A recent study has found that nearly one in three female drivers believe they have previously been overcharged by a garage because of their gender.
The car maintenance specialists Motoreasy recently surveyed 2,000 British adults and 29 per cent of the women quizzed reckoned they had been overcharged for remedial work on their vehicle simply because of their gender.
31 per cent of the women surveyed said they had stopped using a garage because they thought the mechanics were exploiting them.
Younger women aged between 20 and 25 felt the most vulnerable, with 33.8 per cent in this age group thinking a garage had charged them more than it should have. But it’s an issue that apparently affects older women too, as just over a quarter (26.5 per cent) of the women aged 36 to 55 surveyed think they’ve been ripped off by a garage.
“Fearful of entering into negotiations”
The chief executive of Motoreasy, Duncan McClure Fisher, said: “These days, people are generally busier than ever with modern life. Increasingly, motorists don’t have time to deal with the dull car maintenance jobs like arranging MOTs or organising car repairs.
“Our research shows that this is compounded for female motorists, who also feel fearful of entering into negotiations with garages in case they get overcharged or charged for work that is not actually needed.
“The problem is even worse for young drivers, who don’t know as much about cars and are, therefore, even more open to being taken advantage of.”
