Wecourville
Junior Member
Illinois:
Illinois Automotive Repair Act says a mechanic must provide an itemized statement, can only charge you for real work done if they can't finish repairs in the time limit, must approve any repair that will cost over $100 with a written quote, etc.
My mechanic was given my car 2-3 days throughout a 2 week period, and was told I needed it by the end of the month. He was supposed to diagnose 2 issues, replace a belt, and change the oil. The total for the oil and belt with labor should not have been over ~125. The issue is, he charged an extra 1.5 hours of labor for the diagnostics that he was supposed to do, and never informed me of the issue. He returned the car, did not phone or face to face contact me. He later asked for a billing address over text to "write the ticket". He never asked for the car back to fix it, or told me what was wrong. He also charged a $5.25 late fee for not paying within 30 days even though he never gave me a bill, and first printed and mailed it the 1st of August, and I recieved it the 7th of August.
With all of that, my understanding is that I have the right to not pay the bill. I am more than willing to pay for an hour of labor, the 10 dollars for the belt, and the oil change. But with him not completing the work or contacting me, I do not believe I legally have to pay the extra labor he put on, or his late fee.
Any help with this odd situation is GREATLY appreciated. I'm an EMT so I'm not rolling in extra money to give to this scammer that didnt do anything that he charged me the extras for.
Illinois Automotive Repair Act says a mechanic must provide an itemized statement, can only charge you for real work done if they can't finish repairs in the time limit, must approve any repair that will cost over $100 with a written quote, etc.
My mechanic was given my car 2-3 days throughout a 2 week period, and was told I needed it by the end of the month. He was supposed to diagnose 2 issues, replace a belt, and change the oil. The total for the oil and belt with labor should not have been over ~125. The issue is, he charged an extra 1.5 hours of labor for the diagnostics that he was supposed to do, and never informed me of the issue. He returned the car, did not phone or face to face contact me. He later asked for a billing address over text to "write the ticket". He never asked for the car back to fix it, or told me what was wrong. He also charged a $5.25 late fee for not paying within 30 days even though he never gave me a bill, and first printed and mailed it the 1st of August, and I recieved it the 7th of August.
With all of that, my understanding is that I have the right to not pay the bill. I am more than willing to pay for an hour of labor, the 10 dollars for the belt, and the oil change. But with him not completing the work or contacting me, I do not believe I legally have to pay the extra labor he put on, or his late fee.
Any help with this odd situation is GREATLY appreciated. I'm an EMT so I'm not rolling in extra money to give to this scammer that didnt do anything that he charged me the extras for.