A shop owner in Fuquay Varina, N.C., writes:
“I´ve gotten burned twice in the last two years with customers approving repairs over the phone in some manner or another, and then when they show up to pick up their repaired cars, present me with a copy of the North Carolina law stating they do not need to pay for repairs if they did not authorize them. I am then forced by law enforcement to release their cars to them.
“In speaking with my lawyer, she indicates the only way I can really avoid that is to act like a hotel by asking for a credit card imprint when the customers check in. I can´t imagine someone dropping a car off for a diagnostic giving me a credit card imprint.
“Being a transmission shop, I´m not looking at losing a $400 repair bill, I´ve lost a $2,300 and a $2,800 repair bill with this crap. Needless to say, this is a hit in this economy that I can´t afford to take.
“What do you guys do?”
Tom Ham replies:
“Try checking with another attorney. Something about this does not sound right. It goes like this: Start with a customer signature authorizing initial testing, etc. Can be done in-person, after-hours form, or via fax.
“Additional amounts are normally done over the phone and include: Who called whom, phone number called, date, time, brief description of added items and dollar amount. Other methods would be in-person with another signature or email.
“Last time we had an issue was several years ago. Sheriff was called by customer and told customer to pay up if he wanted his car. “If you can confirm that your state is different as you describe, then just pay close attention to each customer. If they seem a bit odd (90 percent of the time, you can tell), then tell them that they have to come in to sign in-person for additional work.
“Even though I do not have to do so, I do that now with jobs in the price range you are referring to. Plus, I get a deposit for maybe half the estimated final bill. This is not common, but when they seem flakey, it clarifies things.”
A shop owner in Oregon, Ohio, answers:
“Clients are very street smart, as my brother used to tell me. Yes, we only have a few but it cuts in the bottom line. I agree with get an email, fax, written text authorization.
“We ask how they plan to pay on big jobs…. We had a gentleman come in after all the work is done. When signing the work order, (he) says call his wife, he is too hard to get a hold of, leaves her number and his. He starts to barter with the service advisor, does not (have) a warranty and would not have agreed to the job if he was contacted, and we took advantage of a woman by calling her instead of him.
“Well, we told him not to go there and did you not say call your wife? Well, he said, 'you did not try to call me, your number would have come up.'
“We gave him a discount and told him we would take him out of the system. Let him scam the next guy. Life is too short.”
A technician in Kamloops, British Columbia, replies:
“At my work we have had customers say they did not agree for teapots when they came to pick up the car. Not sure what my manager does but no cops have been involved, and no car has left unpaid.
“We do have a big problem with customers leaving a big job till they can afford them. But I would just solve that by charging a fee for each day the vehicle is left after being diagnosed or repaired.”
A shop owner in Upland, Calif., answers:
“Out here in the Inland Empire of Southern California, the economy got really bad. We started asking for a deposit (either by phone or in-person) to help keep the crooks away. We also send them a fax or email so they could approve in writing.
“Old relationships we once had with good customers do not seem to apply to today. If they won´t give you a deposit, turn them away.”
The questions and responses are posted on the Automotive Management Network website, which is operated by Deb and Tom Ham, owners of Auto Centric (formerly Ham's Automotive) in Grand Rapids, Mich. The comments have been edited for clarity and brevity.