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'You Got 2 Options': Mobile Mechanic Works On Toyota Camry. Then The Man Uses A Loophole To Avoid Paying After 4 Hours Of Work

"You can fight me."

Mobile mechanic works on Arizona man's Toyota Camry. Then the customer uses a loophole to avoid paying after 4 hours of work

Photo by: timotheosfountas & NAM CZ

Mustafa Gatollari

By: Mustafa Gatollari

Feb 10, at 2:00pm ET

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A mobile mechanic claims a Toyota Camry Hybrid owner attempted to weasel his way out of paying him for completed work. So he gave the man two choices: call the cops or get physical.

Tim (@timotheosfountas), who specializes in diesel and gas engine repairs in the Phoenix, Arizona area, says the man tried conflating a separate issue with his hybrid's battery with the work Tim performed.

“So I was doing a Camry. The lower control arms, sway bar links, inner tire rods, outer tire rods, the whole nine yards, right?” Tim says. “Mind you it’s a hybrid. He was trying to tell me something about the battery … not being able to charge.”

Tim says he told the client that he doesn’t like working on hybrids and suggested he go to a specialized shop. But he also told the man that there are parts of the vehicle he is comfortable working on.

“I’ll do your suspension, but that’s about it, I’m not gonna [expletive] with anything,” he says he told the Camry owner, who agreed.

When the job was done, he told the man what he was owed. The man refused to pay, he says. Tim says his logic was that he shouldn’t have to pay because he couldn’t drive the vehicle to “test to see” if the work was performed properly.

Tim was stunned. “I was like, you’re not gonna pay me? That’s [expletive] wild,” he says in a TikTok about the experience.

“I was like you got two options … I’m keeping the keys and you can call the cops,” Tim adds. “Or I’m keeping the keys and you can fight me. I’m done [expletive] around.”

Did The Camry Driver Pay?

The ultimatum—call the cops or fight me—apparently made the Camry driver come to his senses. Tim says that he agreed to pay and added that there was no need for Tim to get “aggressive.”

“Look man I’m over here four hours busting my [expletive] [expletive],” Tim says he retorted.

He claims the man lied about multiple things.

“You lied about … just control arms and then when I get there, you’re like, oh I got these the other day … I’ll put them in. I went the extra mile just [to] satisfy you. Then you lied about [it] being an Arizona car. That [expletive] had more rust … than a [expletive] Midwestern car. I’m over there struggling. Then you try not to pay me? That’s crazy.”

What Can Mechanics Do When Customers Won’t Pay?

In many parts of the country, service shops can keep a customer’s car for non-payment. This is known as a mechanic’s lien.

According to Cornell Law School, these liens are a “statutory security interest in real or personal property that secures payment for labor, materials, or services used to improve, repair, or maintain the property.” Cornell writes that these liens are oftentimes embedded into law, and contracts aren’t necessary in order to uphold them, i.e., if you bring your car into a shop and refuse to pay, the mechanic can keep it until you do.

In many states, they can also charge additional costs under a mechanics’ lien, such as parking and storage fees.

The Rathbone Group reports that most states require mechanics to give written notice of such fees, however. In some cases, they’re prohibited from beginning to charge storage and other fees until a certain amount of time has passed. For example, the firm writes that in Florida, mechanics can only start charging storage fees three days after the work is completed.

The Rathbone Group also notes that since “mechanic’s aliens are created by statute, most states don’t have them in case law.” This makes cases involving mechanic’s liens “difficult to define because not all work counts as a mechanic’s lien.” So, if clients are unsatisfied with the work performed on their vehicle, they should look up their area’s laws regarding mechanic’s liens and other relevant legal disputes.

Whose Side Are People On: The Mechanic Or The Customer?

People who commented on Tim’s post were overwhelmingly on his side.

Some suggested he require payment before doing the work.

Get the payment upfront next time, there is a lot of people like that,” one wrote. A second agreed, “Charging an upfront fee for clients is the best qualifier for mobile mechanics.”

Another wrote, “Your job you did for him was pure labor work. It had nothing to do [with] electronics or a dead hybrid battery.”

Several opined that he should keep the Camry until the man paid.

What do you think?

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Comments

"Put them on mechanic lien it’s easy," Pedro wrote. Amber Vetrano echoed his point, writing, "Yo, people trying to get out of their bill is insane. Hold onto those keys."

Motor1 has reached out to Tim via email for further comment. We'll update this article if he replies.

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