Women pay more for car services than men!
A study revealed that there is a gender interaction between how informed people appear to be and the prices they get quoted. Women who call the car manufacturers and seem clueless will get quoted higher prices than if a man calls up the manufacturer and says he has no idea what the price should be. That’s not really right is it? We feel a little betrayed here…
Men in the experiment were quoted the same price whether they pretended to know the average price or had no informed expectation, but women who appeared uninformed were consistently told higher-than-average prices. The study suggests that auto repair shops assume men know the market price of a given repair, so they automatically grant it. They do not expect women to be knowledgeable in this area, so the perception is they can charge them more.
According to Inspiring Women, “The researchers performed the study in 2012 by having call centre agents call auto repair shops in a variety of cities to ask about getting a radiator replaced on a 2003 Toyota Camry – a repair that the researchers determined would cost around R 1 130. On average, women callers were quoted higher prices than men callers were, but the results also reveal nuances based on how much callers knew about their cars.”
Unfortunately people just want to make money out of their customers, so it is up to you as a woman to do research about these things before you give the repair shop a call. Even if you are clueless about cars, try to sound sure of yourself. Maybe you can even haggle the price a little lower! When haggling for a lower price, 35% of the study’s female participants were able to get a lower price, compared with just over 20% of men.
(Source: Inspiring Women)