Im getting some work done at Altered Atmosphere and i was quoted 640 for an 8 hour installation and now they have had it for 2 days and they are wanting me to pay an additional 700 because its taken longer than they anticipated... Can they legally charge more than double what i was quoted for? I have already paid them 640 for the 8 hour installation and now they are saying it will be more. What should i do.

 

Say you didn't agree to the addtional charged and refuse to pay.

Legaly they need to inform you of any changes that effect your origially quoted work agreement. anything beyond (or below) your origianl agreement is their responsability. If they mistakenly quoted you then they should have eath

A Contacted you for permission to do more work with an adjusted quote

Or

B Return the vehical to the original condition voiding the work order.

Since you already paid for the service further strengthens the fact that you acknowledged they did the work and the transaction is final... EVEN if you paid up front.

 

Ok so what i dont have to pay the additional charges and i could either get it all for the price i paid or get all my money back and make them un-install it?
Its just ridiculous and it seems like there scheming for money.

 

I would check with the department of motor vehicles and see what the law is in your state. I live in Nevada where we have adopted many California laws, here you are only responsible for the amount quoted on the original estimate. You could even pay the money they are asking, pick up your car and report them to the DMV and the DMV will make them refund the additional money that you paid but did not authorize. You just have to make sure that when you are picking up the car they aren't making you sign authorization for additional work. If you do that your screwed. In California and Nevada: YOU HAVE TO AUTHORIZE ADDITIONAL WORK! Without your authorization they cannot ask or expect any more money than what is on the original estimate. Hope this helps.

 

hmm anyone live in Maryland that knows the law on this? I was sure there was one because my friend went to court for a similar thing that im in now. I want to avoid court because its not even at that level yet, but the shop said they would get back to me tonight and never called me back. they want 1300 for a full installation of a nitrous kit. as i said i already paid 640.
This is outrageous already for a simple installation.

 

That really sucks.. I don't mind paying the shop rate and I know even if it takes them less time you never get that money back... if an 8 hour job takes 4 hours you still pay 8 hours... thats just how it is in the car game... but if an 8 hour job takes 16 hours I would say tuff shiv shop... just think about all the times they did a job in 30 minutes and charged 2 hours for it...

 

your totally right. But they still have my car. I should be picking it up tommorow but anythign could happen at this point and its REALLY bothering me more than anything else with my car before. Does anyone else agree that 1300 for a nitrous install is off the wall?

 

Sorry kiddos but i know many kids wanting fast n furious that went there just to be robbed with over charges, cuz they git guys thatr dont know what theyre doing. good luuck with that one! if you reallly need to get your car call the better business bureau find out they are legally allowed as a performance shop.

350mdz now in south florida

 

What type of Nitrous install are we talking? Was it very involved with lots of parts or just a simple setup?

 

Usually... If it's a serious shop, you pay for hour of work, not quoted labor. If a shop quotes you 4 hours, and it take 2 hours, you should pay 2 hours. (that's how my shop works, and it's a relatively famous full fledged racing shop).

If it takes them more time(above a small certain %) than what they quoted, than they need to notify you and have authorization to proceed.

They defintely should have warned you about the extra work. This is basic customer protection stuff. I am sure there are laws in maryland too. It would be too easy for a shop to quote low rates and then apply ludicrous amounts later. Every state/country where I have been it works more or less as I described.

Altered Atmosphere is a serious shop from what I know, I find this odd. I aldready find 80$ an hour pretty expensive...

 

setup includes 2 bottles with blowdown tubes, window switch, WOT sensor, wet nozzle, and purge kit. They charged me for 28 hours for this install if i totalled it correctly and they physically had my car for 19 working shop hours so far.

 

The original quote was for 8 labor hours but they ended up charging you 3.5 times that? I'd call bullshi+ on that (assuming you didn't authorize any additional charges). If I were in your shoes my very first call would be to the BBB to get this on record. Making some noise in these forums should help a bit.

Either way, please keep us informed as to how this develops.

 

ok i settled it. I gave them an additional 200 dollars for the "extra" work they did and then 75 to fill the two 10 lb bottles. Not what i was hoping for but im glad i didnt have to take it to court or get everything removed. Im picking up the car today. so TONIGHT ill do my writeup on my nitrous and maybe next week ill get you guys some record breaking track numbers