[happy1]

That's why I DIY everything :-)

I think the repairers wants you on the hook before they can reel you in, in other words they want your broken down vehicle on their hoist, dismantled, before they will commit to an inflated cost.

It also annoys me and surprises me how it seems like mobile tradies doing services at your house operate via cash economy, and if you insist on a receipt then it will cost more..
I've had a window tinter and an aircon gas filler, and a windscreen fitter, and a specialist plumber / drain unblocker visit me over the last year, all of them asking cash, and not happy to make an invoice / receipts.

A few mechanics that are not dodgy have up to several week's wait. My work colleague has a usual mechanic doing all his work. The head gasket popped 2 weeks ago, and that car haven't even made it to the hoist yet.

One of the worst crook things I experienced was I was sitting waiting at one of the Pedders workshop for a wheel alignment being done on my car, when a female customer came to the workshop to discuss about her Hyundai Elantra with solid rear axle that had been bent from a small impact. The guy at the counter quoted her 'somewhere over $3k' for a NEW rear axle fitted. The woman was really upset saying that would be a real struggle to finance but she needed the car back on the road, and asking if there were any way doing it at less cost. Just out of interest while sitting there I looked on gumtree on my phone, found a local wrecker that had that particular model in stock, called them and got quoted a bargain price for a s/hand rear axle. Just as the woman had left her car for repair, I showed the gumtree deal to the Pedders guy at the counter. He said 'fantastic, then I can pocket all that profit from the dumb female'. You would have thought he would have phoned her with the good news that 'Hi, it looks we can do it a lot cheaper for you'.