Mechanics : need advice on a "mistake"

[Cd]

Hey folks. I posted this topic earlier : http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ease-2882.html

I finally took the car into a new shop down the street. I told the fellow that I needed the CV boots replaced. He said he could replace the boots as well as the shaft for under $ 350 dollars, which was around $ 100 less than the other shop I had been to before.
This sounded good, but I should have known that he was talking about another part on the car.
I picked up the car at closing time, signed on the dotted lines, shook the guys hand and drove off.
The car drives really strange now, but I thought it just needed time to wear in.
When I pulled in to the drive, I turned the wheel and looked under the car.
Plain as day, the CV boots were still there all torn up.
I did however have a shiny new "CVjoint shaft" and boots up front. ( That were probably just fine before the mechanic replaced them. )

Now I know I am at fault for not specifying which boots needed replacing, but ... c'mon it is plain as day ! ( Just look at the images I posted at the linked thread )
I would have hoped that the mechanic could have called me once he saw that the ' other' CV boots were split and asked if that was what I meant.
So now I am out $ 342.64 and still have to have the CORRECT CV boots replaced.

Hard lesson learned.

How would you guys handle a situation like this ?

[Cd]

This is what I get for being in too big of a hurry. I should have walked the guy over to the car and showed him what I needed replaced.
Stupid me.

I'm not saying that the guy was out to get me or anything, but I have to admit that the thought does cross my mind when I just know the guy had to have seen that the CV boots ( the other ones ) were torn.

Yet another stupid mistake that I made was that I signed the paperwork without inspecting the work,or thinking twice what was written on the bill ( " Replaced both left and right CV joint shaft - Chk Alig " )
There was no mention of CV boots in the bill.
I just assumed that the guy would have seen them.

Stupid stupid me.

[cfg83]

Cd -

Wierd. Maybe he just wanted you off the property. Years ago, before I met my wife, she came to pick her car up from the service department. For some reason, the car was oddly parked so that she couldn't see the passenger side. She insisted on looking at the other side and saw a big dent/scratch. Their plan was for her to drive off the lot. The minute she was off the lot, they could claim that she caused the damage. She caught them red-handed and they had to cough up for the repair.

Sorry about the $$ loss. If the receipt doesn't match the work, then maybe you can do something about it.

That's one reason why I drive 26 miles to my current mechanic. I'm too scared to try someone else because I don't have the savvy to know if they're ripping me off or not.

CarloSW2

[Daox]

Looking at your other post that is not a CV boot. That is your steering linkage. This should have been glaringly apparent to them and they should have called you to tell you this. At the very least they should have mentioned this to you when you went to pick it up. I wouldn't trust them with more work.

[Cd]

As I was leaving, I asked him if everything else was O.K., because it has been a while since these boots tore and I was wondering if anthing else got damaged.
He looked puzzled and said ' Naw ... everything else is fine, but your (" some big name part ") might be rusted and need replacing because the car is riding really rough.
He made no mention of the torn boots.

[Cd]

Do you think that the guy honestly could have just not seen the ripped boots ?
It's really obvious when you turn the wheel, and I would think especially when you have the wheel off .

After looking at the reciept, there is no mention of any boots at all. The part that he changed is the part that connects to the wheel and has a boot that flexes with the wheel itself.
I have to wonder if he just cleaned the boot to make it look new.

[Cd]

I am totally at fault for this stupid mistake. I hate when I screw up like this.

[Daox]

Don't blame yourself. Tons of people those mechanics deal with daily know less than you do about cars. They know this and should be people you can trust. Unfortunately, thats not really the way it is most of the time.

Heres a little story for you. Back when I first got the Paseo I bought a header for it. So, I took it to the exhaust shop to have it installed along with a muffler. A few days later they called me and said it was done but they couldn't install it because the header wouldn't seal. They charged me the full quoted price for all the work and I went on my way. Well, at the time I worked at a machine shop and I took it in to inspect the flange flatness. It was dead on. A few months later I figured I might as well give a shot at installing it myself. I go to remove the bolts that hold the manifold to the head and low and behold, one of the bolts stripped the threads out of the head. Did I ever get anything they ruined my head? Nope, just let me go on my way. They also beat the bajeezes out of the header. I got it back with a few GOOD dents in it. Was this my fault for not inspecting things before hand? Heck no, all they had to do was tell me the truth and I would have been fine with it. But they would have had to fix the head, or get me a new one which would be common practice if they were a honest place. I guess that is asking too much though. At that point, I decided I'd never bring my car to a garage again, and I haven't yet to this day (except for new tire mounting).

[TestDrive]

Originally Posted by Cd

The car drives really strange now, but I thought it just needed time to wear in.

Can you elaborate?

[RacerX]

Ok, This is what may have happened on the mechanic's end.

Sometimes when replacing an axle/cv shaft on a car it's easier to remove the axle when you turn the wheel all the way one way. For example: If you are replacing the right front cv shaft you would turn the wheel to the right, Therefore collapsing the "Inner tie rod boot/steering rack boot". When it's collapsed it looks ok because it squashed together. So he may have put it on the lift or jacked it up, Turned the wheel THEN pulled the tire. If he did this he most likely wouldn't see it for it's not sticking out/stretched out in front of him.

See what it looks like when the wheels are straight.....I'd bet they don't look as bad as when they are stretched out. If so maybe when he pulled the wheel the wheels were straight and he didn't notice because it didn't look like a sore thumb.