Mont. Admin. R. 23.19.202 - REPAIRS, ESTIMATES, AND INVOICES
(1) It shall be an unfair or deceptive act or
practice for a motor vehicle repair business to:
(a) accept a motor vehicle for repair without
furnishing the customer, upon request, a written estimate for repairs,
maintenance or service on a motor vehicle in excess of $50. A reasonable
charge, which shall be disclosed on the written estimate, may be made for labor
and diagnostic work actually performed in arriving at the estimate.
(i) If a written estimate is requested, the
motor vehicle repair business shall give to the customer a written, estimated
price for labor, parts necessary for the specific job, storage costs (if any)
and the approximate date of work completion. A motor vehicle repair business
shall not charge for labor done and/or parts supplied in excess of 10% or $25,
whichever is greater, above the estimated price without the oral or written
consent of the customer. That consent shall be obtained after it is determined
that the estimated price is insufficient, and before work not estimated is done
or parts not estimated are supplied.
(ii) The motor vehicle repair business shall
have a reasonable time to prepare the written estimate which, after submission
to the customer, shall be valid for no more than five days. A lesser period of
validity may be designated, if that limitation appears on the written
estimate.
(iii) Nothing in this
subsection shall be construed as requiring a motor vehicle repair business to
give a written, estimated price if that business does not agree to perform the
requested repair or if no charge is to be made for repair work.
(b) fail to provide the customer
an invoice showing all labor and materials. All work done by a motor vehicle
repair business, except work done under a dealer or manufacturer warranty when
the customer has no monetary obligations, shall be recorded on an invoice,
which shall describe all service work done and parts supplied. If any used,
rebuilt or reconditioned parts are supplied, then the invoice shall clearly
state that fact, except such parts that have been remanufactured and carry a
new part warranty. One copy shall be given to the customer and one copy shall
be retained by the motor vehicle repair business for a period of at least 90
days.
(c) upon request of the
customer at the time the work order is taken, the motor vehicle repair business
fails to return replaced parts to the customer at the time of the completion of
the work, excepting such parts as may be impracticable because of size, weight
or other similar factors. If replaced parts must be returned to the
manufacturer, distributor or other supplier under a warranty arrangement or
exchange parts program, then the motor vehicle repair business shall show such
parts to the customer if the customer was advised of the option to observe the
parts and requested such showing at the time the work order was taken. However,
the motor vehicle repair business shall not be required to show a replaced part
when no charge is being made for the replacement part.
Notes
30-14-104, MCA; IMP, 30-14-104, MCA;
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.