Your cash taken for a ride

I've been in the automotive repair industry for 32+ years now and I'm starting to see a disturbing trend happening to the general public concerning their cars and their wallets. Some unscrupulous repair shops out there are really trying hard to pad your repair bill even going so far as to create things to charge you for.
And it seems most of the complaints I'm hearing about are canted toward  the larger chain stores like Fire___  or Pep___  you know the kind of stores that have district managers that ask you every time they visit your store if your  "up Or down" I know because I have worked in that environment. Managers expect to see your numbers up and your cost down or there is hell to pay!
This trend is good for me as I'm a small guy and my repair business is based on "Honest Service" no matter what, we don't sell you something you don't need ever. I'm seeing an increase in new customers because of this and I can't help but think there is a lot of people being over charged and they don't know it. It is so bad that a  lady that came in yesterday needed $150.00 worth of air conditioning work pretty easy cut and dried but this other place wanted to sell her... are you ready $1,600.00 worth of repairs!  told her she needed all kinds of stuff she really didn't. I don't know how long this search for the short term buck will last? will big business figure out there is more to life than money? how long will the public stand for this kind of treatment?
I think the economy is pushing every one to be more money savvy and to watch out on spending, I hope this kind of business will change soon.
I feel bad for those out there that just don't know. I'm proud of my trade and think every one should get a fair deal so find a mechanic that you can trust, stay away from the chain stores unless you know someone there and get second opinions before saying its OK to fix my car. Lots of shops will look for free I know I do.
Till next time David
http://www.intermountainradiator.com