Well, today was an expensive day. Monday is my bestie's bday so today she had a birthday brunch in NYC. I did something similar for my birthday last month, but I originally stole the idea from her! Dan and I were taking the train into the city, so on our way to the train station, we dropped off my volvo to get serviced. I was in desperate need of new front tires in addition to the usual oil change, etc. It was a beautiful day in NJ with a high of 75 degrees! I can't believe just a few weeks ago we were buried in snow! Anyway, it was a gorgeous day in NYC and it seemed that everyone in NJ was heading into the city. Fortunately, our friend Alex saved us a spot on the train. Brunch was a blast but the city is always expensive. We went to a cute little place in Chelsea that opened up basically the whole front wall for this beautiful day so it was almost like we were eating outside. I ordered salmon benedict (like eggs benedict but with lox instead of ham, so good!) and may have had a couple of mimosas. I am a sucker for mimosas, but didn't have too many because I still had to pick up my car. After brunch, we headed back to get my car before the shop closed and when I went in to pay they charged me twice as much as they quoted over the phone!! I was so upset because during brunch they called Dan and told him it would be about $400-500, so Dan checked with me and I said okay. When we got there they told me I owed almost $1200!!! I was so upset because I felt helpless in the situation. I had no clue if I was being ripped off or not, what a good price was, or what tires I should have asked for. I let Dan handle the entire situation and then I went in there and they charged me twice as much. Of course I got Dan and told them what I was told but they flat out denied it. So after arguing for a bit, I just paid it and then promptly called my Dad when I got in the car. He was furious and thought I was being taken advantage of and hopped in the car and started driving to the place. I tried to stop him but there was no talking him out of it. By the time he got there they were closed (and I was long gone because I had already made a bit of a scene) but he is not letting this one go. Dan feels bad and offered to pay for half, which I wouldn't let him do. I know its not his fault, I just felt helpless in the situation because I wasn't knowledgeable enough about what I needed to even argue with them. I don't mind paying for a service and I wanted good tires, I was just caught completely off guard and I'm still confused if I got ripped off or if it was a misunderstanding. I feel bad because Dan took my car to the shop he usually goes to and I made a scene and argued with them. Oops.
Have you ever been taken advantage of in a similar situation? What did you do? What do you usually do if you need something you know nothing about?
Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. I will be back tomorrow with a running post. I'm hoping to run 10 miles tomorrow but my calves are killing me from the plyo class the other day. Good luck to Rick and anyone else running the NYC half marathon tomorrow!
4 comments:
Ah man that stinks! If I ever get ripped off that bad then I usually give them a piece of my mind and make sure that I tell them that I am not going back and that I will be telling all of my friends and family. They usually will change their position after I do that but if they don't then I really do quit and never go back. They won't be getting my business again!
oooohh that stinks and it does seem like they took advantage of you, I know that nobody our age uses it any more but I would file a complaint with the better business bureau, and have both you and dan call to speak to the manager, or owner of both the shop and if its associated with a dealership the owner of the dealership. Wait until you are calmer and then stress that you are loyal customers and that in this economy nobody can afford to lose loyal customers but that they have now lost you. I would then write them a letter saying the same thing, but also include a printed copy of the complaint you filed with the better business bureau you can file the complaint with the better business bureau online at bbb.org. Also, leave a review about the dealership on yelp.com or a similar review site in your area and be sure to include a printed copy of your review with your letter to the manager....
If they don't try to remedy the situation with you after all of that, then never go back. But usually somewhere between the phone call to the manager threatening that I will file a bbb complaint and the written letter, the business owner usually tries to make amends.
I don't do this often but have done it a few times and have had good results... Also, its important to note that if the manager/dealership makes amends by offering you a refund or a discount or something, then be sure to edit your BBB complaint and your yelp review to reflect that information.
I'd write the owner a letter explaining the situation. Most of the time, the owner and manager care about customer's experience and ought ot at least explain why it was so expensive. Of course, if they dont, it is just a bad shop, and not much you can do about that. But maybe there is a reason.
That sounds terrible! I would definately look into if you were ripped off. Popped in from Lady Blogger's Tea Party to say hi!
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