With colder weather on the way, you may be thinking about winterizing your vehicle.
You may not know that Alberta has legislation regulating automotive service and repair businesses, meaning an automotive service and repair business operating in Alberta must be licensed by AMVIC. If someone is offering prices that are too good to be true, they could be a backyard mechanic, which is an unlicensed service and repair facility.
Backyard mechanics doing work from a residential property are often breaking zoning and environmental bylaws. Before you decide where to get repairs done, look them up on amvic.org to ensure they are licensed.
Here are some important service and repair tips:
- Before starting any work or servicing, a business must get your written consent. If you are unable to provide written consent, the business must record certain information including the consumer’s name, time and date, description of the work, estimated total cost of the work and how the authorization was given (by phone, email, etc.).
- If you ask for an estimate, it must be provided to you in writing.
- A business cannot charge a price for goods or services that is more than 10 per cent, to a maximum of $100, higher than the estimate given for those goods or services unless:
- the consumer has expressly consented to the higher price before the goods or services are supplied, or
- if the consumer requires additional goods or services, the consumer and the supplier agree to amend the estimate in a consumer agreement.
AMVIC offers a free service and repair consumer guide, available in 10 languages, that includes additional tips and a handy authorization checklist. For more information on backyard mechanics, visit amvic.org.