The mechanic rip-off rort

[Crazy Dazz]

I actually don't believe that many of the issues people complain about are "rip-offs" at all.
If you don't want a product, don't buy it.
Yes, paying your dealer to change your wiper blades will cost more than doing it yourself, go figure. Personally, I love the fact that dealers can make so much money from people who refuse to learn even the most basic car maintenance. That means they need to charge me less when I really need to get something from a dealer.
It amazes me that people will happily pay $1,000 for the latest iPhone, that cost Apple about $2 to manufacture, even when their current phone is still fine, but scream "rip-off" when a mechanic wants to make a profit.

If a mechanic, or anyone else, charges you for work (or parts) that they haven't done or supplied, then yes, that's a rip-ff and IMHO they should be criminally prosecuted.

It doesn't matter whether you are getting your car fixed, building a house, shopping retail, dining at a restaurant, or getting a manicure. People are in business to make money, and inflated prices exist because people are prepared to pay them.

[sleepisforthedead]

Originally Posted by Phildo

If you've got their full name then you can get their address from the electoral roll.

This is why I will never ever register to vote

[CFOUR]

I had a set of pacys, highflow cats and full 2.5 inch exhaust made for one of my v8's back when I was 20 and couldnt weld yet, I was very unhappy with the drone and took it back the next day to be modified, different rear mufflers instead of hotdogs which I was happy to pay for ontop of the $2500 for the original system. the guy who I had do all the work i couldn't be bothered with on my cars (a full blown mechanic not just a exhaust guy) tried to charge $300 to replace blown exhaust gaskets, which he had fitted the day before and to my ear werenot blown (was too much drone to hear much and i suffer from migraines) when i dropped it off.

I still paid $600 for the rear mufflers and told him he had lost my business, I was not paying for the gaskets again and I would be telling people to avoid his business, he ended up cussing me out, blocking my exit and taking a swing at me, I ducked and hit him ONCE as that was all that was required and left (smoky burnout in his carpark)

a week later I get a collections demand for $300 and if I didnt pay I would have to go to court, I sent my dad (a retired mechanic) to talk some sense into him and upon seeing the state his face was in he paid the mechanic his $300 and got a receipt.

I've encountered a few people with similar story's from the same mechanic in the years past and even saw him whinging in the paper because a biker broke his arm. the only sad part was his work was top notch, he easily could have been successful with word of mouth if he wasn't greedy scum


also ford once got a specialist in at $300p/h to extract one broken bolt, they ended up waving the $750 charge as they had broken the bolt but it took a lot of arguing and the manager realizing my family bought 10+ cars new from that dealer in the past five years. still it had the $750 charge and then the $750 credit on the receipt. I'd go to a dealer for a car under warranty 9/10 times, never for one out of warranty that's got any non communications problems.

[CFOUR]

Originally Posted by sleepisforthedead

This is why I will never ever register to vote

because you have reason to hide? being enrolled to vote is one of many easy ways to get somebody's address. if you have a drivers licence, get mail or receive utility's you may as well sign write you address on all your cars.

[Qwerty321]

Originally Posted by Interceptor

They run a timing chain.......

Oh wow, I just had a dumb moment

I mean I could try and pull the "timing chains still have change intervals" defense, but I'd be clutching at straws lol. In my defence I wrote that at like 2 in the morning and was kinda tired and not thinking straight

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Send me a PM if you could on how to check that.

But I was thinking about making a Facebook profile with a girls name, choose a pic from a not so well known porn star's gallery on pornhub and add him as a friend.

Then try chat him up into organising a meetup and Big Damo and Co turn up instead

We could make a reality TV show out of this as well

Mate, you have honestly just made my day! Not many times I'll actually laugh out loud at something on the internet but this is one of them. I'm just imagining the expression on the guys face when he realises it's not the pornstar and he's about to get his face kicked in by Damo and the boys

[sleepisforthedead]

Originally Posted by CFOUR

because you have reason to hide? being enrolled to vote is one of many easy ways to get somebody's address. if you have a drivers licence, get mail or receive utility's you may as well sign write you address on all your cars.

