Consumer Advocacy Organization Takes Aim at Auto Repair Shop Rip-offs. Please Help!

From : kenneth brotman

Q: were all finding it increasingly difficult to find a quality auto repair shop. think of how often you have had a problem with an auto repair shop. i spent fourteen years trying to clean up the auto repair industry from the inside. i even owned a big auto repair shop for three and a half years. i know exactly whats going on in the industry. nobody can bs me about it. many shops are using misleading advertising poor quality parts and unskilled personnel. shops routinely misdiagnose problems charging consumers for unnecessary work. the shops that try to do things right struggle to compete in a marketplace that is out of control unstructured and largely unpoliced. auto repair is a perennial top five most complained about category and the problems are not improving. women and the elderly are especially vulnerable. there needs to be a rallying point for consumers who have had enough. thats why i founded the board of consumer advocacy. we have counselors available for members to discuss a problem you may have with a shop discuss whether recommendations made by a shop are appropriate and discuss whether estimates made by a shop are reasonable. that will help protect us until things change. to force change well have to join together. we have launched a website at www.automotiveservice.org where you can get more information about the organization and how you can help. together we can improve the quality of service at our neighborhood garages and reduce the fraud that victimizes so many of our friends and family. thank you! -- kenneth brotman board of consumer advocacy www.automotiveservice.org helping to improve the quality of service and reduce fraud at auto repair facilities. to reply remove the nospam at the end of the email address provided. .

Replies:

From : diode

adrian...are you reading this o -- -||- diode -||- 68 l79 coupe 79 triumph bonneville kenneth brotman postbytheadvocates@automotiveservice.orgnospam wrote were all finding it increasingly difficult to find a quality auto repair shop. think of how often you have had a problem with an auto repair shop. i spent fourteen years trying to clean up the auto repair industry from the inside. i even owned a big auto repair shop for three and a half years. i know exactly whats going on in the industry. nobody can bs me about it. many shops are using misleading advertising poor quality parts and unskilled personnel. shops routinely misdiagnose problems charging consumers for unnecessary work. the shops that try to do things right struggle to compete in a marketplace that is out of control unstructured and largely unpoliced. auto repair is a perennial top five most complained about category and the problems are not improving. women and the elderly are especially vulnerable. there needs to be a rallying point for consumers who have had enough. thats why i founded the board of consumer advocacy. we have counselors available for members to discuss a problem you may have with a shop discuss whether recommendations made by a shop are appropriate and discuss whether estimates made by a shop are reasonable. that will help protect us until things change. to force change well have to join together. we have launched a website at www.automotiveservice.org where you can get more information about the organization and how you can help. together we can improve the quality of service at our neighborhood garages and reduce the fraud that victimizes so many of our friends and family. thank you! -- kenneth brotman board of consumer advocacy www.automotiveservice.org helping to improve the quality of service and reduce fraud at auto repair facilities. to reply remove the nospam at the end of the email address provided. .

From : brian g

kenneth brotman were all finding it increasingly difficult to find a quality auto snipped trey wrote if they fix a car right the first time then their customers will never come back! thats not good for business... isnt it wrong thats fraud which is a criminal act even in the states - isnt it besides if you keep a customer happy then they will return and even recommend the company to their relatives and friends - that has to be good for business - doesnt it a lot of people driving cars have no idea what is going on under the hood. its just transportation to them. there are a lot of people that dont even know how to change a flat or where their spare tire even is. do you know how everything works if not you are in the very same position as the car owner who has very little knowledge and trusts their garage shop to carry out the work correctly. how will you feel when you are ripped off sure the auto repair industry is cheating and ripping people off but the customers dont know any better. does that make a criminal act legal and the majority do know when they are ripped off but the may be too timid to complain. the customers need to improve their knowledge of cars as well as improving the honesty of the repair shops. i am not saying anyone on here knows nothing about cars but i am sure we all know a lot of people that just dont care to know about cars. i have had many people tell me i put gas in it and it goes thats all i know surely if you are prepared to pay for a service then it is not necessary to have any knowledge of cars or anything else - thats what you pay the garage shop for and the expectation is that they will do the work correctly first time. brian .

