Al Packer Ford Lincoln Al Packer, Inc. Al Packer Lincoln They added approximately 3% of the labor and parts charges as "Misc. Charges" to each of my invoices. West Palm Beach Florida

In addition to the exorbitant labor charge of approximately $145 per hour and the highly marked up price of parts, Al Packer Lincoln charged me an addition "Misc. Charges" of approximately 3%

of the labor and parts charges.  When questioned, the Service Manager told me that this was for such things as topping of the fluids, shop rags, etc. even if none of those were used on my repairs.

On my two most recent invoices, those charges were $8.10 and $5.40 even though the work that they performed did not require adding any fluids, using shop rags, etc.

While such charges are not illegal, they certainly are unethical.  Another auto dealer in Palm Beach County writes an article each week in a local newspaper about the unethical tactics of auto

dealers and auto repair shops.  He said that this charge should be labeled "owner's retirement fund" instead of "miscellaneous charges."  He said that the hourly rates that auto dealer repair shops

charge are high enough to pay the salaries of all of their repair people, the overhead of the business and provide a very handsome profit for the owner.

Apparently the owner of Al Packer Lincoln does not agree and feels the need to impose an additional 3% in order to line his pockets.  I am certain that all of their customers don't even notice such

small extra charges.  But these charges could add up to additional hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to the owner's retirement fund while ripping off the public.

And, by the way, I am an 83-year-old, partially-disabled former Marine Corps jet fighter pilot.  Thank you, Al Packer Lincoln, for disrespecting elderly veterans who risked their lives in order to

give you the opportunity to rip them off.