In this day and age making the decision to keep as much as possible private is everyone's, they just don't exercise it.

PO Box takes care of all the mail, and I don't carry a licence just an 18+ card for that exact reason. When you've worked in security industries and seen what people do with information that's readily available, you tend to keep whatever you can off the grid.

[GXL078]

Originally Posted by sleepisforthedead

In this day and age making the decision to keep as much as possible private is everyone's, they just don't exercise it.

PO Box takes care of all the mail, and I don't carry a licence just an 18+ card for that exact reason. When you've worked in security industries and seen what people do with information that's readily available, you tend to keep whatever you can off the grid.

Its a criminal offence not to enrol to vote and you cant get a security licence with a criminal record. Yet you post such comments on a public forum.Do you not think you can be identified through your email and ip address? You need to show ID when you open a P.O. box account.They know who you are.

[sleepisforthedead]

Originally Posted by GXL078

Its a criminal offence not to enrol to vote and you cant get a security licence with a criminal record. Yet you post such comments on a public forum.Do you not think you can be identified through your email and ip address? You need to show ID when you open a P.O. box account.They know who you are.

Well lucky I don't have a criminal record then isn't it.

Somehow I don't think the electoral commission are trawling Internet forums hunting for unregistered citizens.. but yes if you have a fixed IP then it is entirely possible to find out the location. Well beyond 99% of the population to do so.

I'm also not hiding my identity from the post office, or any other government agency for that matter. I do have several government mandated licenses including firearms, and that's one of the many reasons why I keep mail private and addresses the same.

Why should I have my home address accessible to the public? Why should anyone? Cars, money, valuables, all get tracked and stolen through many different channels.. if you had a phase three in your garage would you want your home address available to every Tom, Dick and Harry?

EDIT: No, I do not own a Phase III

[Qwerty321]

Originally Posted by sleepisforthedead

Well lucky I don't have a criminal record then isn't it.

Somehow I don't think the electoral commission are trawling Internet forums hunting for unregistered citizens.. but yes if you have a fixed IP then it is entirely possible to find out the location. Well beyond 99% of the population to do so.

I'm also not hiding my identity from the post office, or any other government agency for that matter. I do have several government mandated licenses including firearms, and that's one of the many reasons why I keep mail private and addresses the same.

Why should I have my home address accessible to the public? Why should anyone? Cars, money, valuables, all get tracked and stolen through many different channels.. if you had a phase three in your garage would you want your home address available to every Tom, Dick and Harry?

EDIT: No, I do not own a Phase III

You sound a tad paranoid there mate, no offense

[sleepisforthedead]

As is mentioned above, there are ways to find where most people live, very easily! If I hadn't seen what people are capable of when given too much information is probably not give it another thought.. same reason I don't have Facebook etc.

One of my favorite sayings.. just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean people aren't after you ;) hahahaha

[Pis-ton broke]

sleepisforthedead you sound like a privacy expert, can you tell me how to stop sales people from ring me up?

[sleepisforthedead]

Hahaha mate I'm no expert, not by a long shot, and nor am I a foil hat wearing conspiracy theorist. I simply take the precautions I'm aware of

As for sale people, you should be asking your phone company for a private unlisted number, and be careful where you write your number down on any sales forms etc.
Next time one of them call you, take the time, ask for a manager and ask to be completely removed from any call lists

[CFOUR]

Originally Posted by Pis-ton broke

sleepisforthedead you sound like a privacy expert, can you tell me how to stop sales people from ring me up?

there is a registry you can sign up for, anybody who cold calls you is then liable for penalty's.

[Interceptor]

Originally Posted by CFOUR

there is a registry you can sign up for, anybody who cold calls you is then liable for penalty's.

And has been shown to be less effective than a domestic violence restraining order!

[DoubleTrouble]

Originally Posted by CFOUR

there is a registry you can sign up for, anybody who cold calls you is then liable for penalty's.

Do not call registry is just another Government joke, the calls keep coming.

[Express]

Originally Posted by DoubleTrouble

Do not call registry is just another Government joke, the calls keep coming.