From : david

but why anyone with a problem with a dealer service can contact the dealers franchise manufacture the bbb the states attorney general the local business licensing agency as well as local tv station if they have a problem. were all finding it increasingly difficult to find a quality auto repair shop. think of how often you have had a problem with an auto repair shop. i spent fourteen years trying to clean up the auto repair industry from the inside. i even owned a big auto repair shop for three and a half years. i know exactly whats going on in the industry. nobody can bs me about it. many shops are using misleading advertising poor quality parts and unskilled personnel. shops routinely misdiagnose problems charging consumers for unnecessary work. the shops that try to do things right struggle to compete in a marketplace that is out of control unstructured and largely unpoliced. auto repair is a perennial top five most complained about category and the problems are not improving. women and the elderly are especially vulnerable. there needs to be a rallying point for consumers who have had enough. thats why i founded the board of consumer advocacy. we have counselors available for members to discuss a problem you may have with a shop discuss whether recommendations made by a shop are appropriate and discuss whether estimates made by a shop are reasonable. that will help protect us until things change. to force change well have to join together. we have launched a website at www.automotiveservice.org where you can get more information about the organization and how you can help. together we can improve the quality of service at our neighborhood garages and reduce the fraud that victimizes so many of our friends and family. thank you! -- kenneth brotman board of consumer advocacy www.automotiveservice.org helping to improve the quality of service and reduce fraud at auto repair facilities. to reply remove the nospam at the end of the email address provided. .

From : steve g

if you owned a large shop for only 31/2 year then youre aware of one of the biggest problems. im going to go out on a limb and suggest you no longer own it because it wasnt profitable enough or you outright went broke. the difficulty with the present situation is that the consumer wants the lowest possible price without actually concerning themselves with what they get until something goes wrong. in addition to that its very expensive to properly equip a facility and hire properly trained technicians that actually give a sh.t. the properly equipped and trained shop has to compete with the guy that hires the bottom 50% of the technician class if they went to school at all. and his $10 thermostat has to be competitively priced against the $2.50 offshore one that the low-baller is selling. job1 convince the consumer that they get what they pay for. as it is i think things work out fairly well for the most part. the guy looking to deal with the backyarder and the discounter gets exactly what he pays for. my gripe is the cases of shoddy workmanship at the high priced dealers but at least there you have the manufacturer to go back to . fwiw kenneth brotman postbytheadvocates@automotiveservice.orgnospam wrote were all finding it increasingly difficult to find a quality auto repair shop. think of how often you have had a problem with an auto repair shop. i spent fourteen years trying to clean up the auto repair industry from the inside. i even owned a big auto repair shop for three and a half years. i know exactly whats going on in the industry. nobody can bs me about it. many shops are using misleading advertising poor quality parts and unskilled personnel. shops routinely misdiagnose problems charging consumers for unnecessary work. the shops that try to do things right struggle to compete in a marketplace that is out of control unstructured and largely unpoliced. auto repair is a perennial top five most complained about category and the problems are not improving. women and the elderly are especially vulnerable. there needs to be a rallying point for consumers who have had enough. thats why i founded the board of consumer advocacy. we have counselors available for members to discuss a problem you may have with a shop discuss whether recommendations made by a shop are appropriate and discuss whether estimates made by a shop are reasonable. that will help protect us until things change. to force change well have to join together. we have launched a website at www.automotiveservice.org where you can get more information about the organization and how you can help. together we can improve the quality of service at our neighborhood garages and reduce the fraud that victimizes so many of our friends and family. thank you! -- kenneth brotman board of consumer advocacy www.automotiveservice.org helping to improve the quality of service and reduce fraud at auto repair facilities. to reply remove the nospam at the end of the email address provided. .

