Tag Archives: Auto services

Auto Transport Services Explained

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Auto transport services are simply a service that will move your vehicle from point A to point B. This type of service has many different uses, such as if you are moving internationally and auto transport service is going to make chance for your vehicle they’re a lot easier. The auto transport company and takes full responsibility for your vehicle and transporting it on time for you.

As of recently there seems to be a lot of stories circulating throughout the media in which regard to some auto transport companies abusing the vehicles that they are transporting. This is why it is essential to research the company before you entrust them with your vehicle. Checking out consumer reviews from other people that hire this company in the past is your best bet to find out if they are the right kind of people to do business with.

Although I feel like they are just trying to make a story out of it and attempting to scare normal people such as you and I, just like anything else in life you do need to do some research before you decide which you will go with.

Some auto transport companies also offer an insurance policy that shouldn’t cost you any extra money. If they do charge you extra I highly suggest you invest in it if your vehicle is worth insuring. The point of the insurance is for the simple fact that we are all human and make mistakes.

If the person that is attempting to move your vehicle to whatever location you designate gets into trouble or causes any harm to your vehicle you will be fully reimbursed for the damage done. The lot easier to just assume that the worst will happen but hope for the best especially when it comes to an auto transport service.

I like to think of auto transport services sort of like performing maintenance on the house. You always document everything that is wrong with the vehicle and verify that the company you are dealing with degrees that these are the only problems with the product they will be working on, in this case your vehicle.

Make a document of all of the dents, scratches, or anything else that is wrong with your vehicle. The reason for this step is for the simple fact that if anything does go wrong with your vehicle after it is transported now you will have documentation stating that what is now wrong with your vehicle wasn’t a problem before hiring a company to transport it.

This is not to say that all transport companies are trying to scam everyone that they work for. Though there are dishonest people out there that will try to take advantage of you, especially if you did not take the proper precautions.

Make sure when doing business with any of the auto transport services that you look out for yourself first, especially when you cannot make any spur of the moment repairs to your vehicle due to budget concerns like most of us Americans.

All transport services are fantastic and save you lots of trips going back and forth for your votes, cars, motorcycles, ATVs et cetera. Especially with the gas prices nowadays and if you are moving far away are transport services will be a lot cheaper than doing it yourself.

Auto Repair Costs: How You Are Ripped-Off Daily Under the Radar

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Most know the most glaring auto repair pricing abuses: Service centers overcharging $100’s even $1000’s for repairs, or charging for service that was never done at all. To be sure, this still happens every day.

However, there are many other techniques which involve flying just low enough to avoid detection. The savvy repair shops increase the price so as not to set off any alarms. It’s become so common that it’s not just an accepted industry practice, but even service customers have accepted paying higher prices.

Knowing how ingrained price-gouging is within the automotive service industry, it’s shocking (although understandable) that even service customers have succumbed to excessive car repair prices. I frequently hear service customers’ state:

“Yeah, I know I was ripped off, but my car’s fixed now.” Or, “I know they charge too much, but they’re convenient.”

This is insane! To accept auto repair price-gouging is to allow its continuation. The difficult part, of course, is how to stop it. Given that the automotive service industry is so big and powerful (and so frightfully necessary) how does one battle such a force?

The first thing to understand is the degree to which this type of stealth-like price-gouging occurs. A two-decade undercover investigation has revealed that 98% of all repair shops (dealerships, local shops, and franchises) are price-gouging their customers in one form or another.

The following exchange, between a service manager and service advisor, provides an idea of the “scope of scamming” below the radar.

A service advisor asked his manager how to bill more hours per month, which is another way of asking how the advisor can make more money. The service manager casually stated:

“Simply add an additional two tenths to every ticket you write.”

In other words, every customer this particular service advisor “helps,” he was instructed by a superior to add a “little” extra. So if the labor rate is $100 per hour that would equal $20 “extra.” Rather than pay $100 per hour, the service customer would actually pay $120.

$20 doesn’t sound like much. However, whether it’s an overcharge of $0.02 or $20, it’s too much. If you visit a shop practicing just this strategy alone (there are hundreds of strategies, many applied simultaneously), you may get scammed $100’s or more by year’s end.

What’s really shocking is that being ripped-off $100’s over a year’s time is actually minor!

Try $500-$5000!