaution. Get to the new mechanic and he takes a look at it overnight. The new mechanic calls me in the morning and says that the price for the repairs would be $75. All my car needed was a new battery housing. The one I had was loose.

Gotta love it.

I in no way want to defend that repair guy, but if he did not know that switch existed the whole thing would look like it was toast. A switch like that is not that common, at least I have never seen one before.

Automotive places are the worst for ripping you off. For any major work, get a second opinion if you can. Most people do not know enough, so many shops take advantage. They will replace the whole affected system vice just a single coponent.

I have to drop 750 on repairing dents in a car door, I'm in another country and being ripped off. Yippie. I hate that I commited to 12 months car rental with this guy.

Cabs suck. They just creep me out and most of the cabbies in my area don't seem to know how to get anywhere, even with GPS. At my internship a couple weeks ago, I had to run out and pick up a lunch order, so they called me a cab. We always use the same cab company and they know to call us when they arrive. When they let me know the cab arrived, I went down and the asshole says, "Hey buddy, I've been waiting here long time. It's gonna cost you more." At first I thought he's probably lying, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Then I noticed he had turned the meter off. It usually costs $5-$7 to get back and forth from the restaurant. This prick said it cost $20. Fortunately, we use bill receipt type things instead of cash, so the guy couldn't pocket the whole fare. He looked really pissed when I handed him that.

Yeah, I ran into a similar situation once. Trouble was it was in the middle of nowhere, so I couldn't wriggle out of it. Someone ought to take AAA to task for approving these shady places.

This one happened at my last job. I worked as an assistant holographer and graphic artist/designer for a company that made security holograms (Optically Variable Devices in business lingo) for items like ID cards, passports, drivers' licenses, etc. Some of the designs we created used guilloche patterns (like the fancy linework you see on the borders of dollar bills or certificates). My supervisor and I used to make the patterns in a roundabout way, and our Marketing Dept. wanted something a bit more snappy.

Eventually, Marketing found a software/hardware system from Hungary that did exactly what was required - to the tune of $40,000. My supervisor had to fly to Hungary to test the software out. He loved it, but couldn't see spending $40,000 on something that we weren't sure was going to be used as extensively as Marketing thought. Plus, I would have to fly to Hungary myself for a week to learn the system, and I really didn't want to go at the time.

So my supervisor and I did some online research. Within 5 minutes, we found a program we could fire up with our current software that gave us everything we wanted and then some. Total cost: $40. We downloaded the demo, spent an hour coming up with designs, showed them to upper management and Marketing, and became heroes. And I never had to go to Hungary.

That one's a little less clear cut. I hear parts of Budapest are very nice.

After repairs to my cars brakes, the shop called up with yet more bad news: the key no longer fitted into the ignition. So I would need a whole new barrel fitted, which they'd be happy to do for another $70.00. After thinking about it for a moment, I asked them to turn the key upside down and try again.

At least they had the decency to sound sheepish when they apologised.

This exact same thing happened to me a year ago, but fortunetly for me it was my landlady's problem. She had a guy they always use fix it for 10 bucks.

I should've elaborated - At the time, I had just gotten married and funds were tight, and if I had to go to Hungary, it would've been out of my own pocket, not the company's. I'm Hungarian on my mom's side, and wouldn't mind checking it out, but at that particular time... no.

Took my car in for an oil change. They looked the car over and said I needed brakes. Full brakes: pads, rotors etc. It'd cost a fortune. But they said they needed replacing immediately.

So we take the car somewhere else a few weeks later (we have a point card at this place) and they take one look at the brakes and say they're fine and that they're confused as to why we brought it in.

A year later... brakes and rotors are still fine. No noises, no slipping, no need for hard stops... everything is fine. Though when I took the car in last month they said they were getting down but are fine for now.

So... yeah... we avoided getting ripped off.

AAA is fine if you need a tow, as long as you have the Plus membership. It's just their approved shops that are rip-offs since the mechanics know that most of their AAA clients are not going to know any better. I'm an advocate of auto repair being a required course in all high schools.

A lady I work with told me her brother, a mechanic, quit his job at a major dealership because of how he was forced to rip off people. Apparently ,most, if not all of the dealerships have a guy give workshops on how to make certain problems with your car look worse than they are. I have no idea which company he works for, but the mechanic told his sister that the same guy goes to all the dealerships every once in awhile.

Also, sensors are put in cars so that you can't fix them and can't bring them to most non-dealership mechanics. Sure, alot of them help with gas mileage and such, but most will give faulty readings and you'll have no idea what's really wrong with your machine. In alot of models, screwing in the gas cap unevenly can give you a check engine light.

Reading these make me glad that I don't have a car and am in love with the wonders of public transportation. Sure, it may not always be reliable, but for two bucks, I honestly can't complain with any authority.