Fantom Works - rip off artist

[Scott2]

Originally Posted by 78chevstepside

I happen to like the show . They always tell you the man hours and parts cost . Thinking I dont work for free why should anyone else . Thinking the employees must not get paid well. I have done the math in man hours . Thinking he charges less the 50 dollars and hour . Chevrolet charges let's say hundred dollars a hour . Fantom seems to be about cars . Not a drama like other car shows .

I have to agree _ I like it too and appreciate the info on costs and and hours and the focus on basic operations and safety

But first, remember that it's TV. They are trying to create some drama or other hook to get you to keep coming back just so you will watch the commercials. The guy may or may not be a dick, but he appears to really know cars and regardless of the "surprise" - staged or not - when he presents the invoice and the car, I would guess that every customer has a written estimate and most likely a contract or signed work order (same thing), and has been paying Fantom regularly for the work all along, plus signing off on change orders, plus there are laws about how much work can be done without approval, so no real surprise. Yes, they make it look like he pushes extra work on people and he may - but what do the car dealers and most repair shops also do routinely? Of course they leave out a lot in the interest of making it interesting, fit in as many commercials as they can and still hit the time limit.

Back to the show, I like the safety focus and I like seeing how they diagnose and fix problems. How many knot heads do you know that skip repairs and maintenance on brakes, suspension, steering, electronics, etc and spend their money on new parts or wheels? None of that is inexpensive and when you get cars that come in that have all of that worn out plus rust and crappy previous repairs, it's going to add up fast.

Who knows how much of it is real or not but I still like it. I wish other shows would share a little more info on costs.