MentalNomad
Member
This would be fine if they said this. They don't. They make it look like it will cost you this amount.
No, they do not make it look like it will cost you this amount. The primary word on the document is "ESTIMATE." That is not a bill nor a cost; it is an statement that "it might cost this much."
It's entirely possible it will cost much more when they diagnose and find the actual cause of the problem.
It may cost nothing if the conclude it's covered under warranty.
It may cost roughly what they estimate, if they conclude that the problem was caused by the owner and not covered under warranty - in which case, they can still charge you for the diagnosis, whether or not you approve the actual repair work.
No, that is not what is stated in the email you get or on the PRINTED quote that you sign. The app is only one avenue, not all avenues state this. The app isn't a legally binding document. You do not sign the app.
It shouldn't be this trivial.
An ESTIMATE isn't a legally binding document, either - when they waive the costs under warranty, you aren't bound to pay the estimated amount.
For that matter, the ESTIMATE isn't even a required document - it clearly says that agreeing to the estimate may speed up the service time, but it doesn't say you must sign it.
If you have not signed, then before they do any work that isn't covered by warranty, they'll have to contact you for explicit approval of the work and cost.
If you have signed, then they can plan to go ahead with the repair regardless of warranty.
In some cases, they may prioritize work queuing in the shop based on pre-approvals - they want to keep their staff working, and they don't want to open up cars for diagnosis only to have them take up a bay while someone fails to respond to requests for approval.
In other case, the actual diagnosis is faster and easier because it's pre-approved - often, the true source of the problem is only obvious when you've done the disassembly to get at the part, but that disassembly (and later reassembly) takes a long time. It may even be the bulk of the cost of the repair. If the customer is unwilling to agree to pay in the event that the problem was their own fault, then the shop may take other, additional diagnosis steps to attempt to determine the cause before putting in the time to do the disassembly. Your agreement to be responsible for the payment in the event you're responsible for the problem will hasten the actual repair.