Ain’t that the truth.

My wife often updates our ‘do not call’ info as that is what you are told to do so as to keep it fresh.

We still have a constant flow of Indian accents with private number ID’s calling through the day and at meal times to tell us our computer has a problem.

I’ve already had two this morning.

There is no way I can even report them as they are O/S without details.

Plus charities and politics is exempt.

[Pis-ton broke]

i had two calls yesterday and i just hang up on them. but its usually everyday of late and then it goes quite for a bit. mostly Indians and "solar companies". i signed to the no call list years ago.

[CFOUR]

Originally Posted by DoubleTrouble

Do not call registry is just another Government joke, the calls keep coming.

i get less than 3 calls a quater

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by DoubleTrouble

You can check your local electoral roll at your local MP office, hopefully your customer is on the roll.

Federal MP I'm guessing?

My 'local' AEC Office for my electorate is 92km away which has a current copy of the electoral roll.

[Olbucko]

I don't have much of a problem with nuisance calls any more, I have an app on my phone that allows me to add their number to a blocked call list, the next time they ring the phone makes a short beep and informs me that the call has been blocked. The blocked call list is getting longer and the no of nuisance call less and less. As for private numbers and oversees calls, I don't bother answering them, if its important they'll leave a message.

[olfella]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Federal MP I'm guessing?

My 'local' AEC Office for my electorate is 92km away which has a current copy of the electoral roll.

I am pretty sure Post Offices used to have them along with local libraries. A phone call should confirm.

[DoubleTrouble]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Federal MP I'm guessing?

My 'local' AEC Office for my electorate is 92km away which has a current copy of the electoral roll.

Mary-Anne Thomas Victorian ALP
Shop 14, Nexus Centre, 9 Goode Street, Gisborne, VIC 3437 Postal Address PO Box 39, Gisborne, VIC 3437 Phone (03) 5428 2138

[Silver Ghia]

Originally Posted by DoubleTrouble

Mary-Anne Thomas Victorian ALP
Shop 14, Nexus Centre, 9 Goode Street, Gisborne, VIC 3437 Postal Address PO Box 39, Gisborne, VIC 3437 Phone (03) 5428 2138

Thats the local member. The AEC office for McEwen which Damo is in, is in Seymour.

But hey, we're off the topic a little bit...

[ratter]

Originally Posted by Olbucko

I don't have much of a problem with nuisance calls any more, I have an app on my phone that allows me to add their number to a blocked call list, the next time they ring the phone makes a short beep and informs me that the call has been blocked. The blocked call list is getting longer and the no of nuisance call less and less. As for private numbers and oversees calls, I don't bother answering them, if its important they'll leave a message.

What app, does it work for iPhone?

[Olbucko]

Originally Posted by ratter

What app, does it work for iPhone?

I have a Nokia Lumina phone with a windows 8 operating system and this feature appears to be built into it. It's listed in the phone's settings as a call & SMS filter. I'm sure there would be an app similar to this for android or i phones
In the past I got around this problem by putting unwanted numbers in the phone book then assigning a different ringtone such as a cuckoo sound or no ring at all

[Blue Shadow]

Originally Posted by Olbucko

I have a Nokia Lumina phone with a windows 8 operating system and this feature appears to be built into it. It's listed in the phone's settings as a call & SMS filter. I'm sure there would be an app similar to this for android or i phones
In the past I got around this problem by putting unwanted numbers in the phone book then assigning a different ringtone such as a cuckoo sound or no ring at all

You are right, Dont know about IPhones but Samsung has it too so Id say iphones would.

[DoubleTrouble]

Originally Posted by Silver Ghia

Thats the local member. The AEC office for McEwen which Damo is in, is in Seymour.

But hey, we're off the topic a little bit...

Thought the local member might have had copies but hey he might have to visit Bendigo not Seymour.

[ratter]

iPhone can block a number, but not a silent number

[CFOUR]

"who called me" on android has a auto block private numbers function also

[Blue Shadow]

Originally Posted by CFOUR

"who called me" on android has a auto block private numbers function also

Where is, in settings (Samsung Galaxy)?