From : tera news

so you are saying its the customers fault for not understanding the technology so they deserve to get ripped off i think you are pointing the blame at the wrong people here. why dont we police the people who are breaking the law. if they fix a car right the first time then their customers will never come back! thats not good for business... isnt it a lot of people driving cars have no idea what is going on under the hood. its just transportation to them. there are a lot of people that dont even know how to change a flat or where their spare tire even is. sure the auto repair industry is cheating and ripping people off but the customers dont know any better. the customers need to improve their knowledge of cars as well as improving the honesty of the repair shops. i am not saying anyone on here knows nothing about cars but i am sure we all know a lot of people that just dont care to know about cars. i have had many people tell me i put gas in it and it goes thats all i know kenneth brotman postbytheadvocates@automotiveservice.orgnospam wrote were all finding it increasingly difficult to find a quality auto repair shop. think of how often you have had a problem with an auto repair shop. i spent fourteen years trying to clean up the auto repair industry from the inside. i even owned a big auto repair shop for three and a half years. i know exactly whats going on in the industry. nobody can bs me about it. many shops are using misleading advertising poor quality parts and unskilled personnel. shops routinely misdiagnose problems charging consumers for unnecessary work. the shops that try to do things right struggle to compete in a marketplace that is out of control unstructured and largely unpoliced. auto repair is a perennial top five most complained about category and the problems are not improving. women and the elderly are especially vulnerable. there needs to be a rallying point for consumers who have had enough. thats why i founded the board of consumer advocacy. we have counselors available for members to discuss a problem you may have with a shop discuss whether recommendations made by a shop are appropriate and discuss whether estimates made by a shop are reasonable. that will help protect us until things change. to force change well have to join together. we have launched a website at www.automotiveservice.org where you can get more information about the organization and how you can help. together we can improve the quality of service at our neighborhood garages and reduce the fraud that victimizes so many of our friends and family. thank you! -- kenneth brotman board of consumer advocacy www.automotiveservice.org helping to improve the quality of service and reduce fraud at auto repair facilities. to reply remove the nospam at the end of the email address provided. .

From : fitch r williams

dkuhajda@locl.net david wrote anyone with a problem with a dealer service can contact the dealers franchise manufacture the bbb the states attorney general the local business licensing agency as well as local tv station if they have a problem. yeah right - and of course we all have the time to spend doing that while trying to balance the day job family etc. and it is just about totally ineffective unless you and about a hundred other folks complain about the same business in a short time. it can take a heck of a lot of effort to get any action at all from anybody - most of the agencies just take your complaint and put it in a log. if they get enough of them maybe if nothing else is pressing they might take a look. but an individual might as well go out and talk to a tree as a government agency. the states attorney general are bargaining to get people out on the street never mind worry about your problem with a heater core defect. the local tv station that carries their advertising will have to accumulate a number of examples before they will run anything derogatory. good luck. fitch .

From : tbone

now this is the very attitude that the scumbags hope and pray for from the general public. -- if at first you dont succeed youre not cut out for skydiving dkuhajda@locl.net david wrote anyone with a problem with a dealer service can contact the dealers franchise manufacture the bbb the states attorney general the local business licensing agency as well as local tv station if they have a problem. yeah right - and of course we all have the time to spend doing that while trying to balance the day job family etc. and it is just about totally ineffective unless you and about a hundred other folks complain about the same business in a short time. it can take a heck of a lot of effort to get any action at all from anybody - most of the agencies just take your complaint and put it in a log. if they get enough of them maybe if nothing else is pressing they might take a look. but an individual might as well go out and talk to a tree as a government agency. the states attorney general are bargaining to get people out on the street never mind worry about your problem with a heater core defect. the local tv station that carries their advertising will have to accumulate a number of examples before they will run anything derogatory. good luck. fitch .

From : arron ramseytrey

1998 dodge ram sport 4x4 360 new pump and converter at 30kish miles by previous 1st owner. new pump and converter at 54000 miles. now slipping in gear before overdrive on light acceleration. probably going to just replace the whole thing when it gets undriveable i also had a toyota for 150000 miles and had to replace starters and clutches other wise worry free. even with the repairs and possible tranny replacement the dodge was still cheaper than a toyota. also i set a car alarm off when i started my ram the other day....couldnt do that in my toyota!!!! mnmorrison wrote my boss just had to replace his trans. with only 77k $3000 installedon the vehicle. he has the full size ram 4x4 with the 360 engine. im looking into buying a used dakota within the next year but now im nervous. ive heard about dodge tranny nightmares. are my worries warranted i like the features that dodge has and feel its a good deal for the $$. i currently own an 89 toyota p/u with 248000 trouble-free miles so im not used to having to drop big bucks on repairs. not trying to start any dodge vs. toyota stuff here just looking for some feel for what is going on out there. thanks for your comments. .

