a dash of ash

july 11, 2025

As I journey further into young adulthood, I’ve discovered that there is quite an importance surrounding being cognizant of the service you’re receiving, even from those who are certified to provide that service. Now, I know what you’re likely thinking: more trials and tribulations? Hasn’t she gone through enough, considering her exhausting experience with her health insurance claim last year (see here for more details) melodramatic, I was of a similar vein of thought. 

I launched myself into yet another adult responsibility in early 2023 (with the help of my dad, of course) by saying goodbye to my beloved 2006 Trailblazer, colloquially known as Donna, and purchasing a Certified, Pre-Owned 2019 mini-SUV. I was left feeling confident in the reliability of my car. So far, this car has not let me down entirely, but with ~60,000 miles on it, it has had a few issues that needed rectifying. The latest being the lack of functionality of my air conditioning in the early-summer heat of South Florida. 

With the help of a friend, my refrigerant was recharged, and the cool air lasted about two weeks before once again, blowing hot air in my face, indicating a larger problem beyond the Freon. Luckily, when we purchased my car, we opted for the highest tier Protection Plan along with it. This plan, purchased for a 60-month/50,000-mile term, covers non-maintenance repairs of components of the engine, transmission, drive axle(s), hybrid/electric system, front suspension, rear suspension, climate control, electrical system, steering, brakes, and other niche facets of the car.  That said, as apprehensive as I was to take my car into a dealership, I went in with the confidence that I would only have to pay the $100 deductible associated with my plan, and all other costs would be covered. 

Of course, I delayed taking it in because I was dreading having to go to a dealership. But, I found there to be little excuse for not taking it in when the time for scheduling an oil change was approaching, and I just so happened to receive a service coupon via mail from the dealership. It was as if the powers-that-be were coaxing me to just get it over with. So, I made an appointment for myself first thing for the morning of Friday, May 23, 2025. I submitted the appointment request for both the regular maintenance, as well as a diagnostic request explicitly indicating that I was still within the coverage of my plan. The exact comment that was left on this service request stated “AC is not blowing cold air – believe there is a leak, likely from compressor. I’m under a Platinum Protection Plan – please verify prior to performing any service on AC.” (The exact verbiage of my request will be significant later on.)

I arrived at the dealership at 7:00 am sharp to drop my car off. I was informed by the service advisor assigned to my request that, because it was Memorial Day weekend, it would take the technicians a bit longer to look at my car. I held no opposition, and went on my way. Come Wednesday, May 28, I hadn’t received any updates regarding my car. I called around 12:30 pm that afternoon and played a bit of phone tag with the service advisor, before we were finally able to get in touch. He then informed me that my condenser would need replacement, and confirmed that this repair fell under the coverage of my plan. He then added that, when they were looking at my car, they found an oil leak stemming from an issue of loose gaskets on the valve cover, and that this would also need to be replaced, but that it also fell under the coverage of my plan. After the assurance that both replacements would fall under plan coverage, he let me know that they were waiting on final approval from the Protection Plan to begin the repairs, and that the Protection Plan was requesting photos of the parts that needed replacing. He also mentioned that he was looking into the coverage of a loaner vehicle under my plan and would let me know if I qualified.  Before ending the call, I explicitly confirmed that the only amount I would be responsible for was the deductible (I assumed it to be $200, based on the fact that there were two separate repairs being done). The Advisor confirmed this amount verbally. 

By Saturday, May 31, it continued to be radio silent since my previous call – no update on a loaner car, no update on repairs, no update on the plan approval. The dealership had my car for over a week already at this point, and my boyfriend was graciously driving an extra 30 miles each day chauffeuring me to and from work. I called first thing on the morning of the 31st to inquire about the status of my car once more. It was at this point that I began to feel a certain dissatisfaction with the service – this establishment had my vehicle for over a week and I was the only one to initiate communication thus far. When I called, I was told that an inspector had come and approval was given for these replacements to be covered under my Plan, they were already working on my car, and that it would be ready first thing the following Monday. 

By noon on Monday, June 2, I still hadn’t received communication that my car was ready so I called yet again, and was told that they were finishing up repairs and that it would be ready the following morning. 

