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nhfire77

Senior Member
Location
NH
It's not that they charge more than the going rate, it's that they hardly ever fix the original problem that they were called out for. Always head straight for the service.

Gave a guy here at work a quote for $7000 for all the work that was required to fix his problem. I fixed it for the cost of a breaker and a cold soda. Now that's leaving money on the table.

It's happening in so many industries. Here its when a shop advertises a $10 car inspection, normally $30. Good chance they'll find $1000 in repairs to get it passed. You can get it fixed somewhere else, but the original inspection place has to reinspect the repair and approve it, for free.
 

Rewire

Senior Member
I thought that bad breakers always required replacing the service and panel. (Unless properly lubricated with a beer.) :)

alot depends on what caused the breaker to be "bad". We were called after the first electrician just replaced the "bad" 60 amp breaker feeding the furnace. Seems he overlooked the hole burned into the side of the 200 amp main. We changed out the panel inccluding all new breakers.
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
It's happening in so many industries. Here its when a shop advertises a $10 car inspection, normally $30. Good chance they'll find $1000 in repairs to get it passed. You can get it fixed somewhere else, but the original inspection place has to reinspect the repair and approve it, for free.

I assume you are talking about legally required safety inspections? Not all places have these, so you had me wondering for a moment just what you were talking about.
 

Rewire

Senior Member
It's happening in so many industries. Here its when a shop advertises a $10 car inspection, normally $30. Good chance they'll find $1000 in repairs to get it passed. You can get it fixed somewhere else, but the original inspection place has to reinspect the repair and approve it, for free.

not much of a scam if you can go get it fixed someplace else and then get a reinspect for free.
 

GoldDigger

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Placerville, CA, USA
Occupation
Retired PV System Designer
not much of a scam if you can go get it fixed someplace else and then get a reinspect for free.
In California, for smog testing there is a separate list of "referee" stations that are not allowed to actually perform repairs. This presumably makes them less influenced by upsell opportunities. :)
They also play a role where the original inspection came up with a cost to repair which is above the cost limit for which the state requires the repair to be done.
(Basically in those cases the owner gets a temporary approval to give him long enough to get rid of the car or use it up!). If the non-compliance is the result of deliberate changes to the smog equipment, there is no cap on the amount the owner has to pay to get it compliant again, and he cannot even sell the car until that is done.
 

nhfire77

Senior Member
Location
NH
not much of a scam if you can go get it fixed someplace else and then get a reinspect for free.

Right, except most folks don't to save time. The standard for inspection is supposed to be black and white, but it's not. Something that 'should' be replaced is labeled as 'shall' by another guy.

More than once I've had my wife get a vehicle inspected and they see a woman who clearly doesnt know anything automotive (yes she admits that). All of a sudden all 4 wheel bearings are shot. They feed her the line- 'we gotta fix that right now it's not safe to drive!!'. Skeptical, she called me. I tell her to poliety get that in writing and bring it to our regular mechanic. He finds 1 bearing is bad, definitely not 4. Now, he fixes it, and writes he version of what was found.

I had to go back, have a less than cordial conversation with the $10 shop and remind them of what my mechanic told me: In the event of two conflicting mechanics opinions, I can call the state dot and they inspection and have the final ruling..... At which point an inspection sticker flew up on the windshield.

Sure just one example, but I was alerted to the shinanigans by another friend who's wife was almost fleeced by a different $10 shop. Point being there are many businesses in many trades, that will take your money, even if it's under a false pretense. No not everyone is out to grt you. But you need to be vigilant
 
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