Mechanic replaced part unnecessarily

RobAMerc

bit p*ssed off so have to rant sorry.

So BMW did an inspection of my car, I told them there was a vibration under braking.
Diagnosis worn bearing causing warped disk = 1200 yoyo.

I decided to go to a BMW specialist, I emailed and explained.
He disagreed with the diagnosis but didnt offer any of his own.
I told him I would buy the parts if he would fit, he agreed.

I brought the car to him today, as it happened the disks didnt fit but he fitted the bearing.

When I went to collect I asked him if he thought the bearing was the issue or of the disks were warped ?
He said, oh, I dont know the cause but there was nothing wrong with the bearing !

So why did fit it I asked, "because you told me to"

Now forgive me if I am wrong, but does anyone else think that a mechanic fitting a part he knows does not need to be fitted is just doing it for the money?

I'd have happily paid him ?50 and brought the parts back, instead now I've paid him 100 to fit a bearing that I didnt need and I've no part to bring back !
I also have to go and pay ( someone else ) another wedge to have the disks done ! ( not his fault in fairness )
And he wasnt half ignorant about it either !

James Bond Junior

RobAMerc wrote: »

bit p*ssed off so have to rant sorry.

So BMW did an inspection of my car, I told them there was a vibration under braking.
Diagnosis worn bearing causing warped disk = 1200 yoyo.

I decided to go to a BMW specialist, I emailed and explained.
He disagreed with the diagnosis but didnt offer any of his own.
I told him I would buy the parts if he would fit, he agreed.

I brought the car to him today, as it happened the disks didnt fit but he fitted the bearing.

When I went to collect I asked him if he thought the bearing was the issue or of the disks were warped ?
He said, oh, I dont know the cause but there was nothing wrong with the bearing !

So why did fit it I asked, "because you told me to"

Now forgive me if I am wrong, but does anyone else think that a mechanic fitting a part he knows does not need to be fitted is just doing it for the money?

I'd have happily paid him ?50 and brought the parts back, instead now I've paid him 100 to fit a bearing that I didnt need and I've no part to bring back !
I also have to go and pay ( someone else ) another wedge to have the disks done ! ( not his fault in fairness )
And he wasnt half ignorant about it either !

But he did what you asked him? I can't see the problem.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I have to agree with the mechanic. You asked him to replace the bearing and he did as the customer instructed.

grogi

Stick to Mercedes maybe...

Toyotafanboi

If both you and the BMW independent disagreed with the main dealers diagnosis, why did you still buy a bearing and bring it to him?

If you and the independent disagreed with the main dealer diagnostic you should have brought it where you wanted and asked for a second opinion diagnostic but you brought it to the independent and supplied the parts that were diagnosed as faulty by the main dealer. What did you expect him to do with those parts or why did you buy them and supply them if you didn't want them fitted?

IMO you are delving too much into this yourself by diagnosing at one place and looking for a fix at another while supplying self sourced parts etc. If you do not know what you are looking at yourself, take the car to a garage you trust, explain your problem then allow them to diagnose, source parts and fix. The price may not be what you pictured but the job in 99% of cases will be done right, first time, no stress.

RobAMerc

lads for jaysus sake, he told me he disagreed with the diagnosis. I asked him for his but he didnt offer one, he just fitted the part. A decent bloke imo would have at least rang me and said - "there is nothing wrong with the bearing on it, are you sure you want me to fit the new one".

James Bond Junior

RobAMerc wrote: »

lads for jaysus sake, he told me he disagreed with the diagnosis. I asked him for his but he didnt offer one, he just fitted the part. A decent bloke imo would have at least rang me and said - "there is nothing wrong with the bearing on it, are you sure you want me to fit the new one".

I can see your side of it but I can imagine he may have decided it was best to just fit the part as was asked of him. Maybe you should chalk it down to a bad experience and find a new place.

amcalester

RobAMerc wrote: »

lads for jaysus sake, he told me he disagreed with the diagnosis. I asked him for his but he didnt offer one, he just fitted the part. A decent bloke imo would have at least rang me and said - "there is nothing wrong with the bearing on it, are you sure you want me to fit the new one".

