Life in the fast lane

Many times I have bored people with accounts of why I dislike as a group, several professions. They are mostly the usual ones we all have good reason to hate--lawyers, politicians, and despite the dedication and good work of most of them, doctors. This last group because we put our lives in their hands from birth and often right up to death, but some of them cause us more grief than anyone else could given the chance.

Well, today, I'm adding one that I often forget to include. I'm sure you'll agree it is a fine addition to this list of infamy. Mechanics. Not necessarily mechanics per se, but the establishment they work at as a whole. Leaving alone for the time being the shoddy work that sometimes leads to life endangering events, I'm talking about their propensity for unscrupulous recommendations for unnecessary work and gouging both for parts and labour.

Case in point: I was recently stranded and needed a boost to get going. The following day, I took my car to the same place I have been going for about 15 years and to which I have given, as you can imgine, huge sums of money during that time. I figured it was either the battery not holding a charge or else the alternator not charging the battery. I figured if it's the alternator, I'll be looking at a total cost of about $700.

I should mention here that a life truth concerning garages has become evident. "Where there are multiple possibilities of a what the problem is, most of them and others will be found to be the cause."

I got the call--it's going to run me about $600. I won't leave you wondering what I'm complaining about for too long. That price does not include a new alternator. It's for a new battery, to clean up the terminals, replace the alternator belt and doing an oil change which was due, anyway. The bastids charged me $110 plus tax just to diagnose the problem--as if that took more than two minutes and two brain cells to do. With tax, they charged me almost $200 just to replace the damn belt, an item I'm sure costs them about $20.

They also recommended I replace my air filter and all four tires; the latter I said "no" to. I find it interesting that just over a year ago, when I brought my car in to be diagnosed for the smoke that had billowed out from under the hood, they found absolutely nothing wrong (and charged me about $100 for the "good" news), yet when you bring it in for some specific work, they seem to find a whole host of things that need attention, and of course, a sack of money to "fix".

You'd think with so many evil, selfish and uncaring "mechanics" out there, that people would find a good and reputable one and stick with them. The sad truth is that there are so few honest people in the profession, that it's like finding a needle in a haystack. If you're lucky enough to find/have found one, cherish him/her--they are more precious than your soul-mate. In comparison, soul-mates are a dime a dozen.


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Top Ten List

...of scourges of mankind.

"honourable" mention - Drug dealers
10. Dentists
9. Doctors
8. Priests
7. Salesmen
6. Teachers
5. Mechanics
4. Engineers
3. CEO's
2. Lawyers
1. Politicians