Yeah, I’m with Transman and Mike. From a practical standpoint, the charge is $650 for a fuel pump, brake lines, etc. Maybe he’s over-charging some, but by how much? $2-300? Or maybe he’s actually undercharging by a few hundred and just unprofessional. In either case, the car had to be fixed (I think), he did some work on it, the actual value yet to be determined, and he does need to get paid for the work actually done. So you get a list somehow of what he did with the bill, pay him, get the car, and then file a small claim for what you think you were damaged. Everybody stays out of trouble and a judge determines what is fair. As far as the money, that’s what credit cards are for sometimes, or parents, or uncles.
I don’t agree whatsoever. He took it upon himself to diagnose and repair the car the way he felt it should have been with no agreement from the owner that any work be done. This is akin to someone coming to your house unannounced, replacing the roof without your knowledge or consent, then demanding thousands of dollars for unsolicited work.
This belongs in small claims court. Just remember, there is a time limit to when his mechanic’s lien allows him to assume the car. In Georgia, that is 30 days. After 30 days with no resolution, the mechanic can assume the car and sell it for the value of his work.
If he is indeed a friend, this is a horrible way to end the friendship.
BK
In reality, this is a case of “he said-she said”, and it is complicated by the fact that we are getting “hearsay” information from the mother of the person who actually dealt with the mechanic.
Whether the OP is really getting the true facts from her daughter is something that we will likely never know. The mechanic could be a thief, or he could have been acting on his understanding of what the young woman wanted him to do. The only people who know what really transpired are the daughter and the mechanic, and we are not likely to hear from either one of them.
I’m in agreement with VDCdriver as usual.
True indeedy
I’m going to take a little different avenue than anyone else. Is the car registered to your daughter or is it registered in someone else’s name? If the car is in someone else’s name she has no authority to authorize work on the vehicle verbally or written. The reason I ask this is because I know many times with younger drivers, including with my son, his car is registered in my name for insurance cost purposes. Even if the car is in her name and the law requires a written estimate it doesn’t seem the mechanic has a leg to stand on. If the mechanic simply took it on his own to make the repairs without authorization, I’d pay for the TOW and NOTHING ELSE unless directed to do so by the court.
Bing and OK4450, didn’t you read Transman618 post about a settled case in Ohio that said the shop owner doesn’t get any money without the offer of a WRITTEN repair, the fact that the repair was needed and done is immaterial.
A GOOD mechanic will call you in advance and say, “hey, i found this to be a potential danger, or in need of replacing. would you like to go ahead and do it?” Yes, while it’s NOT grand theft auto, it’s also very poor to do a bunch of work and expect you to pay for it. "You also did not specify what went wrong or why the car stalled.
See what he says when you say you didn’t authorize additional repairs, beyond fuel pump. You shouldn’t have to tell him to fix ONLY what’s wrong. Business must be slow for him to do that. 
As a plumber, you can make a killing, but it can also be dishonest. I will at least tell my customers that this really should be repaired/replaced. Sometimes they decline, and that’s okay. That’s their right. If that part you mentioned ends up going bad a week later, then they might go ahead and have you do the work to save another service call.
This sounds very, very messy and I apologize. Use a different mechanic or work things out peacefully. Perhaps there is a mid-way point, he can take off some labor charges, reduce the bill.
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Oldtimer: “Bing and OK4450, didn’t you read Transman618 post about a settled case in Ohio that said the shop owner doesn’t get any money without the offer of a WRITTEN repair, the fact that the repair was needed and done is immaterial.”
Yes indeed, but also read what happens when you try to take you own car from the shop where it is being held. The point is he has the car. You need to get the car back. The court can then decide the law and return her money if that is the case but she needs to get the car out of the shop NOW without being charged with theft herself. That’s the point. Get the car by paying him and let the judge consider the settled law.
A detailed receipt of work performed would be a great start, it leads me down the road of doubt because there is not one.
The point about the written estimate by law is well taken but this story is still murky as the Mississippi River to me. The only thing we’ve heard is a 3rd party story from the mother who may or may not be impartial and may or may not know or is providing all of the details.
Is there a written estimate on the mechanic’s desk? Beats me.
Did the daughter sign something? I have no idea.
In OK a signature is required for a tow. Whether this is required in OH I do not know but if it’s the same then did the daughter sign something? If so, what did she sign? A tow authorization only or was there something additional about repairs? You’ve got me because I don’t know.
The tow truck guy is described as a friend also. Does this mean the daughter is not picking her friends very wisely or was the guy really a friend who was trying to do a favor for someone who owned a beater and the daughter is throwing the guy under the bus because of money. Maybe the daughter expected major work to run on the cheap side and everything was rosy by her. When done maybe money took precedence over friendship.
IF the scenario as presented is 100% true and IF the guy violated OH law then I’d say he’s a weasel and go after him.
Until some details are provided and preferably some by the tow guy then I have a hard time trashing him at this point.
The car is registered in my name, not my daughter’s. My husband and daughter went to the shop yesterday to pay for the tow and arrange payments for the rest of the work. He refused and threw them off his property. My husband had asked for a bill, which the mechanic did not produce. There has never been at any time anything signed. When they arrived at the shop, her car was boxed in by other cars so it couldn’t be removed. And the local police were no help at all, said there was nothing they could do. His reasoning for not allowing her to make payments is because “too many people already owe him thousands of dollars in unpaid bills”.
I side with the mechanic if someone is offering to make payments and no way on Earth should the mechanic even consider this.
