Talk about price gouging...
 

I was on a business trip yesterday when my hot water heater sprung a leak and sprayed the garage. My wife heads home at lunch to find a plumber. My mother arrives shortly to help her make decisions because I couldn't be reached.

Plumber arrives, assesses the situation (sees 2 P-cars in the garage) and gives my wife a $1700 quote to replace the water heater. Can you believe that ****!! Luckily, I had good cell phone coverage at the time so my wife was able to contact me.

She had me on speaker so the plumber could hear. I said NO FREAKING WAY AM I PAYING SOME DICKHEAD THAT MUCH TO REPLACE A $300 WATER HEATER! Dude starts back pedalling to explain what's all included in the service (bring gas line, venting, water lines to code, yada, yada, yada). I told her to tell him to take a walk but I'm sure he heard me say that.

I called 411, found another plumber to do the same exact work (up to code as well) for $775. I just can't believe how some people would try to take advantage. Dude must've thought he hit the jackpot when he saw two ladies in a flooded garage with two shiny 911s. Little did he know, I'm a cheap sonofagun and those 911s are old.

As the Aussies would say..Good on you, mate!!!

Oops, I thought I put this in OT. Mods please move the thread for me. Thanks.

EXACTLY. Never let a contractor see your 911 - they all think it costs the same as an Fcar.

Some guys do see the car at my house and I then take any opportunity to tell them how much I paid ($12k) and how many years of work I put into it. We usually have a good conversation then. But don't let them see it "cold." Some will think you're rich and jack up the price - not all of course.

Truth be told, Chris is as rich as they come ;)

Well done Mr. Paterno!


-Chris

I had my 930 towed shortly after I got (I won't say why, doh). After he loaded it on the flatbed, he said it would be $250. What!!!! I've never paid more than $50.

I talked to the city of Houston and they it was perfectly legal and he could have charged me $1000 if he wanted. They only have to follow city rates if a police officer signs the request.

Now I know to negotiate a price and pay it before they ever touch my car.

My aunt got bent-over last week to the tune of $1600 for a $400 waterheater as well. She dosen't even drive!

Every time my wife takes the "other" car for an oil change, they tell her it needs "this, this and this". She calls me. I tell her to tell them to just change the oil. Next time, I take it. I ask them how "this, this, and this" look. They tell me, "fine". I say, "So how come you told my wife they needed to be done when she brought it in?"

LOL, yesterday I paid a TV guy to fix my 3 year old big screen TV.
I couldn't troubleshoot it myself cause I don't know squat about TVs. I knew from research it was something to do with the convergence system but that was it.

I made sure he understood that I wanted each and every part he replaced.
He changed out two IC chips that control the convergence.
$350.

I googled the part number off the chips this morning, $9.99 each.
$330 labor for 1/2 hour work.
You can bet if the TV ever screws up the same way again I'll be replacing those chips myself.

The a/c on my mothers E320 went out. I knew the compressor was on its last legs. Best price for replacing compressor, etc was 1800.00 plus. I decided I will not let these people mess with an 82 year old lady. Found the compressor, new, for 300.00, a new accumulator/ drier 18.00 and I have a vacuum pump. Freon is cheap. I don't mind a little profit but damn. Gave her my car for a couple of days and will fix hers when parts arrive. Sometimes you just have to say "hell no". Spence

I always change the oil on my cars even though I don't have time cause I'm sick of my wife getting charged the premium price because her car is from Germany! Seriously, they like to up the price for the same service. Not more oil, not better oil, just from a differant continant.

If you are ever stuck with a hot water heater blow out and you have a Home Depot around you can't go wrong. You will get great and quick service and very good price on the new water heater. They are easy to remember and in a lot of cities. Note (I don't own stock or have any other interest in HD)

Hey sammy:

LOL, 2 weeks ago I paid a heating place to put in a wall ventilator fan.
I figured they'd be fair and I don't know anything about putting these things in or sizing them (figured I could look up the latter but it would take a while).

They put in a fan in 3 hours (generous est. of the time) - charged $1,350.

I googled the part number off the fan and it was a $300 item.
about $300 labor per hour of work.

After I asked what was up via phone - and they just laid out a bunch of BS...
I looked up the home address of the company president and sent him an unhappy letter. No reply yet & I don't expect one.

It'd be fun to send the town anarchists over to his house for high tea...

