Mechanics and come backs

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I want to say that 80 percent of the non bitog population don't even know what they are looking at when they pop the hood. (Sad I know) so considering that 8 out of 10 times people work on my stuff I usually have to bring it back for them to fix/finish the job. Why is it that I have to look at it and double check that the work was done right. I wonder if I can just cancel the credit card payment when this happens.

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Your lumping us all together. I rarely have a comeback and if I do it's usually a failed part and not a mistake. I'm sure that critics work is as good if not better than mine since he likes to use OEM parts.
 
Don't cancel the credit card payment, they can put a mechanic's lien on the vehicle.
This sort of thing always has been, and will continue to be, something that happens in an industry that pays it's mechanics on a flat rate commission basis. The industry also suffers from a lack of skill due to the fact that there is precious little formal schooling available for mechanics now days, and the vast majority of training is on-the-job. Customers really have no way of knowing how much, if any, experience the mechanic working on their vehicle has on their specific vehicle and/or problem.
 
You're always going to read/hear more complaints than praise. I worked with very skilled techs and our dealership rarely had comebacks.
 
You can't or should not cancel a credit card unless you have had to return a few times. A minor comeback that's likely not a techs fault is no reason to cancel payment.

If you think its ok to do that you will be labeled as a whiner and no shops in your area will want to work on your stuff. Most shops are friends with other shops and we all talk.We also know who the flakes in the business are.
 
Probably because 80% of the so called mechanics today are hacks. The same can be said for other tradesmen as well unfortunately. There are several good mechanics who reside on this board, Trav, clinebarger, and The Critic come to mind, as do a few others. If they were close to me I'd probably use or recommend them to people. Aside from that finding one can be a challenge, I got lucky and found great tech at a local Jeep dealership. He has been great handling recall and warranty work. He's a great guy, a neat worker and very knowledgeable. I make it a point to take care of him when he does work for me.
 
Most banks want you to make a good faith effort to resolve the matter before disputing a charge. And just because you can dispute a charge doesn't mean you won't ultimately be on the hook for it....
 
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Originally Posted by motor_oil_madman
I want to say that 80 percent of the non bitog population don't even know what they are looking at when they pop the hood. (Sad I know) so considering that 8 out of 10 times people work on my stuff I usually have to bring it back for them to fix/finish the job. Why is it that I have to look at it and double check that the work was done right. I wonder if I can just cancel the credit card payment when this happens.

Opinions?


Major disconnect here. You say 8 of 10 non-BITOG don't know what they're looking at under the hood and then project that 80 percent figure onto people who work the trade?
 
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I'm saying some mechanics get by with shoddy work because they know that most of the public doesn't even know most of the parts under the hood, so they wouldn't know if it was done wrong to begin with.
 
I think there are many situations where no one will know for a while. With brakes if you did not do a good job of prepping the caliper bracket and putting the proper grease under the clip it would be awhile before the rust from the caliper bracket pushed on the clip. At that point its many months or a year or so after the brake job. It was not done right but no one knew. The next mechanic will attribute it to living in the rust belt.
 
Originally Posted by motor_oil_madman
I'm saying some mechanics get by with shoddy work because they know that most of the public doesn't even know most of the parts under the hood, so they wouldn't know if it was done wrong to begin with.



Ahh..ok. Well, hmm.I would not charge back on comebacks w because it creates an adversarial tone between you and the shop. Of course I'm assuming you're not talking about unresolved comebacks.
 
Good work doesn't come cheap. This applies to any trade. The few times I've taken my vehicles to another shop it wasn't cheap, but the one time I had an issue it was fixed ASAP with no questions asked.
 
Find a good shop and stick with them.
If you pick the cheapest, you just might be getting less than what you paid for. Of course this is true for just about everything...
I recently had work done to our TSX that I would usually do.
I couldn't do it due to recovery from surgery.
I called a shop that I knew was good; I knew they were expensive.
The work was top notch; I am more than satisfied.

Mistakes will happen. A good shop will make it right.
 
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
Find a new mechanic. I don't have this problem.


Agreed. Even as a dealership tech I gained customers of my own due to the ability to fix many independent shops comebacks. It was always nice to know people had the confidence in my abilities to the extent that they only wanted me working on their vehicle. I'm sure they were quite frustrated making multiple trips and still not getting a proper repair performed.

Don't take this as bash on independent shops. There are several independent shop techs I know that are phenomenal and I know some dealer techs who had comebacks repeatedly.
 
I worked as a mechanic for years and grew up in a family owned garage. Comebacks happen. Whomever said they are paid for speed and not quality is somewhat correct. Flat rate mechs dont get paid for comebacks. We paid hourly wages to our guys to avoid this but comebacks do still happen from time to time.

Cars are complex and intermittent problems can be very hard to diagnose. As long as they are not charging you multiple times to fix the same problem and offering you some consideration for your troubles you really cant complain.

99% of people think a good mechanic is the cheap mechanic. This is never the case. A good mechanic doesn't have to be cheap. Mechanics as a general rule dont know much about oil either and love to repeat myths...dont hold this against them. They are not trained in lube tech lol
 
Also to the post above mine...there are great independant shops and bad ones...same to the dealerships.

In my area our dealerships are awful...sadly most of the indi guys are too. Its what i get for living where I live...and a the biggest reason i drive Toyotas
 
Originally Posted by motor_oil_madman
(Sad I know) so considering that 8 out of 10 times people work on my stuff I usually have to bring it back for them to fix/finish the job. Why is it that I have to look at it and double check that the work was done right.


Depends on what work. Brakes, suspension, exhaust, no real excuse since it's basic remove and replace. Electrical and electronics diagnostics and repair? There are so many variables and the complexity makes it hard to get it right the first time.
 
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