Mechanic charged me for a simple check and not a service

The point about the fuel fill was that this is the minimum expense a car owner will face and it's usually more than the quoted fee from that mechanic. Your contention that this could be a large expense for some people is true, but not if you own a car where such expenses are as routine as filling up.

The OP might not know, but since they clearly specified "other things that they could have done themselves" points to the mechanic detailing these "other things" which would be expected. Can't really see them handing over an invoice and not explaining what it's for. And if that were the case, you'd expect the customer to insist on an explanation.

To me, the OP had an expectation of work to be done without actually specifying it. So it seems not to be exclusively about the money rather than the gap between expectation and reality. And that's a communication issue.

If the mechanic was a cowboy, they'd have polished up the oil filter, cleaned off the air filter box and charged the guy for a full "service" and he wouldn't have been the wiser.

I challenge you to open your bonnet and check the dipstick in two seconds. 🤣

I would suggest that calling somebody a cowboy for charging €60 is a bit of a stretch. Even if he did the bare minimum and took ten minutes to do it, his time is still worth money. Too many people seem to think that expertise is not worth paying for because "I could have done it myself".

But again, we're getting hung up on the money. I don't think this is the issue. To me it's simply a communications problem.

My point is we dont know.. most likely he did a fine job, however something caused the OP to question the mechanic..

We know what caused him to question the mechanic (although he clearly didn't actually question him). He expected a service to be done and the mechanic had a look and advised him he could wait until the car reached the service interval.

We don't know how much mileage he does for a year. You're making an assumption based on nothing other than the length of time from the last service and an assumed service interval. Service interval for a Kia Rio is 15k for petrol and 30k for diesel. We don't know which it is, but even at the lower 15k, he's done 8k in 18 months, which is about 5.5k a year. If it's the diesel, then that changes to over 15k a year. Also the mechanic clearly knew what mileage they were doing because according to the OP they had sight of the service record from which they arrived at the 7k remaining on the service interval.

And yes, it's accepted that an oil change should be done annually or at the service interval, whichever comes first. OP should have specified that they required one, but clearly didn't. And they still could have insisted when collecting the car, but didn't.

Most of the issues here seem to come back to communication. Not sure why the mechanic is being blamed for lack of communication as they clearly stated what was done and why. It's up to the customer to challenge that if they don't agree.

Having read the OPs latest post, I've had enough of this. It's a drip drip of information and contradictions. In the first post they specifically said the mechanic said they'd checked the oil and some unspecified other things. In the latest post they now say there was no communication.

That's enough for me.

You are literally complaining about a mechanic trying to do the right thing by you, even when it costs him money.

Its just the worst kind of customer, convinced they are right even when they themselves know that they don't know anything about the job.

I use the vac pump for 2 oil changes

3rd one I use it and then drain remainder from the sump

If he knew about cars he wouldn't have gone to garage . What makes you think because u buy a jack and you u do now ?

Op , the problem is you dont know about cars but you are questioning someone - mechanic - who does - and now you think you can buy tools and become one - just not respecting someones trade

You know what they say if you can piss you can paint 😊 (joke)