And people think Jewelers mark up.

Yeah, don't their jaws just about hit the pavement when they find out you paid less than half of what their pickup truck cost:D

And that is why I belong to AAA

you must like sorting through lots of crap in that store just to get at one thing that's may have been returned and have parts missing. And that parking is a mess. We do lots of work up there at Hollyweird. Good luck see you at the store sometimes. The one on Sunset?

It used to much better. The profit margin was good, now the market is busted with a bunch of crap.

Just experience the hottest days in Pittsburgh! Wouldn't you know it, the A/C quit! I'm somewhat mechanical and diagnoised it as 'locked up compressor'! Expecting the worst, started calling all the local repair shops that advertised a 24 hr emergency line. Guess what, there is no emergency hotline for these companies, only an answering service that forwards messages to these shops! I hammered the emergency hotline people from 4:30 a.m. this morning to 7:00 a.m! I had a repairman at the door by 10:00 a.m.!!!!!!! Repair made by 11:00 a.m!!! Persistence pays!!!! Was only the condensor!!!!! Much cheaper than an a/c system, which I anticipated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yup... when I sold my house, I had a termite guy come out and give me a termite letter. He saw the 911 and then started saying that he will have to put down extra treatment and it was going to cost $$. I told him I will call his dispatcher and get a new guy to write my letter. He said he had it in his clipboard and just need to sign it. Yikes!

DIY or pay too much :-)

78 mercedes benz 280E - ignition steering lock freezes while I'm at a gas station so I can't even start the car. I get it towed (free with AAA), look up the dealer fix - $1000 as you have to drop the steering column down, pull the gauge cluster, drill out the pin and replace the tumbler/lock mechanism. This is after I hotwired the power window relays to roll up the windows...

So...being the good porsche DIY-er I looked up the fix online, ordered the $200 parts, and about 4 hours later it was done. So I just upped my hourly wage to $200 - works for me!

Cheap ba$tard that I am ...

My wife's van cracked the support for the rocker arms and trashed itself 5 miles from home. She nursed it to the nearest exit ramp two miles away from home, where we assessed the damage and called AAA. Towed it to a shop we've used before and got a quote of at least $5,000 for replacement of the engine.

Towed it home, went to the junkyard, found a low-mile replacement engine for $675, belts and hoses for $300 and changed it out over a four week period - my wife used the Mercedes while the family hauler was out of commission.

Saving $4,000 is high on my priority list, especially when I know I can do the work as well or better than most.

Regards,

Boy there are a Lot of CHEAP BA$TARDS on this forum

And a lot of smarter ones, as well.

I just bought a Meco torch to weld in the top of a 356 fender that I fabricated (the driver ran under the corner of a truck). I got it from Tin Man Technologies. It came with aircraft size inlets (which I knew about), but instead of buying his hose I went to my local welding supply. Lo and behold, the Meco was on the shelf there for $60 (with 2 tips!!) instead of TimMan's $115 (one tip). Oh, and the hose was 2/3 the price as well.

Think I'll shop this cat again?? ;)

Was out of state and driving my old benz. Ran into a really nasty rain storm and realized my wipers where not up to snuff. Found an autoparts store and went to the counter (all blades behind the counter) and ask for a set for my car. He came back with a price of $20 each.

Said no thanks - went out to the car and asked my wife to go in and ask for the wipers by size.

She came back out with two wipers and a receipt for $8

cheap, yes. stupid, no
 

Took my girls Camry to Toyota with an underpowered engine. I was too busy with work and it's her daily driver.

They told me it diagnosed with a misfire and therefore needed-
New plugs and wires
New cam belt
EFI clean
tranny flush
and something else. for $1200

They charge $90 for diagnosis-which is offset against any work i got done.
Here is the problem- i recently changed engine and tranny fluid, i also put on a new cam belt, which i might add you can't see without taking the timing cover off, which they didn't do...

I got them to clean efi and test it $140 to offset the cost of diagnosis. When i collected the car the dude said it needed new plugwires, therefore misfire. I said i ain't paying $200 for plugs and wires. He said don't go thinking you can just go and use Bosch wires as they don't work on Toyotas!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fing idiot

I guess he can never could have known that i have owned and driven German cars my whole life- Bell End.

I went straight to Autozone, got the plugs and wires- car runs great

Funny that many of you will pay at your P car wrench, or for some at the dealer without any problem.

