Shop Fees!... Lets put an end to it!

Many/most state and local governments now-a-days charge tax on labor and services rendered. Someone has to pay it.

You think you got ripped for the shop fee, Ha! I say that they ripped you off right from the word go. I live about 90 minutes from NYC (The middle of Manhatten that is) and I only pay around $45 for an alignment. They only take about a half an hour. The last one I had done a couple of months ago took 1-1/2 hours to do some out of the ordinary adjustments and still only cost me $45. Find yourself another shop and stop getting ripped off.

...Ron

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In Texas, such a practice would be a violation of the deceptive trade practices act and would be punishable. If you say it, you have to do it...

In this state you cannot charge a surcharge for payment by credit card, BUT you can give a discount for cash. Sounds like the same thing, but if you think it through, it isnt.

You got humped on the alignment fee anyway. I pay about $50 at the local alignment shop.

All depends on where you are. The last alignment I got cost me $120CDN.

Certainly possible. The market wont support that here. If you have the opportunity to shop around, better prices can normally be found.

This was only recently. I can remember about 5 years ago getting my alignment checked for $10. If any adjustment was necessary they charge you $30. Then, out of the blue, it jumped to $50 and then not one year later it was up to $80. Two years after that and I'm paying $120 for a full front end alignment or $80 for just a toe adjustment.

Over the same time period shop rates have gone from $40/hr to $90/hr. All Canadian Dollars of course. Currently $1.00US = $1.20CDN

Shoddy work is expensive, no matter what you pay. So, I agree, price is only one part of the equation.

I live about 90 minutes from NYC (The

... so you'd think you could spell 'Manhattan'.

Yes this practice is indeed a scam and needs to be put to a stop. It amazes me how American people have become nothing more than Sheeple the past 30 or

Let's go back to pay toilets, say $0.50. And then surprise these shop-fee-advocates by informing them *after they're done* that there will be $3.99 extra for paper! s

From the time I was 14 through university, I worked in radio and TV repair. It was common to charge a 'service charge', whatever came into the shop. I wondered, in those days, what justification there was for that. It was applied equally to everybody, and without it we would have had a lot of time involved in every problem that we could not have billed.

Right or wrong, it was the process. Now, nobody repairs TVs or radios. You just use them til they break, and buy another.

Maybe in the future, cars will take a similar course.

Am I the only one doing it now? My last car I kept for 17 years, and only let it go when it caught fire. My current car (92 GA) I intend keeping till it no longer runs or otherwise fails.

I see no need to buy a new car every 3-4 years, just as I see no need to change wives every couple of years either.

Just use them until they wear out, then get a new one.

wow, locally tis approx 45cdn for a 2 wheel and 55 for a 4 wheel alignment

Must be nice. Last time I checked my locan Canadian Tire, it was $79.99 just for the front 2.

Wives or the cars? :-P

i wouldn't bring mine to CT even if it was free

Lol. Join the club. I was just giving the price :-P But even most of the local shops are around $59 - $79 here. Then again, I haven't checked in a long time.