Is this the reason he threw them off the property and did the throw them off because they were combative or argumentative?
It’s been mentioned there’s a statute in Ohio that says a written estimate must be provided and certainly an itemized bill is necessary.
The police are not getting involved because they, right or wrong, are considering this a civil matter to be hashed out between you and the shop. It’s also quite likely that the cops you talked to don’t really even know the law. Wearing a uniform is no guarantee they’re legally astute.
It would help to get this guy on a hidden recording stating he cannot produce a bill, but at this point I’d contact the consumer protection people at the Ohio Attorney General’s office and file a complaint.
Odds are that if this guy (obviously a state licensed tow truck operator too) gets a call from the AG’s office he may change his tune.
Your next best move would probably be to have an attorney call the shop and see if he/she can get the shop owner/tow truck driver to consider negotiating something. An attorney will know the law better than you or the shop owner, and will be better at smooth talk than anyone else who could do this. An attorney will also be skilled at countering the extortion game. If that doesn’t work, small claims court is the next step. If getting the car back right away is not a huge issue, you can skip the attorney step and save a couple hundred bucks and just take it to small claims court. Sounds like this is where it’s headed, anyway.
Eliminate the payment negotiation as part of the deal. He doesn’t have to accept any negotiation of payment, other than payment in full, so eliminate payment negotiation as a course of action.
If necessary, go to a bank or credit union and get a 90 day signature loan for the amount. Pay the bill, preferably by credit card, but certainly by check or money order. If he refuses to provide a receipt or statement of services, then be ready with your own own statement of services rendered and have him acknowledge which services he provided. Have him acknowledge receipt of the payment. Don’t take any excuses to not give you possession of the car with payment in full.
Get the car into your possession as owner, and then work on any violations or misunderstandings, before he chooses to add storage fees or other bogus charges to the bill, thus stringing you along.
Do this with a witness who is willing and available to go to court with you, to witness the payment and refusal of the mechanic to provide a valid bill or statement of services rendered.
Then see if the Consumer Protection folks will help you go after him. If not, go for small claims court and let him explain to the judge why he is running a business that does not provide bills, invoices or statements of services rendered in writing. You then state your case about unauthorized repairs, etc, and let the judge make a decision.
Your other choice is as mark9207 says, and that is get an attorney involved ASAP and let him handle it. Have the $650 ready for payment, though, because I think this won’t get resolved with attempting to negotiate payments. Then let the courts settle the remaining issues.
And the local police were no help at all, said there was nothing they could do.
And that is EXACTLY what I said…
You need to contact the AG IMMEDIATELY…and a lawyer.
I have contacted the AG, hopefully will hear back tomorrow. First thing in morning I will be contacting an attorney. And for the record, my husband was in no way confronted him or was combative.
I can see you are not very anxious to get your car back. I don’t believe the Ohio AG will operate much different that the Minnesota AG so this is what you can expect: You will submit a written summary of your dispute. They will then forward a copy to the shop asking for their side in writing. The AG will then recommend a split down the middle. The whole process will take about 30 days. Attorneys charge, hmmm, $2-300 per hour. You can get the whole car back for $650 tomorrow and file a small claims for $25 without a lawyer. Help me understand the direction here?
Now way back at the beginning you said the car was towed and a call was made to see how much “it” was. Its not clear whether or not “it” was for the tow or the repair or both, but you said he said they were putting a pump in and couldn’t say how much it was yet. You said you let it slide. So he’s gonna say he told you he was putting a pump in and no one objected. Why else would you have a car towed except to fix it? I’ve had a few pumps put in and if the whole bill was $650, I would have been a happy camper.
It just seems we’re going to a whole lot of extra steps and expense with little expectation of a reward. Maybe they’ll send an Assisstant AG down to the shop to retrieve your car for zero cost and your friend will be shut down, but I doubt it.
With friends like this who needs enemies? I wouldn’t have even offered to make payments on work that wasn’t authorized or that I wasn’t shown what all was supposedly repaired. This kind of behavior needs to be stopped now instead of allowing him to do it to other people. If doing unauthorized work is the only way he can get business he must not be much of a mechanic. Most mechanics I know are covered up with work and wouldn’t have time to work on something within a few days of receiving it much less a few hours. Be sure to tell the AG office there was no authorization for the work and that he is also refusing to give you an itemized statement of the repairs and cost. I wouldn’t wait for the AG office to return my call, I’d call them again first thing in the morning.
A couple stories about my experiences with new car dealers. In 1983 I was going to buy a new Nissan pickup. The dealer and I had both signed the purchase agreement then they came back saying they had misfigured the cost by $500. and wanted me to pay the difference. I refused. In 2004 I negotiated a deal on a new Mercury Grand Marquis and was getting ready to sign the purchase agreement, but went over the numbers first and found they were trying to add an additional $350. to the negotiated price. I walked out.
I doubt the AG is going to send anyone anywhere. Odds are they will send out a form letter or make a brief phone call and if the guy is in the wrong the simple act of being contacted by the AG could make him decide to hand the car back free and clear (if he’s committed a big legal no-no) or work something out on the bill.
I still get the tiny nagging feeling there’s something, or plural of that word, missing in this tale and that’s why I’d like to hear what the tow truck guy/mechanic has to say.
Something else I wonder about seeing as how this friend is a tow truck driver. Would this mean that he uses the tow truck as part of a duly licensed automobile repair shop or is he a tow driver with a storage yard and a building in which he informally works on cars as a sideline in between tows while not really being in operation as a garage?