Archive for September, 2009

Actual Case of a Rip Off in Fayetteville NC

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

We recently,September 23, 2009, spoke with an HAE Consumer Member who took their 2004 VW Passat to a repair shop in Fayettteville North Carolina. The car’s thermostat had failed causing the vehicle to overheat. now that’s were everything goes off the charts for rip off. You see, the shop quoted a price of over $450 to complete this repair. They said the labor time for this was 4.5 hours, we looked up the labor time on Alldata, mitchell’s and Chilton and the highest time was 2.5. Now, in explanation of the labor times, this shop to remain nameless,  gave the following;

cooling system diagnosis 1.0

verify complaint .1

check coolant condition .1

check coolant level .1

pressure test radiator .1

TSB search (Look up codes in computer) .1

Visual inspection .1

pressure test radiator .1 (That’s right, twice)

inspect belts .1

check cooling fans .1

inspect for proper coolant .1

replace thermostat 2.5

That’s 4.5 hours of labor, for what? Ok, let’s set this aside for a minute. We also looked at the parts pricing model to determine why this overcharge occurred. The following are the prices as listed on the estimate:

Thermostat $50.57, this is twice the manufacturer suggested retail price at the VW dealership.

Coolant $30.90, where is the gold in this fluid? Every parts store in the U.S. has this item for under $15.

The conclusion we came to was the same as you are probably thinking, “They saw him coming!” These shops get away with this because of the previous lack of knowledge of auto repair the public once had to endure. HAE was founded to prevent this type of hideous, out right abuse of the consumer.  For further details about the exact shop name and location you can email customerservice@honestautoestimates.com and request the information.

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HAE’s health care plan to give back $22 billion to Americans.

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

HAE is going to assist Americans in paying for their health care by furnishing them with $22 billion for use to buy coverage. HAE’s average consumer members are the people who spiraling health care cost affect most. You see, last year the U.S. Government estimates that Americans were over charged by over $22 billion for auto repairs. If they join HAE for FREE, they can save that money for their health care expenses.

The President said the governments plan would take 4 years to get into full swing. Here is the beat part, HAE’s $22 billion investment into the health care problem is available now and it’s FREE. This means Americans can start purchasing health coverage now when they join HAE as a Consumer Member and stop over spending on auto repairs. HAE has calculated that the average person is overcharged an annual average of around $1260. That’s about $105 per month. The U.S. Government estimate the average persons individual health cover cost them about $257 per month. All this math mean that if someone joins HAE for FREE they could use that extra $105 per month towards their heath insurance cost. This means HAE’s $22 billion health plan reduces the finacial impact of your health insurance by over  40% or at least the affect it has on your budget. The point is that by joining HAE, Americans can send a clear message to American business including insurance companies, “We are not going to sit back and be taken advantage of any more!” This is a significant way to make health insurance cost less of a burden on your already strained budget. HAE’s is offering this membership for FREE because of the mission HAE was started to accomplish, protecting Consumers against being overcharged for auto repairs.

Benjamin Franklyn said “A penny saved is a penny earned!”

$22 billion being diverted into American’s pockets,  should certainly make a difference in the health care of those Americans that take advantage of the offer made by HAE to protect them and keep their money for a better use to pay for their health coverage. Send me an email about how you would use the money saved by not being overcharged for auto repair at haehealthplan@honestautoestimates.com, HAE will post some of these here on this very popular blog and send them on to congress and let them know what you think.

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Where do labor guides get their repair times?

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

The most popular labor guides such as Alldata, Chilton and Mitchell’s purchase repair information from the manufacturers. The factory sets a time for every repair to the vehicle. They come up with most of these labor times by formulation not by actually dismantling the vehicle. This means that some labor times can vary from actual time, but the overall labor time is fairly accurate. The idea is that the more experienced the technician is, the faster the repair time. This is called the technicians efficiency  rate and most shops like to see at least 130%, which means the technicians billable time net about 30% profitability. If the technician is given a job that is rated at 10 hours and does the job in 7, then he is available for more work that will overlap that 10 hours. This leads to profit because the technician will also work faster on the 7 hour job. Auto repair shops sell parts and time not repairs, which is why consumers have to be careful when analyzing estimates for repairs. An estimate for repair to your car has very few components, labor time, parts and sales tax. Other fees such as shop supplies, hazardous waste or any other fee is added by the shop to cover a specific cost the shop may incur while performing repairs to your car. These fees however are sometimes abused and are simply added profit.

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Hey is it just me or did I really see………………

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

Maybe I am old fashion, but I think that auto repair should be auto repaired. So many times we take our cars to a repair shop only to hear, “We have to start with this and hope”, hope? Why not fix! With the level of computer intergration, most vehicles self diagnose. If a shops says this to you, look out wallet! They are telling you they are not sure whats wrong but if you don’t mind footing the bill, we can throw enough parts at the problem until it goes away. I know some problems are difficult to find, but dilligence can be a money saver. The key to getting a direct answer to “What’s wrong with it” is really a 3 pronged appraoch; 1) Technical knowledge 2) Tools 3) Technician. If you have these things going for you, there is a good chance you will only pay for the repair and not that shops training session on your car.

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The real world of auto repair

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

In the real world of auto repair shops, the bottom line rules. As the economy has tightened up, many shop have found themselves struggling to make it. Some have turned to overcharging the customers they do get in just to make ends meet.
HAE does not recognize the reasoning of “anything goes, I have to stay in business.” The truth is that it is possible to stay open and NOT overcharge consumers. The key to it all is getting the word out that no matter how bad it gets you will not resort to “Ripping off” consumers. Association such as HAE, BBB and AAA can be valuable resourses for both consumers and repair shops. They can connect “Honest” shops with consumers who don’t mind paying “An honest days pay for an honest days work”. HAE offers shops the ability to connect with it’s consumer members only if they meet the standards set to protect the members. These shops must meet criteria including being subjected to “Mystery Shopper” estimates. HAE makes sure that shops treat every consumer with respect and honesty or HAE will make an example out of that shop.
HAE is considered by many to be the authority concerning auto repair rip offs. We spot them a mile away and expose them everyday to our consumer members so they are not taken. Shop who think “Profit above all” or “Do what ever it takes” will pay the price, but those shops that join HAE and GUARANTEE they will not overcharge will reap the rewards!

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