I had the front brakes of my old van worked on. Among other things, it needed two brake hoses to be replaced. They charged me $43.40 each for these Bendix brake hoses - $86.80 for the parts alone. The part number is listed as 77226.
This seemed high, so I checked around. I discovered that this part - the exact item - retails for $10.99 at the chain auto parts store just a couple minutes down the street from Merlin. For two brake hoses, that's a difference of $64.82 retail. I seriously doubt Merlin had to pay retail.
That's almost a 400 percent markup!
I was also going to have them replace the two parking brake cables, but their estimate for just that job was well over $400. Again, seemed high, so again, I checked. Merlin wanted to charge me $214.65 for two cables that retail for $99.98 (the exact cables, items C1437 and C1522). Another local shop will do the job for $180-$220, and I'm going with them.
After I complained, Merlin's manager/owner gave me a card for a free oil change. I don't know if that's any use to me; problem is, I don't know if I want to go back there because of their parts markups and because of a questionable labor charge.
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