At 4:00 pm on Monday, June 2, I received the first communication initiated by the service advisor. He let me know that my car was finished and ready for pickup, but that he had run into an issue. He informed me that the replacements were not covered in their entirety by the Protection Plan, and that I was to owe “800-something” (his phrasing). My heart sank. As a semi-recent college graduate living in a hyper-inflated economy, I don’t have the money to just pull out of nowhere for something like this, nor was it implied that a lack of full coverage would even be a possibility. I asked why it wasn’t fully being covered and the Advisor responded with “ Well, you know how insurance is…” I politely informed the Advisor that I would need to see a breakdown of the coverage and that I was unable to pay any amount higher than the originally agreed upon amount. He sent the Protection Plan claim breakdown, and let me know that he would “try to get more money” from the Protection Plan, as if he were doing me any sort of favor beyond his job. 

As I began calling my closest confidants on the brink of tears, tired of once again being taken advantage of, I was briefly educated on the idea of “book time.” Fortunately I come from a family with extensive knowledge of vehicle maintenance and repair, and was told that book time is calculated by the overarching automotive company to determine labor costs for repairs and maintenance. I was informed that I’m not obligated to pay anything outside of these costs if it wasn’t indicated prior to the repairs. 

For context, the dealership I went to charged a labor rate of $299/hour. With that said, the initial claim breakdown I received stated that the dealership was requesting $1046.50 (3.5 labor hours) for the condenser replacement, while my plan only covered $598 (2 labor hours); and $418.60 (1.4 labor hours) for the valve cover replacement, while my plan only covered $299 (1 labor hour). Mind you, these rates indicate that the condenser replacement took 75% longer than book time, and the valve cover replacement took 40% longer than book time, resulting in an egregious efficiency rate of 157% of the book time to complete this work. 

Around 5:00 pm that same day, I received a follow-up call from the service advisor letting me know that he got my total down to “300-something” (his phrasing, once again). I asked for an updated claim breakdown. Once off the call, I sent a follow-up text to his work cell number that we had been using for communication: “Hello – thanks for giving me a call with the update, I appreciate it. If you could send over the updated document as above with any additional costs aside from the originally confirmed $200 deductible, that would be great.” He then sent the updated claim. On this updated claim, it seemed as though, rather than negotiating more coverage with the Protection Plan as he stated he was graciously doing, he more so rebilled the repairs. Instead of one singular line for the labor put into the condenser replacement, it was now split into three separate lines: Diagnosis – $299 (1 labor hour), AC EVAC – $418.60 (1.4 labor hours), and Replacement – $747.50 (2.5 labor hours). All of these lines were fully covered. What is interesting, though, is that upon totalling these numbers out, they sum up to $1465.10, resulting in a surplus of $418.60 (40% increase from the initial labor cost of $1046.50, as listed on the original claim.) Although I was not held responsible for this increase in price, it is curious that such a drastic increase was pulled from what seemed to be thin air. The discrepancy between the labor charges for the valve cover replacement remained, though the plan coverage was now increased to covering 1.1 labor hours ($328.90) of the 1.4 labor hours ($418.60) they were charging, resulting in a $89.70 difference. 

After noticing the difference in price, I gave the Protection Plan a call around 5:45 pm. The representative I spoke to was very helpful and informed me that I was only responsible for the $100 deductible. I clarified that the deductible would only be $100 for 2 repairs, and they confirmed that instead of the $200 amount that I had previously confirmed with the Advisor, it was actually $100 total. I noted the discrepancy between what the dealership requested and what was covered, and the Plan representative confirmed that this number was due to them charging an amount beyond book time. 

With all of this information, I went in to finally retrieve my car (with my boyfriend as moral support) around 10:00 am on Tuesday, June 3, after taking it in 11 days prior. I was handed a packet with my initial service request, a copy of my plan, the initial coverage claim, the updated coverage claim, and the detailed invoice from the dealership itemizing the work done. I inquired with the Advisor about the $89.70 difference between the amount requested by the dealership and my coverage for the valve cover replacement and was told “not to worry about it,” and confirmed that I was not responsible for this amount, to which the Advisor affirmed. The invoice listed my total responsibility to be $307.08, but if you recall, I had a coupon for my oil change. I presented this coupon and the Advisor had the invoice re-processed. As we were waiting for an updated invoice, I thumbed through the packet, reviewing the itemized invoice, only to have my eyes fall upon something that made me stop in my tracks. 

