A about a month ago, my 190K 300E started making a noise from the front of the engine. About a week later, the belt started making some noise, which suddenly became embarassingly loud. Conveniently, I was picking up parts at American Service Center (ASC), so I wheeled in and asked them to check it out. They diagnosed it as water pump bearings and quoted $800 for replacement. They also recommended addtional work for a total of $3200. I declined, paid them $79, and drove off sqealing.

I ordered a water pump from Fastlane and started on the job early the following Saturday. As soon as the belt was off it was easy to determine that the trouble was in fact the fan bearing. This caused me to make an emergency trip to another dealer (HBL) open on Saturday, where I paid list price for the part.

I will now have to return the water pump to Fastlane. Bottom line is that ASC's faulty diagnosis cost me a couple of hours time and maybe $15 in shipping charges, plus about $35 in additional parts costs, since my options were limited on a Saturday morning.

My question: Am I justified in asking for a refund from ASC for their faulty diagnosis? I can add that we have been good customers of ASC over the years: a lot of service and parts, plus we bought my wife's C220 from them.

I am particularly interested in comments from guys in the business on how they view this situation.

TIA for opinions!

__________________
Chuck Taylor
Falls Church VA
'66 200, '66 230SL, '96 SL500. Sold: '81 380SL, '86 300E, '72 250C, '95 C220, 3 '84 280SL's '90 420SEL, '72 280SE, '73 280C, '78 280SE, '70 280SL, '77 450SL, '85 380SL, '87 560SL, '85 380SL, '72 350SL, '96 S500 Coupe