I took my Kia Rio in to BRS&I for service because it broke down just up the street from the dealership. They found 3 items that needed to be fixed. They quoted me a price and broke out the parts cost without telling me labor charges. I estimated it was about 3 hours of mechanic labor. I called at 5 pm to authorize work on 2 of the 3 items expecting my car would be there for the weekend. However, after only an hour they called back to tell me the work was complete. I was pleasantly surprised...
Upon arrival, I looked at my bill only to find that it was not itemized. I asked for an itemized bill and after some complaining, finally got a break down of parts, but still was only shown a lump sum labor charge.
I asked how many hours were in the lump sum charge of $300 and he said 3 at $100 each. I complained about paying for 3 hours of work that was done in 1 to which the service guy, Sean, replied, "That's just the way it is, it can't be changed." He didn't know who he's dealing with.
I asked to speak to the manager who finally came to see me after 20 minutes of waiting. He went on and on trying to explain away how things had been done correctly, even when I asked for proof of the time required to do the work. I wanted an itemized labor charge. After nearly an hour of discussion, he brought me the "proof". Much to his dismay, the "proof" showed that I was right, I should have been billed for only 1 hour, not 3.
To their credit, once this was out in the open they quickly made the adjustment to my bill, but it was only after I had spent and hour trying to get the information to prove them wrong. I make it a point to always get proof of billable hours at a mechanic shop before I pay, but this is the worst overcharging I have ever experienced! If they're doing this to me, they are definitely doing it to everyone!
They did good work and they were very polite in the nearly 2 hours that I was there, but if they don't do honest business then why would you go there??? I'll never go back!
Continued.....
I decided to do a bit more investigating of the issue of the diagnostic charge that was "rolled in" to my bill.
I had a friend call to get his car fixed and ask specifically about the diagnostic fee and he was told it "goes away" if you get the car fixed once they tell you what's wrong.
When I confronted them with this new information, they told me that it does go away. It goes into the other charges on the repair and there will be no line item showing that cost. So if I understand them correctly, "goes away" means "we're going to rape you, your mom, your sisters, and your dog, but in SECRET!"
Bottom line folks, ask a lot of questions before you authorize work on your car. Get an itemized cost breakdown BEFORE the work is done and you won't be sitting funny later.