You should have asked him to check it before replacing.

As it stands he did what you asked.

Toyotafanboi

Maybe he thought you didnt disagree with the main dealer diagnostic and that's why you brought the car and the parts to him. If he's an independent who specialises in one particular brand he probably gets a lot of that kind of work.

I don't blame him as he can't offer a diagnosis over the phone but if you turned up without parts he probably would have done a bit of investigating himself.

IMO bringing the parts to the Indy having told him previously that they are what a main dealer said was wrong and expecting him not to fit them is like putting a tea bag, two spoons of sugar and a splash of milk into a cup, then adding hot water and expecting it not to turn into a cup of tea.

RobAMerc

James Bond Junior wrote: »

I can see your side of it but I can imagine he may have decided it was best to just fit the part as was asked of him. Maybe you should chalk it down to a bad experience and find a new place.

Ok, I get he might not have liked the fact I had it diagnosed elsewhere and bought the parts myself but I never insisted he fitted the part, and I asked huim numerous times if he did know what was wrong, is that not asking for a diagnosis. As I said I would have happily paid 50 for that alone.

gctest50

RobAMerc wrote: »

lads for jaysus sake, he told me he disagreed with the diagnosis. I asked him for his but he didnt offer one, he just fitted the part. A decent bloke imo would have at least rang me and said - "there is nothing wrong with the bearing on it, are you sure you want me to fit the new one".

No, cos if the bearing failed later on ( for any reason ) he'd have to listen to it & pay for disc/caliper that might get wiped out

TBi

amcalester wrote: »

You should have asked him to check it before replacing.

As it stands he did what you asked.

Now I understand why my mechanic won't just fit something I ask him to. He's probably met people like this before who argue with him about replacing something they asked him too.

RobAMerc

amcalester wrote: »

You should have asked him to check it before replacing.

As it stands he did what you asked.

Are you seriously saying I had to specifically ask him that, rather than asking him what he thought was wrong?

Again imo a fella interested in doing his best by a customer would have come back to me with something rather than just doing it.

_Brian

He said it wasn't the bearing, you brought him a bearing and the car for it to be changed, and now HEs wrong for changing it. ??

Maybe stick to one garage or the other and let them work through the problem, hopping and skipping from one to the other and neither will have any genuine interest in you as a customer.

amcalester

RobAMerc wrote: »

Are you seriously saying I had to specifically ask him that, rather than asking him what he thought was wrong?

Again imo a fella interested in doing his best by a customer would have come back to me with something rather than just doing it.

I think he did what you asked, but what you asked for isn't what you wanted and now you're annoyed.

Yawns

As was pointed out, what happens if the bearing goes in the next 2k kilometers and causes warped discs etc. You'd have prob been back to him saying why didn't you replace the bearing...

You brought him a part and asked him to fit it. He disagreed what was wrong and gave you an honest opinion in that he was unsure what caused the problem. But he did say he did not agree with the diagnosis. You got him to fit the part anyway after he told you he disagreed with it. So why should he do half the work to stop and tell you again it wasn't the right diagnosis? He carried out the work you asked. He's not the problem.

When you asked what he thought the problem was, maybe you would have been happier if he randomly said warped discs and charged you for that only afterwards to find out it might be something else?

Del2005

RobAMerc wrote: »

Ok, I get he might not have liked the fact I had it diagnosed elsewhere and bought the parts myself but I never insisted he fitted the part, and I asked huim numerous times if he did know what was wrong, is that not asking for a diagnosis. As I said I would have happily paid 50 for that alone.

Replacing the bearing is a minor part of finding out that the bearing wasn't the issue. €50 to take apart and reassemble a hub is an insult.

godtabh

RobAMerc wrote: »

He disagreed with the diagnosis but didnt offer any of his own.
I told him I would buy the parts if he would fit, he agreed.

Doen't that sum it all up. He didnt agree with you. You said you would buy the parts and he agreed to install it. All down to you

RobAMerc

_Brian wrote: »

He said it wasn't the bearing, you brought him a bearing and the car for it to be changed, and now HEs wrong for changing it. ??

Maybe stick to one garage or the other and let them work through the problem, hopping and skipping from one to the other and neither will have any genuine interest in you as a customer.

