Perhaps defending myself is impossible, ok4450, since this post indicates to me that you really haven’t been reading my posts very carefully. But I’ll try.
The OP does NOT “now” think the tail lights should be a gimmee. I was suggesting that when a customer is faced with such a bill – particularly a bill which suspiciously includes at least three items (totalling $1000) that WOULD have been covered under warranty if only they had cropped up 6 months ago at the last check-up – it is in the dealer’s best interest to do what he can to show the customer that he’s not just bilking her for all he can. As a show of good faith, it would have been a great idea to just say, “Oh, hey, we also noticed your rear lights were out and replaced them. That one’s on us. You’re paying quite a bit for this service and we’d like to do what we can to help you out.”
In negotiations parlance, this is called “creating a win-win situation.” They would be making me THINK I’d “won” somehow by getting something for free. However, what I was getting for free didn’t actually cost them very much. So they get their $$$, and I walk away thinking I got a deal. All I was doing was suggesting that this would have been a much better way for the dealership to approach the situation.
Secondly, I am also not equating a high price with overcharging. I’m ASKING the group here whether, in fact, in their opinion(s), these charges are legitimate or not. I’m also asking whether the repairs were legitimate or not. Those answers are important to me as I make the decision of whether or not this dealer was dealing with me fairly – and thus, whether I’d ever return. Unlike you, most seem to feel that this dealership likely wasn’t dealing with me fairly and that it’s a good idea to head to a specialty mechanic, now that I’m out of warranty.
Finally, please don’t apply your sexist view of what happened here. I am not married to Ralph Kramden and it wasn’t my husband’s reaction that caused me to come to this forum and ask questions. We were BOTH annoyed at having to pay this (surprising) amount for this particular service. And, yes, I authorized the work and therefore paid it. Having received a series of replies both here and at vwvortex.com that indicated some of this work may have been either jacked up in price OR possibly ignored in order to catch it after the warranty expired, we then took advantage of the dealership’s sexist attitudes by having HIM call and play a little “bad cop” to my “good cop.”
See the difference? Hubby didn’t actually go ballistic with me, but was willing to go ballistic with the dealership, knowing that if they had been dealing with him in the first place, they probably wouldn’t have done what they did – and that having him call is much more likely to produce results than having me call, given their attitudes toward women.
I don’t feel guilty at all for trying to get as much back from these guys as we can, given the way they were trying to squeeze us in the first place. We wouldn’t be doing this if the dealership had tried harder to cut us a break on any of these prices – or if the general consensus was that these were completely legitimate prices and/or repairs – but that’s not the situation. Of course mechanics shouldn’t be expected to work for free. But neither should customers be cheated out of our hard-earned money. When we are, we have every right to strike back via a husband’s angry phone call! (And the dealership has every right to tell us they’re sorry but the work was done, paid for, and we’re sorry you’re angry but the price is the price. This is all a negotiation.)