From : trey

when people come in and ask to have the air in their tires changed then you really have to worry its happened i know the ones breaking the law are the ones we should go after. its hard to find an honest mechanic. so you are saying its the customers fault for not understanding the technology so they deserve to get ripped off i think you are pointing the blame at the wrong people here. why dont we police the people who are breaking the law. if they fix a car right the first time then their customers will never come back! thats not good for business... isnt it a lot of people driving cars have no idea what is going on under the hood. its just transportation to them. there are a lot of people that dont even know how to change a flat or where their spare tire even is. sure the auto repair industry is cheating and ripping people off but the customers dont know any better. the customers need to improve their knowledge of cars as well as improving the honesty of the repair shops. i am not saying anyone on here knows nothing about cars but i am sure we all know a lot of people that just dont care to know about cars. i have had many people tell me i put gas in it and it goes thats all i know kenneth brotman postbytheadvocates@automotiveservice.orgnospam wrote were all finding it increasingly difficult to find a quality auto repair shop. think of how often you have had a problem with an auto repair shop. i spent fourteen years trying to clean up the auto repair industry from the inside. i even owned a big auto repair shop for three and a half years. i know exactly whats going on in the industry. nobody can bs me about it. many shops are using misleading advertising poor quality parts and unskilled personnel. shops routinely misdiagnose problems charging consumers for unnecessary work. the shops that try to do things right struggle to compete in a marketplace that is out of control unstructured and largely unpoliced. auto repair is a perennial top five most complained about category and the problems are not improving. women and the elderly are especially vulnerable. there needs to be a rallying point for consumers who have had enough. thats why i founded the board of consumer advocacy. we have counselors available for members to discuss a problem you may have with a shop discuss whether recommendations made by a shop are appropriate and discuss whether estimates made by a shop are reasonable. that will help protect us until things change. to force change well have to join together. we have launched a website at www.automotiveservice.org where you can get more information about the organization and how you can help. together we can improve the quality of service at our neighborhood garages and reduce the fraud that victimizes so many of our friends and family. thank you! -- kenneth brotman board of consumer advocacy www.automotiveservice.org helping to improve the quality of service and reduce fraud at auto repair facilities. to reply remove the nospam at the end of the email address provided. .

From : diode

the other side of the coin is that so many people assume that all mechanics are crooks. my buddy owns a repair shop and tells me that happens all the time. people come in with cars that have serious problems but the owner just assumes that hes trying to rip them off. mostly because of all of the hype like the post that started this thread. my buddy spends a disproportionate amount of time convincing people that hes not a crook. very sad situation. i have to believe that a certain percentage of the hype is just that...media bs. what i call road rage syndrome. a fictitious problem totally created by the media. -- -|- diode -|- 68 l79 coupe 79 triumph bonneville when people come in and ask to have the air in their tires changed then you really have to worry its happened i know the ones breaking the law are the ones we should go after. its hard to find an honest mechanic. so you are saying its the customers fault for not understanding the technology so they deserve to get ripped off i think you are pointing the blame at the wrong people here. why dont we police the people who are breaking the law. if they fix a car right the first time then their customers will never come back! thats not good for business... isnt it a lot of people driving cars have no idea what is going on under the hood. its just transportation to them. there are a lot of people that dont even know how to change a flat or where their spare tire even is. sure the auto repair industry is cheating and ripping people off but the customers dont know any better. the customers need to improve their knowledge of cars as well as improving the honesty of the repair shops. i am not saying anyone on here knows nothing about cars but i am sure we all know a lot of people that just dont care to know about cars. i have had many people tell me i put gas in it and it goes thats all i know kenneth brotman postbytheadvocates@automotiveservice.orgnospam wrote were all finding it increasingly difficult to find a quality auto repair shop. think of how often you have had a problem with an auto repair shop. i spent fourteen years trying to clean up the auto repair industry from the inside. i even owned a big auto repair shop for three and a half years. i know exactly whats going on in the industry. nobody can bs me about it. many shops are using misleading advertising poor quality parts and unskilled personnel. shops routinely misdiagnose problems charging consumers for unnecessary work. the shops that try to do things right struggle to compete in a marketplace that is out of control unstructured and largely unpoliced. auto repair is a perennial top five most complained about category and the problems are not improving. women and the elderly are especially vulnerable. there needs to be a rallying point for consumers who have had enough. thats why i founded the board of consumer advocacy. we have counselors available for members to discuss a problem you may have with a shop discuss whether recommendations made by a shop are appropriate and discuss whether estimates made by a shop are reasonable. that will help protect us until things change. to force change well have to join together. we have launched a website at www.automotiveservice.org where you can get more information about the organization and how you can help. together we can improve the quality of service at our neighborhood garages and reduce the fraud that victimizes so many of our friends and family. thank you! -- kenneth brotman board of consumer advocacy www.automotiveservice.org helping to improve the quality of service and reduce fraud at auto repair facilities. to reply remove the nospam at the end of the email address provided. .

