mechanics charging women more?

[Portia]

This is in response to Rifka's comment. As a non-driver, I've never heard of this phenomenon. Is there any data to support this assertion, that mechanics charge women more for the same repairs?

[Cindy]

Yes! That is to say, if a woman indicates that she doesn't know the fair price of a repair, she will be charged, on average, a higher price than a man who indicates that he doesn't know the fair price. But if the woman demonstrates she's aware of the correct price, she actually gets more of a discount than men do. That's what one study showed, at least. Here's one summary of that research: http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archiv ... nt/276884/

There's also research showing that women using an identical negotiation technique will be charged a 40% markup when they try to buy a used car. Well, white women will be charged a 40% markup over white men. "As detailed below, white women had to pay forty percent higher markups than white men; black men had to pay more than twice the markup, and black women had to pay more than three times the markup of white male testers."
http://islandia.law.yale.edu/ayers/fairdriv.htm

[Violet]

Ugh... Power structure. I wonder what the difference would be for a woman who brought a man along.

[Emiliana]

I've heard of this, but I don't know that I've experienced it myself.

[Cindy]

When I was shopping for my car, a guy friend helped drive me to the different used car lots around town. The car salesmen mostly just talked to him, even though he repeatedly told them that I was the one buying the car. And they definitely looked at him before they quoted me a price. I'm convinced I would have heard higher prices if I'd gone by myself or with another girl.

I used online review sites to find a mechanic who didn't rip women (or anyone) off, so I haven't any problems there. I've definitely heard some stories from other people, though. One car shop told my roommate that it would cost $900 to replace her windshield wiper blades. She didn't have that much money, so she ended up looking online to see what else she could do. When she found out that the replacement blades only cost about $9 and that it would just take a few minutes to replace, she was livid.

[Marduk]

One car shop told my roommate that it would cost $900 to replace her windshield wiper blades.

Now my coke is all over my computer screen. Thanks a lot.