Wow!! I'da filled my cart!! 8-D We all usually pay well for our pretties. I bought 2 must haves yesterday, total for them - $38.00 with taxes. Yikes. However, like I said, things I have wanted for a long time: one of those giant blue hostas - Blue Angel will grow over 30" high and around; Jack Frost Brunnera, about the same size, I believe. Now, just to satisfy my cheap Scottish mind-set, they can be divided!! Nancy.

***Ok I think I have a better understanding of how it works now. From BillMac's explanation the part that cost $117.- retail from Napa probably actually cost $81- wholesale which is why the garage was charging me $162-, right? Yes I expect a courier fee to be a part of the total price as well. Kind of like a "wild west" pricing scheme where everyone's out for themselves though, still not very good for the end customer and a lot of opportunity for price gouging. I'll bet the price of parts vary widely from region to region across the country too. That same part would probably cost a third less in a rural area compared to an urban one, no? The other major issue I had was that even though he quoted me $220- for the job he had me sign a blank work order, I know how stupid of me, then charged me $260- with the price in dispute at the end which is why I questioned the pricing on the part. While the turn signal was fixed I felt the garage in question did shoddy work with the wiring harness left all hanging out and the dash panel not put back properly so it would fall on my feet while driving after I got the car back. The moon roof was opened and the rear seat belts were out of place so I even wondered if they took it for a joy ride or something. In the end I put the wiring and dash panel in place myself and haven't gone back to the garage. Thanks for all your input. Tom*** **** You're seeing more in that than I did. 1st, The shop charged him $40 more than he was told it would. Though you and I know that often occurs because unforeseeable needed parts or repairs are found after you dig in, that issue might have been avoided by either communicating what additional repairs were needed when found, or if none were needed, using the 'flat rate' guide for billing whether the guy doing the work beat it by a 1/2 hour or got burned by a 1/2 hour. Consistent billing for the same repair is the object of the game there. 2nd, He doesn't understand the concepts of whole sale, retail, jobber, invoice, or discount pricing. That was explained to him and though he still didn't like it, he seemed to get a bead on the idea and realize that's the way it is. 3rd, It sounds like whoever did the work was a little sloppy in the 'fit and finish' department. That's what got the guy looking closer at the rest of the car wondering what else they screwed up, most likely just then noticing things that existed before. I used to try to get whatever area I was working on to look like it would have when it rolled off the assembly line. I worked with a lot of guys who didn't. Had misc fasteners left over, didn't paint the replacement parts to match what came out, didn't route hoses or wires they way they were. Leave greasy hand prints on the hood, fender, steering wheel, etc. In short, wanting to move on to the next car the second they got the problem addressed and not concerned at all with putting the rest back the way it was or better. I'm sure my way took a little longer, but I'm also sure I avoided some of the hassles with customers like the original poster. I don't think the cost of the repair was out of line. Sounds like the poster wouldn't have either if this shop would have used just a bit more professionalism. Seemed like his issues were properly addressed in responses he received. jmo

Well, I have to give credit when due.... BM did pay me for the dentist tonight. DH thinks she's afraid of me. I'll feign innocence because I don't think I'm intimidating at all. She towers over me and I guess because I don't back down from her and she's told my DH that to do the job I do, you have to be tough, she figures I am not someone she wants to mess with? She's walked all over DH for years, so she knows he's taken it and she continues to walk on him. He's stood up to her mostly since we've been together so she blames me for it, but it's really him. I am supportive and back him but he is tired of her crap.. more than I am, he's put up with it for so long. Whatever it is, she walked SD out to the car tonight and I told her I need the money for the dentist bill. She paused and said, 'do you have change for a hundred?' and of course, I don't carry cash. I told her no, but I'll be happy to go down the road, break it & bring her the change. She went back in the house & came out with $46 in bills (mostly $1's) & $2 in quarters. I don't care, it's cash. She was a dollar short but I was shocked she didn't whine about not having any money. (of course I was thinking... hmmm, she has $48 to give me but what about the $100 she wanted me to break? She promised DH $100 last week) He didn't want to ask her in front of SD I guess. I didn't want to push the issue in front of SD and since DH didn't say anything, I let it go too. Now that I think about it, maybe I should have been dealing with her directly every time I pay for her doctor and I could collect from BM instead of having DH send her the bills/receipts and relying on her to pay him to get my money back. She knows I am the one paying for it... but this is the first time I've asked her to pay her half directly to me. I don't care why she paid, just glad she did and no complaints...

preaching to the 'mom & dad CPA's & financial planners' choir here. no debt myself other than my tiny mortgage and i'm still up 200% on my house LOLOL. my DH has acquirred college loan debt but at only 3% interest after he's done. he just finished his honors BS in Mech Engineering, is 1/2 done w/ his MS and by Dec will be 2/3 done. college debt for the high earning degrees doesn't bother me but if it's not sciences or engineering i would not bother taking out $$ to do it and it's a waste of time of you are not in the top of your class academically. he has job offers pouring in nothing under $60K and they won't catch my attention until they hit $85K, some are coming close. ideally he would take a job where we live since my job currently pays for all we need. his job would then pay off the loans in a yr. but unfortunately the jobs coming close to $85K are in other states, thou all of them are significantly cheaper to live in. almost any state other than CA is going to be cheaper for us. my point in the above post was that these days most employers expect far more than they are willing to pay up for. hence my high demands for a great starting salary for DH other than he has earned it in spades w/ his special honors and i know the employer will get their works worth. back to the debt thing, back in 2000 i learned that lots of cash on hand is not as important to creditors as extensive credit history. i was starting to look for a house to buy and was buying an suv at the same time. it had been almost 7 yrs since i had used credit cards, they had nearly fallen off my credit record apparently. i was advised by banks to get some current credit history going so i could get a mortgage. even thou i had 6 figures in 401K and enough cash on hand to put 50% down if i had to on a house. i bought and paid cash for the SUV except for the extended warranty and that interest rate for $2k came in at 18% lol. i built up a bit of new credit, got my mortgage & house at what then was a good rate 7%. in 2006 i decided to pay off all credit cards and be done w/ credit. last yr i bought a new suv but instead of giving up my cash i put the amount for the car in it's own savings (pays 3% which balances out the 2% interest on the loan) and it auto pays ea month adding to my credit history which other than my house has become nill again. i will be wading back into credit cards now that all the new rules have gone into effect (been too leary), luckily i still have a high FICO and a perfect record althou not alot of different things and i do still get flooded w/ good credit offers. if i can get my DH to find a local job even part-time (i'd prefer that for another yr) and we stay in my house another yr we'll be set for life! ~ liz