From : charlie

yeah well if you read the screed that started this the guy has an axe to grind. he thinks that it was crooked shops that ran him out of business after 3 years. im sorry but the honest shops reputation gets around. and if they fail its usually their own fault. the other side of the coin is that so many people assume that all mechanics are crooks. my buddy owns a repair shop and tells me that happens all the time. people come in with cars that have serious problems but the owner just assumes that hes trying to rip them off. mostly because of all of the hype like the post that started this thread. my buddy spends a disproportionate amount of time convincing people that hes not a crook. very sad situation. i have to believe that a certain percentage of the hype is just that...media bs. what i call road rage syndrome. a fictitious problem totally created by the media. -- -|- diode -|- 68 l79 coupe 79 triumph bonneville when people come in and ask to have the air in their tires changed then you really have to worry its happened i know the ones breaking the law are the ones we should go after. its hard to find an honest mechanic. so you are saying its the customers fault for not understanding the technology so they deserve to get ripped off i think you are pointing the blame at the wrong people here. why dont we police the people who are breaking the law. if they fix a car right the first time then their customers will never come back! thats not good for business... isnt it a lot of people driving cars have no idea what is going on under the hood. its just transportation to them. there are a lot of people that dont even know how to change a flat or where their spare tire even is. sure the auto repair industry is cheating and ripping people off but the customers dont know any better. the customers need to improve their knowledge of cars as well as improving the honesty of the repair shops. i am not saying anyone on here knows nothing about cars but i am sure we all know a lot of people that just dont care to know about cars. i have had many people tell me i put gas in it and it goes thats all i know kenneth brotman postbytheadvocates@automotiveservice.orgnospam wrote in message were all finding it increasingly difficult to find a quality auto repair shop. think of how often you have had a problem with an auto repair shop. i spent fourteen years trying to clean up the auto repair industry from the inside. i even owned a big auto repair shop for three and a half years. i know exactly whats going on in the industry. nobody can bs me about it. many shops are using misleading advertising poor quality parts and unskilled personnel. shops routinely misdiagnose problems charging consumers for unnecessary work. the shops that try to do things right struggle to compete in a marketplace that is out of control unstructured and largely unpoliced. auto repair is a perennial top five most complained about category and the problems are not improving. women and the elderly are especially vulnerable. there needs to be a rallying point for consumers who have had enough. thats why i founded the board of consumer advocacy. we have counselors available for members to discuss a problem you may have with a shop discuss whether recommendations made by a shop are appropriate and discuss whether estimates made by a shop are reasonable. that will help protect us until things change. to force change well have to join together. we have launched a website at www.automotiveservice.org where you can get more information about the organization and how you can help. together we can improve the quality of service at our neighborhood garages and reduce the fraud that victimizes so many of our friends and family. thank you! -- kenneth brotman board of consumer advocacy www.automotiveservice.org helping to improve the quality of service and reduce fraud at auto repair facilities. to reply remove the nospam at the end of the email address provided. .