Whether you live in Bend Oregon or Detroit Michigan, you can become a victim of automatic repair fraud. Car repair stores throughout the country utilize consumers like you and produce millions of dollars more than their normal profit.
Now not all automatic repair stores do this. The majority are honest and on board with their customers. However, this particular type of business has the highest level of fraud and fraud of other types of businesses. A recent study conducted by national highway traffic safety administration estimates that American consumers lose tens of billions of dollars every year due to wrong or unnecessary car repairs.
Unethical mechanics feel very easy to convince car owners that improvements that do not need to be needed on their vehicles because most car owners know a little about their cars. Most often, they don’t even know they will scammed! This makes fraud repair cars that are proven almost impossible.
Here are some typical automatic repair fraud and how to avoid it. Fraud is sometimes difficult to detect so it is very alert to the signs or key words that you see or hear when you talk to the workshop.
Repair of fraud on the road
When you are traveling across countries on the open road, you regularly need gas, air in your tire, or to check your oil. Some crooked service station owners will take this opportunity to cheat you by shedding oil under your car, cutting the fan belt or hose, and even stabbing tires. Then they will charge you a premium to make this improvement.
How can you avoid this “highway robber”? The best way is to get gas, water, and air only at a large and famous service station. Don’t pull it to one of the gloomy small gas pumps with rusty cars around the property. It’s often far from big cities, far in remote areas. Plan your fuel and toilet so you end up in big cities.
Repair of fraudulent estimates
Some consumers make mistakes by not getting an estimated repair in writing before the work is done. This fraud happens when this workshop provides consumers estimates that are very reasonable when the car goes down, but when he comes to take it, the price is much higher than verbal estimates. Mechanics will claim that some unexpected problems appear and increase bills.
How can this type of fraud be avoided? For one, always get an estimate of your repair in writing. And explain to the store owner that if every unexpected improvement is found during the main repairs, you must be informed about it and the cost of fixing it before the work is finished.