No, he said he didnt think that sounded right, I asked him if he had any idea what it could be. Is that not asking him to check it ?

I dont see why it matters that I brought the parts BMW told me needed replacement, I dont have time to go to the other guy for a diagnosis one day and back a few days later for it to be fixed, its considerably out of my way to do it, and I trusted the diagnosis I had.
I made the mistake of thinking he not fot them if they were not needed.

grogi

RobAMerc wrote: »

No, he said he didnt think that sounded right, I asked him if he had any idea what it could be. Is that not asking him to check it ?

Stupid mechanic, good you... Is it what you want to hear?

Nervous Wreck

"If I buy a bearing, will you fit it for me?"
"Sure."
*buys bearing*
*fits bearing*
"You inconsiderate bastard."

Seth Brundle

RobAMerc wrote: »

I never insisted he fitted the part

Did he force the work on you?

RobAMerc wrote: »

I asked huim numerous times if he did know what was wrong, is that not asking for a diagnosis.

Doesn't matter what you call it. As far as you're concerned he didn't know what was wrong but it appears you and he didn't tho k it was a dodgy bearing. Nonetheless you still requested that he replace it.

James Bond Junior

@robamerc I used to always bring my own parts to the mechanic as family are in the parts trade however didn't have a branch in my area until recently. Mechanics were often hostile towards me supplying my own as 1) they lose out on money supplying parts 2) have to charge a higher rate of vat if charging labour only 23% vs 13.5% so again lose money as they feel obliged to eat the difference 3) if the wrong part is ordered a lift is being taken up which costs them money. 4) may have a target to hit on orders to attain a rebate or cash back in their local factors.

Now I just tell my mechanic, do what you need but you must order from X motor factors and I'll sort it. He is happy and I'm happy as nobody is being put out.

RobAMerc

grogi wrote: »

Stupid mechanic, good you... Is it what you want to hear?

I see boards has turned into after hours !

Skerries

you think you know a guy!

RobAMerc

Nervous Wreck wrote: »

"If I buy a bearing, will you fit it for me?"
"Sure."
*buys bearing*
*fits bearing*
"You inconsiderate bastard."

How bout this.

"BMW says this is wrong with the car"
"Doesnt sound likely but I dont know"
"If I buy the parts will you have a look"
"Yea"
"Hows it going was it the bearing?"
"no but I fitted it anyway"
"You inconsiderate bastard!"

gctest50

Is the vibration under braking gone ?

Toyotafanboi

James Bond Junior wrote: »

2) have to charge a higher rate of vat if charging labour only 23% vs 13.5% so again lose money as they feel obliged to eat the difference

Are you sure?

Radiant Cool Crazy Nightmare

Its stories like this that make me thankful that my mate is a good mechanic. If there is an issue with my car I bring it to him. He finds out whats wrong and then fixes it for me. There is no messing around. But he has told me some stories about customers telling him hes wrong and should have done this or that, others then flat out not paying him for work, sounds like a nightmare racket to be in. OP you need to find yourself a good mechanic you trust and stick with him.

Toyotafanboi

RobAMerc wrote: »

How bout this.

"BMW says this is wrong with the car"
"Doesnt sound likely but I dont know"
"If I buy the parts will you have a look"
"Yea"
"Hows it going was it the bearing?"
"no but I fitted it anyway"
"You inconsiderate bastard!"

The part in bold is where it falls apart. Why buy and supply a part that you don't want fitted?

grogi

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Are you sure?

It's actually complete​ opposite.

Mechanic charges 13.5% VAT for labour, and he can do it for the parts also. If one buys the parts privately, he pays 23% VAT.

There is no loss to the mechanic, unless he hoped on cashing that extra 9.5% himself. Or the client brings bad parts...

RobAMerc

Radiant Cool Crazy Nightmare wrote: »

OP you need to find yourself a good mechanic you trust and stick with him.

He has done stuff for me before and I did trust him. I had it with BMW only because it was due a service anyway and I asked them their opinion on the vibration.

