Thanks to a quick phone call, Maddie saved about $700 and is encouraging others to do the same. (Source: Instagram)
A simple phone call helped a young Australian woman escape a financial nightmare. Maddie Guest took her car to a repair shop and was given a list of everything she needed for her car.
Guest, from Sydney, admits he doesn’t know much about cars, so he called his father, a mechanic, and walked him through the various parts and services he said he needed. He told Yahoo Finance that his father informed him the price had been significantly increased.
“I think I was overcharged because I obviously didn’t know any better,” she said.
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“Maybe the guy was just doing his job by putting all the options on the table, but I wish he’d explained in a bit more detail how important certain services are and how much they cost.
“In a situation like this, you just want to feel like you can trust the advice you’re receiving, and after that call with my dad, I just didn’t feel that level of trust with the person I was dealing with.”
After the phone call with her father, she called the mechanic and told him to remove anything that wasn’t absolutely necessary.
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She ended up saving $690 and was “shocked.”
“When I visit repair shops, the information asymmetry is frustrating,” she told Yahoo Finance.
“I want my car to be safe and well-maintained, but I’ve found that being able to distinguish between ‘needs’ and ‘nice to haves’ when it comes to car maintenance can save you a lot of money.”
Guest, who is one of the producers of the financial podcast “You’re in Good Company,” posted about the incident on social media and soon received numerous similar stories from people who felt they had been “scammed” because they were not car experts.
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But what if there’s no mechanic to call?
Guests received messages from their followers informing them what to do if they don’t have a loved one who knows how to drive.
“Check your vehicle’s inspection certificate in the glove box. It will list the basic maintenance requirements for your car based on its age,” she told Yahoo Finance.
“I’m definitely going to read it before I go out next time so I at least have a basic idea of what I need and what I don’t need.”
She plans to urge her next mechanic to explain what a basic service includes so he doesn’t fall into the same trap.
“I think it makes it easier if you make it black and white from the beginning. I don’t think they’re trying to manipulate you, they’re just providing the best service they can. It can be a little overwhelming for the person on the receiving end,” Guest explained.
If you’re not careful, the mechanic will take you for a ride.
Kristen Nock, a mechanic from New South Wales, has heard plenty of stories of fellow mechanics scamming people just because they can.
What’s even more unfortunate is that they target women with the assumption that they know less about cars than men.
“I don’t know how they sleep at night,” she told Yahoo Finance. “They have parents, mothers, sisters, daughters. How can they scam people like that and be okay with it?”
Mechanic Kristen Nock slammed her colleagues in the industry after a woman was tricked twice by a repairman. (Source: Provided/TikTok)
Ms Nock, who runs Hilly’s Westlake Auto Repairs in Lake Macquarie with her husband, explained how people can reduce their risk of being scammed:
Do your research: If you plan on taking your car to a particular repair shop, check out the company’s Facebook page and Google reviews to see what other customers have to say.
Get multiple quotes: Nock said you don’t have to take your car to every place you get quotes, but if you know what the problem is, it’s okay to call around.
Ask this important question: Will this fix my car?
“I want to make sure this is problem-solving,” Nock said of that last point. “Try to understand what the job is and what the consequences are.”
“If a car is spiking and you’re saying you need a new spike bond, is that going to solve the problem or are you going to continue to have problems after this?”
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