2 in 5 garages breaking law
Billing for repairs that were not done, not displaying prices, and carrying out unnecessary work among the scams
TWO in five garages have been caught breaking rules by the French trading standards body the DGCCRF.
Inspectors from the consumer fraud agency visited 803 garages and found nearly 40% were breaking rules on repair work.
The also found big brand garages were better at respecting regulations than smaller ones.
The DGCCRF said the result “justified regular surveillance” of the sector by their officers.
Since 2007 the average cost of car repairs has risen 3% and now makes up about 27% of the cost of running a car.
An average household will spend €4,300 on all costs associated with owning and running a vehicle - a total of €124 billion for the whole country.
Among the criticisms levelled at garages were:
- their refusal to display their prices, or for displaying them without VAT
- billing for repairs that were not carried out
- handing out bills with just a grand total and no breakdown of parts and labour
- not clearly labelling the price of new accessories
- charging for unnecessary services such as road tests on repairs that do not need them
Inspectors handed out 50 warning notices, three court injunctions and eight on-the-spot penalties during their investigation.
“In general, brand name garages and car centres are better at respecting the rules than small independent garages,” concluded the report, which advised motorists to contact several garages to compare prices.
Photo: Flickr/Bob n' Renee