Clearly there was a communication problem, I should have clearly explained I'd being the parts and if he thought it was those parts he would replace them.
We had discussed how we both thought it wasnt the bearing, so why he felt he should just replace it knowing it wasnt an issue is beyond me!

I maybe expected more from a mechanic I trusted, however on boards that makes me a gob****e !

RobAMerc

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

The part in bold is where it falls apart. Why buy and supply a part that you don't want fitted?

I was told it was the problem and didnt have the time to go for diagnosis and back again to have it done. I also thought I would get them cheaper by taking the time to buy online and bring it to the mechanic when I had all the bits I "Might" need.

If I went to a surgeon and told him another doctor told me I needed my apendix out, would the suurgeon just remove them because I asked him to ?

scrap_man

so you dissagreed with the bmw diagnosis, emailed him and he also dissagreed, so then you bought the bearing anyway? why?
also, he would have had to strip the bearing to know if it was faulty or not, the reassemble it so it would have cost you the same in labour anyway. If i was him and discovered the old bearing was fine after stripping it, i would also fit the new one as you had already bought it. If the old one failed in a few months, you would surely be going back complainig "why didnt you fit the new one ii bought?"
imo, the mechanic was 100% right in what he done

Toyotafanboi

grogi wrote: »

It's actually complete​ opposite.

Mechanic charges 13.5% VAT for labour, and he can do it for the parts also. If one buys the parts privately, he pays 23% VAT.

There is no loss to the mechanic, unless he hoped on cashing that extra 9.5% himself.

Exactly.

Like for like, it's cheaper for the consumer to let the mechanic supply the parts. VAT on the labour is always 13.5

gctest50

RobAMerc wrote: »

I was told it was the problem and didnt have the time to go for diagnosis and back again to have it done. I also thought I would get them cheaper by taking the time to buy online and bring it to the mechanic when I had all the bits I "Might" need.

If I went to a surgeon and told him another doctor told me I needed my apendix out, would the suurgeon just remove them because I asked him to ?

Is the vibration under braking gone away now ?

RobAMerc

scrap_man wrote: »

so you dissagreed with the bmw diagnosis, emailed him and he also dissagreed, so then you bought the bearing anyway? why?

I;ve explained that

scrap_man wrote: »

also, he would have had to strip the bearing to know if it was faulty or not, the reassemble it so it would have cost you the same in labour anyway. If i was him and discovered the old bearing was fine after stripping it, i would also fit the new one as you had already bought it.

I didnt know checking a bearing was that involved -

scrap_man wrote: »

If the old one failed in a few months, you would surely be going back complainig "why didnt you fit the new one ii bought?"

you dont know what Id have done, this isnt an argument

RobAMerc

gctest50 wrote: »

Is the vibration under braking gone away now ?

No, it is the disks are warped - we knew the vibration was caused by that, I was told the warp was caused by the bearing.

James Bond Junior

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Are you sure?

I was told that by a mechanic anyway

Edit: read further on after my post and that's what he told me, my bad!

xabi

How much was the bearing. He had spent the time dismantling everything and probably took the bearing out to inspect, it was a good call by him to replace with the new one.im sure the labour would have been the same if he just put the old one back. You have a new bearing now at least.

Bigus

xabi wrote: »

How much was the bearing. He had spent the time dismantling everything and probably took the bearing out to inspect, it was a good call by him to replace with the new one.im sure the labour would have been the same if he just put the old one back. You have a new bearing now at least.

Agreed, plus the bearing Is done , ultimately helping diagnosis and eventual fix.

Wossack

cant blame him - he salvaged what he could from the job (was expecting to be making more from fitting the discs)

The Backwards Man

If I had a competent mechanic, a replacement bearing and the hub already stripped there's no way in hell I'd put the old one back in, good or bad.

ironclaw

Personally I'd expect a call and an explanation, if I had specifically asked for a diagonsis even if I had supplied a part. However when I supply parts and say nothing else, its basically saying 'Fit these' and I accept that.

I never understood why people don't take the time to type out exactly what you want done. I always do and it makes picking up the car a breeze as I can tick through the list of things I wanted done. No ambiguity. Its also a great addition to the service book as I can look back and see exactly when I last did or checked something.

