There are thousand of horror stories with auto repair shops. I remember a car coming in my shop that sounded like it was running on three cylinders. They came in through the service desk and asked me for a diagnosis. I think we charged $39 for a diagnosis, they agreed but before we went through all that, I asked them if I could simply examine the car. We walked out to the car and they popped the hood and started the car. I asked her to stop the car and reached down and plugged in #3 spark plug wire and asked her to restart the car. It purred. I suggested that the problem seemed to be fixed and why doesn't she drive it a few days and see if she still thinks she has a problem. Well, it turned out to be Channel 2 News running a sting on the local shops. We were the only shop to diagnose just the problem with no additional crap. We got real busy after that.
I was interviewed and asked point blank why I didn't charge them a thing while the other shops tried to sell them $200 to $450 dollars worth of repairs. I was pretty candid and suggested that if the car had been running badly for very long, that I would have recommended a lot more. However, I asked her a bunch of questions, including when it started running so badly and that made me think it was something simple. They were clearly confused, and I went on about the fact that a long term misfire could foul out the other three plugs due to the feedback nature of the EFI. I also pointed out that a spark plug wire that popped off for no apparent reason was indeed suspect as well. When I pushed it back on the plug, I felt a solid click and that's why I told her to drive it a couple of days to see what would happen. In other words, it was a push as to what should be done to the car. They asked me to look at the estimates, and frankly, only one was truly excessive. Go figure. Did they sensationalize it? Sure they did. It's their job to make things more dramatic than it really is. Heck, I could have really come out looking like a saint among sinners, but that would be wrong.
Two way communication is so important in any relationship, business or personal. Part of that is the facts you convey to the repair facility. You don't need to give me a diagnosis, but please, please give me accurate symptoms. Without those, arriving at a proper diagnosis is a lot harder and I might miss something no matter how thorough I might be. I learned the hard way that if I didn't have signatures on invoices and estimates, then I was going to have a problem with the customer no matter how clear I was in my communications. As a service manager, I didn't give out estimates as a customer service: they were to protect me from the people who told me "just fix it, I don't care what it costs" and then didn't want to pay the bill.
So as a provider or a consumer: put it in writing or ask for it to be put in writing. Why go through the hassle and aggravation that miscommunication will put you through. If you don't like the estimate you are given, go get another one. Some shops can really undercut the price with grey market parts and underpaid mechanics. The sour taste of poor quality lasts a lot long than the sweetness of cheap prices.
EDIT: New thread split: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/thumbs-down/479932-mods-disagree-me.html
! I felt the OP might have been hinting that it possibly did not need to be replaced since it was a tiny leak (read post #3), therefor I felt the need to point out, tiny leak or big leak means the same, means the hose needs to be replaced, got it?