At the bottom of the first page of the initial itemized invoice that I received for the first time that morning detailing the costs of the repairs to be $2439.22 before plan coverage, next to the ‘customer signature’ line, there was a sloppily executed imitation of my signature. I hastily mentioned under my breath to my boyfriend that that was absolutely not my signature. I tried to rack my brain – maybe I had just forgotten that I signed it? But no, I hadn’t signed anything upon dropping my car off because they hadn’t diagnosed the car yet, so they wouldn’t have been able to detail it out until after. And I was never given the figure of almost $2500. In fact, I wasn’t provided any number estimate beyond the deductible we had discussed. 

The advisor returned with the re-processed invoice. The total was now $271.77. Still higher than what I should have been responsible for. The coupon put the oil change at about $60, and the deductible for repairs (confirmed with the Protection Plan) was $100, leaving a $100 difference that wasn’t accounted for. I mentioned this to the Advisor, and he made a poor attempt at explaining – first indicating that the oil change was $120 (to which I corrected him), and then started excusing this amount away as taxes and fees. I acknowledged my understanding of taxes and fees, but doubted they would add up to $100 if the total was only supposed to be twice that amount in the first place. Rather than taking the time to explain where this difference in cost came from, the Advisor declared: “As you can tell, I’m really busy right now, so I’ll tell you what: I’ll only charge you $171.77.” With that, I paid (though their card readers were down so my card information was entered manually by the Advisor) and left the establishment, already deciding to never do business there again. 

Once I returned home, I was in a state of disbelief. “Did they really forge my signature?” “I can’t believe they’d do that.” “Am I sure they did that?” I wanted to take action and notify someone about this. But, who? Just the dealership? The police? This was most certainly illegal. 

After dwelling on the situation much longer than I should have, I analyzed the documents over and over again, deriving many of the figures mentioned above. While looking at these documents, I noticed another aspect that was most certainly not right. On the first invoice (the one that was graciously signed on my behalf without my consent), there is a line stating “Guest states smells something burning from the engine like oil is burning, check and advise.” I most certainly mentioned nothing of the sort, and there was nothing prior to my being told that there was an oil leak that would have indicated such. But more explicitly, this was not included on the print-off of my original service request, which I was provided a paper copy of. 

But of course, the story doesn’t end here.

On Friday, June 6, three days after I retrieved my vehicle, I received two email notifications from the dealership. Both transaction receipts. One at 1:34 pm for a total of $2209.79, with the indication “Cardholder: ASHLEY A,” and another at 1:43 pm for a total of $12.77, with the indication of the cardholder name as some abbreviation of sorts. I frantically checked my card account that I used for payment that Tuesday and verified that this was not charged to my account. But I was left concerned as to why my name would be listed for a card that was not mine. As a precaution, I called the Protection Plan once more and was helped by a very kind representative. I explained the situation and why I was so apprehensive about this, and was asked to verify the last four digits that were listed on the transaction for $2209.79 – I repeated them and the representative went quiet for a moment, then asked “Are you sure?” I confirmed, and they then informed me that this was not the card information that was given to the dealership via email. With a noticeable concern in their voice, they advised me to follow up with the dealership on this. 

I then called the dealership around 3:00 pm, and with some redirection and dropped calls, I was put in touch with the Service Director, along with the Operational Manager. They explained to me that this was normal and was indicative of my plan being used because: “There’s a lot of fraud happening, not here, but just in the area.” I then inquired about the fact that my name was listed as cardholder, and they again wrote this off as normal. And when I inquired about the difference in card numbers between the one listed on the receipt and the one given by the Protection Plan, I was told that this too, was normal, as they “run the numbers through a third party system.” If this was the case, why did my card number that was entered manually a few days prior still reflect as the same number on my receipt? 

While this isn’t the first time a mechanic has tried to monetarily take advantage of me likely due to the assessment of me being a young, seemingly naïve woman, this is the first time it’s been inexplicably against the law. 

Between my extended struggle with health insurance claims, and now this potential attempted fraud, I’m slowly learning that as a young adult, there are many trials and tribulations, and some create a defining moment by prompting you to take action by standing up for yourself, as well as others that may not realize that this type of behavior is occurring.

*I understand that the actions of an individual do not represent the overseeing company or establishment. This piece is not intended to deter business from a specific establishment, but rather, to educate on the fact that this could happen anywhere if close attention is not paid.  Please note that all names (brand, establishment, and individuals) have been omitted for safety and legality purposes.