Biggest rip offs in business?

This may be a bit of a spin-off from that thread about receiving poor service, but I just thought it'd be interesting to hear our stories about the biggest rip-offs we have experienced or heard of.

For me, it has to be my car dealership. I won't name them (for now) but I think some people may be able to guess which one it is, as when I have told people my stories, they have had similar experiences.

So part of the contract when I purchased my car was that I'd have to take it back to them for servicing in order to keep the warranty (I later learnt that they could not legally enforce this, and the warranty didn't cover many things at all). It would always cost about $600-$1200 to service my car, mainly because they'd call me up and say "this is wrong/old/broken and needs to be repaired". I didn't know much back then, and I had a bit of trust in them as they were a major dealership, so I just went with it and paid.

I'll just go off on a bit of a tangent here when I say trust - because it was actually quite dumb of me to trust them after what had happened when I initially bought the car.

My dad went on a Thursday to look at some cars, and was told to come back on Saturday as there would be a sale on then. The salesman said he had a 2005 green Commodore which he could sell to my dad for $12,000 which had done 70,000km, but that price was only available on the day of the sale.

So on Saturday I go with my dad. We meet the same salesman, and we say we want to take a look at the green Commodore. He told us that it had been sold, and proceeded to show us other, more expensive, cars. When my dad said he was leaving, the salesman quickly said "ok ok, I'll show you the car" and took us to the green Commodore. I was like "wtf?!?! You just said you sold it". Although he told us it was $12,000, when we agreed to buy it, we were passed onto the next guy in the process who tried to sell it to us for $14,000, and wouldn't agree to talk to the first guy when we said the first guy said $12,000.

Anyway, I was more aware that something was up when one time I took my car there for servicing, and the guy called and said, amongst other things, that "all four tyres are ok, so they don't need changing". Funny, I thought, because at the previous service, I was told that two tyres were worn out and needed replacement, only that I told them I didn't want to do it at that stage.

So I did a bit of investigation on the net and through some acquaintances. Apparently they are well known for over-charging and doing scrappy work. Some people on the net have said they just make up things wrong with the car, or charge expert rates and get inexperienced apprentices to do the job. This is probably why there was a dent in my rear bumper one time when I got my car back from servicing. I complained, and they basically said I couldn't prove that they did it and that it wasn't already there before I took it for servicing (I wash my car every fortnight and so I know when new scratches/bumps appear). I argued with them and they offered to pay half the repair costs if I took it to them for repair, but I had decided they weren't going to touch my car ever again.

I also bumped into an old high school friend once, who told me he had bought a car there once. They told him they had done all this work during servicing, but when his mechanic friend looked at it, he said nothing had been touched at all. He went back to them to throw a fit and although they didn't admit it, they gave his money back.

I have also now found a garage that does my servicing for about $120.

Absolutely agree, car repair shops usually tend to charge for something that is not necessary to be serviced, specially if you don't know a thing about the car. There are some honest people, but most of them are just after your money. I never trust them whatever they say, and I never take my car to car shops to be serviced, unless it is serious problem that I can't deal myself.

I'm not big on cars, but i know how much things should cost from experience.

Now i'm in Sydney, Georges Automatics in Marrickville has always looked after me and never overcharged for anything.

If I need anything on my car, I research it, because it seems mechanics are mostly cheats and a/holes. I'm sure a few are ok but not many.

Some tips:

Don't ask for an eg. 100,000 km service. Read the manual instead, and see what needs doing at 100,000km, then ring around for quotes on specific jobs and the price of parts. Otherwise what they do is start replacing stuff that doesn't need replacing, with huge and unnecessary costs. When you find someone who will do it, ask for an agreed price and tell them you want to see the parts they have pulled out (otherwise they say it's completed and all they have done is open the hood then close it. The other trick they do is take out functioning parts, keep them for themselves and replace them with dodgy second hand parts). It seems totally ridiculous that I'd have to do it this way, but I don't trust them... at all! I'd rather find someone good and just say "service it! I'll be back in 4 hours". If anyone knows of such a mechanic in Melbourne, let me know.

And never ever get any work done at a dealership.

You paid $12.000 for a 2005 VZ Commodore? It would have to be a screaming plumb to be worth that kind of money.

Alarm bells should have been screaming in your head after the first saleaman. As soon as any crapola starts like that I am outta there.

Join a car forum,cars are not unique with there problems usually.
Most times i can tell the mechanic whats wrong before he lifts the hood.
I was told big yards need 5k min to sell a car more like 10k

trainspotter said:

You paid $12.000 for a 2005 VZ Commodore? It would have to be a screaming plumb to be worth that kind of money.

Click to expand...

Having inspected the car more closely once I bought it, I noticed there were some minor dents which appear to have been remnants from bigger dents, so maybe the previous owner was in a car accident, hence the cheap price.

I use the NRMA service centres, which are generally pretty good.

Took my mum's Hyundai Getz to Hyundai service centre in Chatswood, never again. $700+ for a few filters (oil and air).

I worked with a guy who told me that he gets a white marker and draws lines on his hoses before servicing the car (ie, hose to bolt/clip. If unscrewed, the chances of the lines lining up again are pretty slim). He caught out a Nissan dealer. Said in a loud voice in the service centre, he's calling the cops for fraud. He said that within 5 minutes, there were 10 mechanics in his engine bay working like mad. LOL.

