In article ,
Mike Tomlinson wrote:


Would you be happy for a car mechanic to shotgun a fault on your car,
with you paying for his time and all the parts he is unnecessarily
fitting?

It's commonly done. Had a girlfriend a few years back who took her car
in because it was overheating. They called with the estimate (of many
hundreds of dollars,) saying they had determined that it needed a new
radiator, new water pump, new thermostat, and new hoses.

I went down there and asked them how they had determined the radiator
fault, and they claimed to have pressure tested it. A 15 second look
under the hood confirmed my suspicion that they had not.

I took the car and replaced the thermostat - $12 and 1/2 hour - and it
served her for several more years.

The shop in question is consistently voted winner of the annual
"Reader's Poll" in our local rag.

Oddly, I don't think they operate that way solely to cheat the customer
financially. I think they're more driven by not wanting any return
complaints. That's why the "Readers" like them -- "they fixed it right
the first time!!"

I drove around town for the next 3 months with a giant sign in my back
window:

"Richard's Auto: As Crooked As the Day is Long."

I got a lot of stories from people who saw the sign, about their own bad
experiences there.