My last one looked like this:

- Fit supplied bushings and mounts.
- Check alignment and tracking following fitment.
- Check of surrounding suspension mounts, track rods, control arms and bushings for wear.
- Check wear of discs & pads.

And at the end, a quick line asking to ring me if any of the 'checks' come back as needing parts. Takes 5 mins, saves hassle, massive help in keeping track of maintenance.

sundodger5

Did you take any of the advice offered in the other thread on this?

GerryDerpy

He was right to fit the bearing, considering he had the hub stripped and new shiny bearing right there.

You have poor communication skills, or at least in this case.

H3llR4iser

Can't see the issue OP - you brought him the bearing, he fitted it, you have a new bearing on your car - which (as long as you bought OEM / good quality third party) is going to be less worn than the one you've been driving on.

If the problem is the price you paid, as many already said, in order to get to try and put the new brake discs on the mechanic would have needed to have taken at least one out - once the caliper and rotor were removed, replacing the bearing isn't usually a lot more work; It may have added 50 euro to your bill.

James Bond Junior wrote: »

@robamerc I used to always bring my own parts to the mechanic as family are in the parts trade however didn't have a branch in my area until recently. Mechanics were often hostile towards me supplying my own as 1) they lose out on money supplying parts 2) have to charge a higher rate of vat if charging labour only 23% vs 13.5% so again lose money as they feel obliged to eat the difference 3) if the wrong part is ordered a lift is being taken up which costs them money. 4) may have a target to hit on orders to attain a rebate or cash back in their local factors.

Now I just tell my mechanic, do what you need but you must order from X motor factors and I'll sort it. He is happy and I'm happy as nobody is being put out.

Frankly, any mechanic I have ever used was happy to let me source my own parts - especially if it was something that might take long/be hard to find; For example, years ago I had to replace the front subframe on the 159 and the Alfa dealer themselves had me source it second hand; Many other times, if it wasn't an urgent job it was suggested I might get the parts for cheaper / quicker from Italy (family there that can drop in the parts shop and mail stuff to me). Guess it depends on situations, business and from guy to guy.

knipex

RobAMerc wrote: »

Are you seriously saying I had to specifically ask him that, rather than asking him what he thought was wrong?

Again imo a fella interested in doing his best by a customer would have come back to me with something rather than just doing it.

If you brought him the car and asked him to diagnose the issue then that's what he would have done.

You asked him to fit parts that you supplied so that's what he did.

You got exactly what you asked and paid for..

TallGlass

This is one of the many reasons I work on my own car! Buy the parts you need, do job to your own satisfaction and no messing around with arguments.

I still however, wouldn't bring a part when you wanted a verdict on the cause.

If anything, I would be repeating 3/4/5 times that it's just a triage you want done on the car, nothing else.

TBH OP, he had the part, and had it stripped car down to that part, it would be ridiculous not to change the part. It would be like leaving a water pump in the car while doing the timing belt. (if of course connected) or not looking at other parts while doing another job that has them parts removed.

knipex

RobAMerc wrote: »

No, he said he didnt think that sounded right, I asked him if he had any idea what it could be. Is that not asking him to check it ?

I dont see why it matters that I brought the parts BMW told me needed replacement, I dont have time to go to the other guy for a diagnosis one day and back a few days later for it to be fixed, its considerably out of my way to do it, and I trusted the diagnosis I had.
I made the mistake of thinking he not fot them if they were not needed.

You you tried begin a smart ass.

He told you it wasn't a bearing but you still asked him for a price to fit.

You asked him what else it could be ? Did you book in the car to be looked at or expect him to magically give it to you there and then ?

You give him your car with parts after getting a quote to fit them. WTF did you expect him to do ?

Diagnostics is the hard part, fitting parts is easy..

What would have happened if you had come back and he handed you the bearing, told you it was warped disks which he had replaced with stock he bought and hit you with a bill ?

or if he had handed you back the bearing said it's not the problem the problem is the disks and hit you with a bill for all his labour ?

You would be on here moaning about how he charged for for work you didn't approve or how he charged you for doing nothing..

Supergurrier

I dropped my leon into the mechanic to fit new discs and pads.

He better not fit that **** or i will be furious !