dbr wrote: ↑Thu Oct 12, 2017 11:43 am
There is the point of view that a mechanic being asked to change plugs at 140,000 miles has an opportunity to refuse the work. I am inclined to agree that having accepted the work and being in the business of being an expert at one's trade the liability is with the mechanic. The vehicle owner did not present with a hidden defect that he knew about and kept secret from the mechanic.
But does anyone know what the usual custom and law is with mechanics damaging things trying to fix them? Do shops carry insurance for such things? I would assume if they crash a car test driving it or something that it goes on their insurance rather than on the owner's insurance?
In a previous life I worked on cars for a living (probably where my empathy for the mechanic comes from.

)
Occasionally, "stuff" would happen. There was of course insurance if the shop caught fire and the car got burned up. Insurance for slip and fall, and all the things like that. But occasionally stuff would happen that was really no one's fault, and that wasn't worth an insurance claim. Much like the case in this thread.
We'd generally try to work something out with the customer, but not always.
Examples: A battery would die while the car sat in the shop. Batteries die, and with thousands of cars going through the shop per year, 1 or 2 might croak just by probability, even though we disconnected it before doing anything to the car. But, like this case, good luck explaining that to the customer. On a case-by-case basis, we'd work something out with the customer, probably splitting the cost of a new battery. We were not required to do so.
Once one of my newer guys put a 3 inch screw through someones heater core. The customer calls up complaining that hot water is shooting out of his dashboard. My day just went from average to terrible. We rented the customer a nice car while we fixed the problem. Probably gave him a discount or some work for free, too. Obviously that one
was our fault.
Once a customer claimed her air conditioner stopped working after we worked on the car. We had her bring it back so we could take a look. She was abrasive, belligerent, and madder 'n hell. Until we showed her the AC compressor and plumbing that she didn't know her boyfriend had removed and put in the trunk. Of course, we offered her nothing on that one.
So, in my experience, it just depends on the circumstances of each case.