Life is not easy. You don’t realize that when you were young. After you got into college, you started to pay your credit card bill and maybe your apartment rent, and you started to realize that it was up to you to manage the money. But as long as you got supported by your parents, you don’t feel the pressure. Then you graduated, you found a job, you got married, you bought a house, and you got a kid. Once you have a mortgage to pay and a kid to raise, you suddenly found out there are tons of bills need to pay every month. And then you started to realize that there are money traps everywhere which sucks your money without a blink. You learned your lesson and tried your best to avoid them.

Tell me the money traps you have encountered. Maybe a hair specialist, an orthodontist, a vet, an appliance salesman? Who is the worst? In my experience, an auto mechanic is the worst one. Everybody knows that you can’t listen to what auto mechanics tell you. It is common sense that all they said to you is just to make you spend more money while they can make some extra commissions out of it. But I still got fooled sometimes.

Here is the story. I went to Car Spa last Friday to get a car detailing for my Audi Q7. I usually do this once a year. Every time I would choose the most expensive service at $129.99, which is not bad at all. I have tried a few other stores, such as Kwik Kar Lube and Wash, it will cost $169 for full service. See, here is the catch: they attract you by some good deal, and then sell you something you don’t need. Every time I came in, the service man will approach and ask me what I need. I will tell him I need a car detailing, full service. He will recommend something else and I will say no without any hesitate. This works fine in the past few years.

But it was all different that Friday. After the service man walked away, someone else came to me. He claimed that he is the manager, and since I was a loyal customer he will personally issue me a discount on a scratch repair. The normal price is $250, but he will give me a $50 discount. I thought about it for a second or two. Then he sat down next to me, explain to me that this is their newest technology, and no other auto repair shop can provide such a low price. I know there are a few tiny scratches on both of my passenger doors. But they are too small to tell. The biggest scratch is on the back door, which is hit by my garage door. I asked him if he saw the big scratch on the back, he said sure. And he told me it would at least cost me $600 to fix it if I take it to Audi or other body repair shop. I stood up and wanted to show him where the big scratch is. I wanted to confirm that he saw that and can fix that. But right at that moment, the previous service man came to me asking me to do some paper work. After I was done, the manager was gone. I didn’t think it twice. I sat down and continued to read news from my iPhone.

A hour later, I was told my car was ready. Now you know what had happened. The big scratch is still there! I found the manager and tried to get an explanation from him. This is what he told me: this is not a scratch, this is a dent. We do not fix dent since we do not have the matching paint. Can you tell me what is difference between a scratch and a dent? See the picture below. Tell me about it! We have argued a few minutes before I decided to take off. The money has already been paid. If argued a hour longer, maybe I will get some of my money back. But it is already time to pick up my kids from school.

This is another lesson that I should never listen to any auto repair guy. Don’t trust “the new technology”, nor any other terms I don’t understand. Another lesson, don’t pay in advance before you see the result! Once the money is out of your pocket, it is hard to get it back.