Not me, unless it's an engine rebuild.

You haven't seen CHEAP BA$TARDS until you've grown up in the South -- and, yup, we're proud of it!

"up to code as well"

Do you know what code is? How many elbows are acceptable in the "t&p" line? Did you get a drip leg? Were problematic gate or globe shut-off valves replaced? Did you get earthquake straps if required by local ordinance? The cost of a bargain hot water heater installation comes later during maintenance headaches or early replacement due to inferior components or when it fails the mechanical inspection when you try and sell the house. You can pay too much for plumbing work but you can also pay too little. Cheers, Jim

look 171
 

look 171- is life so bad, you seem a little depressed. It's friday, cheerup, go and have a beer with your friends.

PS i do my own wrenching

Most don't think it is a rip off if a Home depot monkey come out and charge $250 to change the heater. All they do is reconnect the hot, cold copper flex line which needs to be change and connect the half smash up rusty vent line up through asbesto pipe. What pressure relief? what, off the ground. Ball valve? They are suppose to last years like 75. Just like heaters 30 years. Motor Mi Mi Miste who?

Some of these bid might sound like a bit much, I do have to agree.

Jeff

I'll even do the engine rebuild...just finished one! It's the body and paint stuff that leaves me dazed and confused. I hate messing with body work!

Re: look 171
 

Sorry you must have read that all wrong. Depress??? I don't understand. Life is great I am the happiest person you ever met. I am just trying to say that many of us, myself included, are willing to pay more for a different service like our cars and its parts then say a piece of diamond ring or work on the house. I needed a turbo tranny mount. I call Porsche, they wanted 700bucks+ fot it. Thank god it was only a loose bolt. I know it is a rip off, I will buy it in a heat beat. Why, becasue I want it and are willing to spring for it. The 20 year old heater isn't that hot anymore and the pipes are rusted, well, I think I can wait, but to spend an X amount on that???

By the way, I do not do any of my wrenching. I just don't have the time. Thank goodness The boys at TRE is close by. plus I do not enjoy it.

Stepson calls, "The Saturn misses when I accelerate. Pep boys said that they would tune it up for $200. Is that a good deal?"

I told him to leave it at his house and Nancy and I would pick it up. I got the car and drove it to Wal-Mart. Bought the house brand Fuel Injection cleaner and a set of plugs. I drained the can of cleaner into the gas tank while in the parking lot and drove it home. I pulled the plugs and found the clearance on the electrodes around 1/8" inch. I bent the tip towards the electrode to around .040" and reinstalled them. Car is fine.

The repair industry just blows as far as I'm concerned.

David Duffield

:mad: I'm not a cheap bastard, in fact I spend too much, generally, and not just on my car.
Recently I stopped by a body shop to see how much a little spot painting would run for a couple of small areas on my Carrera and the guy said the only way to fix them would be to remove the back window (Targa :eek: ) AND the windshield! Mind you all, I'm talking LITTLE scrapes here!
Their price? Just the left side alone, and of course they would "have to paint the whole side," $2,500.00! I didn't wait to hear the rest of his #%*!.
Anyone know of a good shop willing to work for a fair price on a nice "driver" in the Lakewood/Tacoma area (south of Seattle)?
Still :mad: ...............
Replaced my own water heater with a 80 gallon number two years ago for under $300.00. :)
It's not a Porsche, and so doesn't leak....:D

Well, they don't diagnose the way they used to when parts were not as readily available. Example: When the shop would need to wait 3 days for a part, they would rather check a little further and see if they could "repair" the problem rather than wait for the part. That way, they may be able to get that car and the customer out of the way for the next car. When doing this, it's amazing to see how many times the parts are workable like adjusting plugs or cleaning plugs rather than replacing them. Now I realize that it's cheeper to replace them than get your hands dirty by cleaning them, but it's just an example.

Sure seems like this thread has struck a nerve, maybe some of the examples have hit home? ;)

I'm not cheap.. I'm just broke:D

Jim brings up a good point - you need to distingusih true gouging from a situation when a full "safety job" was done -- even if that was w/o your knowldege.

Also, expertise is expensive -- if an engineer is involved or some other highly trained proefessional, you will be paying for their education. They might be retained in the background and not seen by you.

Nontheless, there are numerous examples of gouging above, and it sure seems that the presence of ANY Porsche brings it out...