I was just scammed for pricing/billing...

P

pinoyheat551

New member
So, this guy comes into the shop with a 2009 BMW 325 and says he wants a detail. We talk for a while and he agreed on a 150 dollar package which includes ext/int full detail. So, i finish the job and when it was time to pay me he only had 80 dollars. I wanted to hit this guy in the ******* mouth. Gave him the keys and told him not to ever come back.



Now, i was wondering if it was a good idea of CHARGE the customer first before doing the job to prevent this from happening.
 
You: "Hold on sir. Your car isn't finished."



Customer: "Huh?"



You: "I need to give you back your $70 worth of dirt and scratches"



Dump some old wash water on the car, swirl it around and then hand him the keys......



You: "Have a nice day and please don't ever come back"



:xyxthumbs
 
I would of held the keys. What he just did is theft by services. I always get the full vin of the car and registration number for this reason.
 
Barry Theal said:
I would of held the keys. What he just did is theft by services. I always get the full vin of the car and registration number for this reason.
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It wasn't theft of services, because the OP agreed to the price.
 
Barry Theal said:
They agrees upon 150 though. I don't know here , but I know he wouldn't of got his keys back for sure.
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They did agree on 150, however by accepting the 80 for service, the OP agreed on 80.



Now if the owner had a spare set of keys and took the car and the OP didn't accept the 80, then it would have been theft of service.
 
Because of the fact that you gave him his keys back, it sounds to me that you agreed to the $80. When you set a price go with your gut, and stand true. Do not back down, and whatever you do - do not give back the keys until full payment is made. Had you done this you would have legal grounds in small claims court(if you wanted to go that far). Also make sure that you are getting a signature prior to performing work.
 
automedix said:
Because of the fact that you gave him his keys back, it sounds to me that you agreed to the $80. When you set a price go with your gut, and stand true. Do not back down, and whatever you do - do not give back the keys until full payment is made. Had you done this you would have legal grounds in small claims court(if you wanted to go that far). Also make sure that you are getting a signature prior to performing work.
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I think the key is to have a signed work orderd, otherwise it is your word against his. I have been thinking about taking it a step further and doing a walk around inspection (similar to when you rent a car) with the customer when they drop the car off so that any pre-existing damages are noted on the car. There will come a day when a customer accusses you of damaging their car even though the damage was there when it was dropped off.
 
I mean what type of people are you dealing with. I have never had someone try to pull that on me. If they did, I would politely point to the invoice and repeat the total of the bill
 
Some times your best bet is to cut your losses and move on.



Keeping his ride is still available as an option tho. :D
 
hold the keys and if he gets tough, call the cops... its robbery? You dont see people going up to the clerks at walmart to buy a 1200 Tv and saying whoops, sorry I only have $800... although... since I used Walmart for this example, maybe you would see that there LOLOL
 
if you are in the phi, it may constitute estafa. there is still no precedent but a good prosecutor can make a case out of it.
 
JPostal said:
I think the key is to have a signed work orderd, otherwise it is your word against his. I have been thinking about taking it a step further and doing a walk around inspection (similar to when you rent a car) with the customer when they drop the car off so that any pre-existing damages are noted on the car. There will come a day when a customer accusses you of damaging their car even though the damage was there when it was dropped off.
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Yeah, but a customer has to PROVE that it was YOU that did the damage to their vehicle. Without video tapped evidence, good luck, they will never win in court.



I agree with what everyone else has stated, next time keep the keys and park the vehicle inside a locked shop / garage until you receive payment in full. You could even throw a section on your sign in / waiver form that if the customer doesn't pay the full amount within 30 days, the vehicle becomes your property.
 
A whole bunch of misinformation in this thread……



Unless you have a signed Repair Order you can’t do anything about this. You have no documented/enforceable agreement. It's just verbal and your word vs. his. If you call the Police, they will be forced to have you surrender the vehicle to the owner. If you take this person’s keys and hold the vehicle you could get charged with theft. That’s why Body/Mechanical shops require your written authorization before they start the repair process on your vehicle.
 
David Fermani said:
A whole bunch of misinformation in this thread……



Unless you have a signed Repair Order you can’t do anything about this. You have no documented/enforceable agreement. It's just verbal and your word vs. his. If you call the Police, they will be forced to have you surrender the vehicle to the owner. If you take this person’s keys and hold the vehicle you could get charged with theft. That’s why Body/Mechanical shops require your written authorization before they start the repair process on your vehicle.
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Always get it in writing!
 
David Fermani said:
A whole bunch of misinformation in this thread……



Unless you have a signed Repair Order you can’t do anything about this. You have no documented/enforceable agreement. It's just verbal and your word vs. his. If you call the Police, they will be forced to have you surrender the vehicle to the owner. If you take this person’s keys and hold the vehicle you could get charged with theft. That’s why Body/Mechanical shops require your written authorization before they start the repair process on your vehicle.
Click to expand...

Or you could simply have a sign on the wall in your shop that says "surrending of keys acknowledges agreement of terms and conditions". In that case, you wouldn't need a signed work order.
 
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