my $5800 bill surprise- NEED INPUT PLZ!

no, frame swaps are $13k, this was just additional stuff.

 

Go in guns blazing and threaten to sue. What was the estimate or quote they gave you? $2500??

 

So you were there with the truck apart and halfway complete on the clutch and got your first meeting. Right there I would be pumping the brakes. Ignorance does not absolve you from responsibility. In court their lawyer will have a field day with you. They will ask you why you were halfway into the job and weren’t protesting that they were performing work you didn’t authorize or didn’t have a quote for. Since you were complacent even then they will claim you only had an issue once the final bill was presented to you. I can’t walk into a restaurant and claim I wasn’t provided a menu with prices so I shouldn’t have to pay when a coke is $5 and a hamburger is $24.

OP, I feel for you. That is a big bill when you were expecting half of that. But you have to take some responsibility for this. You dropped the ball multiple times. Might be your age or inexperience (sorry don’t know your age or what your experiences are). I ask questions and request details. I am anal about it because I didn't when I was younger and paid the price for it. In life everything is about the details. I can buy high quality goods or cheap Chinese. They both do the same thing but the details set them apart. Same with financing rates, terms etc. Everything in life isn’t about the broad strokes it is in the details. This is essentially a $2500 lesson (on top of the $2500 you expected to pay. So about 25 hours labour give or take. Yes it sucks. You wanted the work done and you got it and maybe more. You now have a solid frame and got everything done you had hoped to afford. Yes the bill is higher than you were ready to swallow. But is it fair? Did you really want those things done you were quoting?

At the end of the day I am less than confident the OP will get his truck with the help of the police or get away from paying in court. Not my problem or my responsibility because I would do my due diligence first. That’s the lesson here. Stop thinking about retribution and weaseling out of paying for a second and accept your responsibility. Otherwise you will repeat this mistake in the future regardless of how you resolve this. Good luck and lesson learned (hopefully).

 

Moral of story: Every person at that dealership has a business card with their email address on it. ESPECIALLY the General Manager. As soon as possible you put everything in an email to them, with delivery and read receipt requested. You write that nothing is to be done to the vehicle until they respond to this email with firm pricing, and until you respond to them back authorizing the work. Life is a minefield of crap like this. You hold the mine detector. Use it.

But you already know that. Now.

 

You are approaching this wrong. The real question is did it take 58 hours to do this extra work (100/hr estimate or equivalent to hours to labor)? That is the only question that needs to be answered, if they can demonstrate that at their labor rate/fees that they came up with $5800 worth, then the bill is valid.

 

OP let us know the outcome of this please

 

It is actually pretty sad some things people get away with. I have a friend who owns a restaurant and when the new chip cards came out they didn't have a reader. Well some people complained they didn't have a chip reader, instead swiping, and basically were refunded their amount. Of course that is pretty bullshit. I am not sure if they lost out on the money or just the CC as I didn't follow up.

 

Bill may be valid (or inflated). Is the arguement about authorization or the actual value of the bill?

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Think about it. Either the dealership did the work in good faith thinking that’s what was what was asked of them. Or they intentionally did the work without authorization to bump up the invoice. If that’s the case you had better believe they have ensured they will get paid not matter what. Either way someone is getting screwed. But let’s blindly support the dude who didn’t do his due diligence or set off any alarm bells until he got the final bill.

Anyway I am out. I have already unwatched this thread a page ago and keep getting quoted. If I could sum up this whole thread in a couple of words it’s DUE DILIGENCE. Either do it or accept the consequences which some are unwilling to do. Not my wallet.

 

IF ANY business has a credit card machine that swipes instead of using the chip insert and the card used has a chip that transaction can be disputed via whoever's name that credit card is in....fact!

 

Seems to me that if a legit shop/dealer was going to sink $6K of parts and labor into a customer's vehicle, they'd be darn sure to dot their I's and cross their T's, but what do I know?

Hope it works out satisfactorily, OP.

 

How does that work though. I'm pretty sure someone can pull up a video cam and see the person swiping. I mean isn't that essentially fraud?

Edit: I could basically say all my lunch transactions at my work café are subject if that's the case.

 

OP, nobody here on TW has a vested interest in what happens to your truck/money, remember that. if you feel you've been taken advantage of by the service department than by all means stand up and let them know your not going to take it and then follow through on whatever you plan to do. Problem is a lot of people would just bow down and take it when dealing with something like this, its what they expect the customer to do.

Its your money don't let someone's opinion on TW stop you from doing what you fell is right.

 

Not sure the exacts I called a few places when searching for a new machine and they all stated that.

 

This. ^^

Because

1) we are morbidly curious

2) at least 1/2 of the sidewalk lawyers here will be out of business.

Hope it all shakes fairly all around.

 

Just try not to be a douche and get out of paying the entire bill. You messed up by not being on top of what the dealer was doing, they messed up on not getting your written authorization. An equitable settlement of a 50/50 split seems fair to both parties seeing as they did do all the work you originally wanted.

 

OP may have a case to not have to pay for any of the work if they didn’t sign an estimate but perhaps a more fair solution would be to offer to pay the shop for parts and labor at cost.

 

Typical noob thread. Posts up looking for advice. Never closes the loop. Thanks OP!

 

you guys got Kuffered

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/truck-painted-with-bed-liner.387804/