Tyler Durden said:

Anyway, I was more aware that something was up when one time I took my car there for servicing, and the guy called and said, amongst other things, that "all four tyres are ok, so they don't need changing". Funny, I thought, because at the previous service, I was told that two tyres were worn out and needed replacement, only that I told them I didn't want to do it at that stage.

Click to expand...

I had similiar happen years ago when I bought a secondhand Honda Prelude, they agreed to replace the tyres if I bought it.
They asked if I would take it as it was and do the tyres in a week or so, I agreed but when I went back they said the tyres were good for another 10k and they weren't going to replace them.

I rang a mate in the local constabulary and he rang a mate and the next day my car got defected for worn tyres.
I got my new Pirelli's that afternoon

Boggo said:

I had similiar happen years ago when I bought a secondhand Honda Prelude, they agreed to replace the tyres if I bought it.
They asked if I would take it as it was and do the tyres in a week or so, I agreed but when I went back they said the tyres were good for another 10k and they weren't going to replace them.

I rang a mate in the local constabulary and he rang a mate and the next day my car got defected for worn tyres.
I got my new Pirelli's that afternoon

Click to expand...

Love that story. They need that sort of retribution to happen more often.

Before I bought my present vehicle, I had my own mechanic go over it. He said OK, fine, except for a small oil leak. Bought the car on the understanding this was fixed first. Was assured it was all good, but a couple of days after I brought the car home I noticed a small patch of oil on the garage floor, obviously the leak hadn't been fixed.

Took it in. They brought it back a few hours later and said I'd been mistaken. There was no oil leak. That I must have thought the moisture from when the air con was turned off was oil!!! So they don't think I can perceive the difference between water and oil????

They had, however, fixed the leak, so I left it at that. I was irritated not just by their failure to keep their word and have the leak fixed before the sale completed, but by their rude assumption that I was just a bloody woman and too stupid to know the difference between oil and water.

Will never go back there.
I'd never use a dealership for any service.

I use a dealership.
Have 12 in the fleet. All my experience has been excellent.
Ive found the smaller guys are the ones who try and rip me off.
The dealership calls and replaces heaps at no charge under warrantee.
Always found pricing very reasonable.
Pick up and drop of loan vehical for all cars.

Trucks and excavators I use a private guy even for warrantee work purely because I know him and he is a genius.He only looks after 3 companies and we are one.

Btw, I didn't mean to limit things to car dealerships, so feel free to share your stories about other businesses

I have another example which I'm sure has happened to most people here. I went to a kebab shop and bought a kebab. It was like $7 or something. I gave a $20 note and he gave me $3 change. I said "ummm...I gave you a twenty" and he goes "no you didn't".

I saw no point in arguing any further, but I did vow to never go back there again. I figure if shops like these are so short sighted, then they won't be in business for long.

Tyler Durden said:

I have another example which I'm sure has happened to most people here. I went to a kebab shop and bought a kebab. It was like $7 or something. I gave a $20 note and he gave me $3 change. I said "ummm...I gave you a twenty" and he goes "no you didn't".

Click to expand...

That's not really a "Biggest rip off in business", sounds like an error, either you gave him a ten or he thought you gave him a ten when in fact you gave him a twenty.

BTW, was it one of those shops in a dimly lit van on the side of the road.

cutz said:

That's not really a "Biggest rip off in business", sound like an error, either you gave him a ten or he thought you gave him a ten.

BTW, was it one of those shops in a dimly lit van on the side of the road.

Click to expand...

haha nah, not trying to say it was the biggest rip off, just wanted to diverge from the car dealership scenario. It was just one of those kebab shops on the side of a road, quite common ones actually.

12 grand would of got you a very good car at auction..Large car, maybe 3 or 4 years old with 100 - 120K on the clock...always buy at auction, always, if value for money are important to you.

Back on cars for a sec.

I am of the opinion that people rip themselves off more than most dealers do.

I see people at work etc buying the likes of new Kia's etc for over 20k. In five years from now they are probably worth 10 to 12k.

Much better off buying a second hand VW golf, Honda or Subaru or something that will hold its value for the same money, chances are it will be worth 15k in 5 years and people will want to buy them.

What you pay for something is fine, at some point you have to trade it in or sell it and that's when the cheap bit really kicks in.

I have a mate that bought an ex govt Magna at an auction, got a great deal, thing is a lemon, mainly electrical issues. He tried to trade it in after about 18 months and he was offered 9k less than what he paid for it.

He still has it so I do take great delight in reminding him that its value goes up by about 10% every time he fills it with fuel

Word is Jap cars are holding their value in USA and assume OZ because of the damaged caused by the Salami which has slowed production.

Tyler Durden said:

I have another example which I'm sure has happened to most people here. I went to a kebab shop and bought a kebab. It was like $7 or something. I gave a $20 note and he gave me $3 change. I said "ummm...I gave you a twenty" and he goes "no you didn't".

Click to expand...

This reminds of about 5 years ago when I used to work in a petrol station. Customer gave me $20, I have him his change, he said 'HEY MATE I GAVE YOU $50', I said 'Nice try'.

Isn't the simple solution to this to just keep the proffered note out until the change has been given and accepted?

Julia said:

Isn't the simple solution to this to just keep the proffered note out until the change has been given and accepted?

Click to expand...

Yes, and most places do this. It's the ones that don't that you gotta watch out for.