Feeling Rather Ripped Off

[Pete]

So....I take my father's car into Canadian Tire to have two front struts replaced, an upper shock mount bolt drilled out and replaced, and a wheel alignment. I haven't lived in Canada for 15 years, and it did not occur to me that a garage like Canadian Tire would mislead me.

The repair to the car took a couple of hours, maximum, but I was charged 4.6 hours labour. I had returned to my parents house, and was still paying Canadian Tire for my time! I complained, and was told that "the book" said to charge 4.6 hours. I asked them to explain why they did not inform me, in a transparent manner, before the repair started, that they were going to charge me 4.6 hours. They had no response, and commented that I should have asked. They also charged me a seperate charge for the wheel alignment.

How is it that a garage can overcharge for a repair because their "book" tells them to do this. It seems rather inappropriate that a garage has a policy to overcharge for a repair. When I complained about this I was shrugged off and told to ring the complaints line, as they were not prepared to address my complaint locally. So, I have overpaid for a repair, and while my clock was ticking, they were repairing the cars of other customers. This seems like double charging to me, and a great way to maximise profits, while cheating customers. This is very poor practice on the part of Canadian Tire, and out family will never set feet in the store again. Terrible.

 

[Pete]

So...I get a call from a Canadian Tire service person who tells me that I have been charged correctly for this repair, regardless of the fact how long the repair actually took. Seriously, there must be something wrong with me - how can a garage justify charging 4.6 hours labour for a repair that took 2 hours? This policy is not displayed anywhere in the garage, and being used to dealing with garages in a different way, I am confused. I poiinted out to the man on the phone that no one explained what I was going to be charged before the repair started and I stupidly assumed that I was going to be charged on the basis of an hourly labour rate (which was displayed on a sign in the garage). This was meaningless to him - we charge what we charge, tough luck no one explained things to you, tough luck, get lost and go away. I really hate Canadian Tire and will never go near them again.

 

[Rayne]

Hey Pete,

Actually Canadian Tire is not the only place that does this. In fact, every shop does it. It's really an indication of what the job should take. Good thing is that if you have a newbie mechanic who takes 6 hours to do the job you still will only be charged 4.6 hours. Thing is most repair jobs are fairly routine and mechanics become quite good at them... hence only taking 2 hours. I learned all this at my local Ford dealership where my friend is the service manager. I agree with you that it's totally not fair... but just letting you know you'll find that anywhere.

Rayne