Filed under: In the Autoblog Garage, Videos, Mercedes-Benz
VIDEO: Customer calls out Service Rep. on bogus $6,500 estimate
The vast majority of service technicians are honorable, hard-working folks. It's the rotten few that will rake you over the coals when given the chance, giving the entire profession a bad name. Wise Bread, a personal finance website, tells of a Mercedes-Benz owner who seems to have encountered one of the latter. The gentleman in question had a moonroof that was on the fritz, so he took it in for service. The service writer and "certified" technician appear to have teamed up to deem the powered roof completely broken, and gave an estimate of $6,500 for repairs. Shocked by the guesstimate, the man went out for a second opinion. The second tech looked over the problem, found a pebble in the roof tracking, and removed it with a pair of tweezers. Total repair cost? $143 (most service departments charge you two hours labor just to walk through the door).
What happens next is both cool and funny. The disgruntled owner went back to the dealership with a hidden camera to show just how wrong this original diagnosis was. The resulting seven-minute video, while poor on audio, is quite amusing nonetheless. Check it out after the jump, and while you're over there, tell us in the comments about some of your most memorable trips to the service department.
Thanks for the tip, Wilson!
[Source: Wise Bread]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
AutoLover 10:22AM (6/15/2007)
I would have jammed that rock up the service reps ass
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not surprised 10:24AM (6/15/2007)
Some service techs are paid commission, so this does not surprise me.
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cxv 10:27AM (6/15/2007)
Another customer for Lexus.
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matthew 10:29AM (6/15/2007)
I had a 2001 BMW 3series that we payed an aftermarket warrenty company to extend our coverage to 100,000 miles and 4 yrs additional to the factory warrenty...it was worth every penny of its $2000 price...within the next 60,000 miles after the factory warrenty we had nearly $6000 in repairs....
Dealers make money off repairs more then they do selling of cars...just a thought
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Cognoscente 10:30AM (6/15/2007)
This is why I never take my car to a dealership for service. When everybody has incentive to bring your car in for some sort of repair, the customer gets the shaft.
Next time you speak to the service department, try asking him about his compensation plan and how he enjoys that 6 figure salary (in high end dealerships.)
http://www.autoconcourse.com
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BKadalur 10:39AM (6/15/2007)
yea, my audi dealership tries to do the same thing...
too bad i only get estimates there...
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Jro 10:41AM (6/15/2007)
People are always complaining about service technicians. If this guy would have been given an estimate of $143 and then a further diagnosis showed that the $6500 repair was needed, he would have been just as furious. 99% of people have no idea how a dealership works and how techs get paid. As far as everyone who thinks that dealerships are rip offs, I have no problem letting them take their brand-new car to an independant shop with technology from the 1980s.
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Jugs 10:47AM (6/15/2007)
How much technology do you need to change a spark plug?
There are MANY independent shops that can easily compete with the dealers. Dealers are just overpaid rip-off artists.
Mattlach 11:08AM (6/15/2007)
In my humble experience dealerships are full of incompenetent bungling teenagers who just received their ASE certifications and know nothing about the cars their are servicing.
Then I go to an independent expert who has worked on my model of car for the last 20 years with tons of loyal customers....
Not only do I pay more at a delareship, but I also get a bunch of people who have no idea what they are doing, and just default to replacing an entire subassembly when something minor needs repair.
Logik 11:12AM (6/15/2007)
Many auto companies tend withhold service manuals/diagnostic tools from indy shops. Any reputable, well-established specialty indy shop should be able to keep up with required tools/technology.
Logik 11:22AM (6/15/2007)
Many auto companies tend withhold service manuals/diagnostic tools from indy shops. Any reputable, well-established specialty indy shop should be able to keep up with required tools/technology.
SobeSVT 11:27AM (6/15/2007)
Jor, Your reverse argumentation is either a sad joke or a pathetic justification for this type of fraud. Either case you don't make much sense.
By the way, a pair of tweezers (probably from the 80s) saved this guy over $6300. That is a good thing whether or not you want to admit it.
I hope Mercedes takes action against this dealer and that we hear about it.
Logik 11:39AM (6/15/2007)
Many auto companies tend withhold service manuals/diagnostic tools from indy shops. Any reputable, well-established specialty indy shop should be able to keep up with required tools/technology.
SobeSVT 12:01PM (6/15/2007)
Jro, Your reverse argumentation is either a sad joke or a pathetic justification for this type of fraud. Either case you don't make much sense.
By the way, a pair of tweezers (probably from the 80s) saved this guy over $6300. That is a good thing whether or not you want to admit it.
I hope Mercedes takes action against this dealer and that we hear about it.
Logik 12:08PM (6/15/2007)
Oops! Comment system is sorta buggy today.
jmac 11:17AM (6/15/2007)
I had a lightbulb go out in the passenger side sun visor and a tech said that they would have to replace the entire visor and the part alone was $750! And he would still have to add labor costs.
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bobby d 11:19AM (6/15/2007)
Yeah, but that's $6500 Canadian. That's like 400 bucks US.
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cprompt 11:48AM (6/15/2007)
You're quite the smartass, aren't you...
http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/rates/digest.html
93.75 CDN cents to the american USD my friend. Even if you were joking, this is a very stupid remark to make.
Mike 11:57AM (6/15/2007)
I thought it was pretty funny actually.
Canadians have no sense of humor, ay?
ch02ce 12:16PM (6/15/2007)
ay?