Waited a few months to see if this would not bother me, but was wrong. This was my second visit to KCT. Arrived in January '23 and spoke with a fella named, Josh. Wanted a trailer hitch for my 2019 Ram. Asked for a "all-in" quote, and was told $530. I asked if that included tax, and was told "no". I said that seemed high already, and he said he would include the tax in the $530. Josh said the part would be in, in a few days. After not hearing for 2 plus weeks, I called, and was told there was a problem with the part, but they'd have it now in two days. Due to scheduling problems on my part, I called twice more, and had to remind Josh that the $530 included tax, which he did not recall.
When I went in, and gave to truck to Josh for the installation, I failed to mention the tax. After the work was done, I was handed the bill. You guessed it, the tax was added on to the $530. I reminded Josh of the $530 (all-in) quote, and he pretended that it was the first time he heard of it. I was angry, and should have told him to remove the hitch, but did not. The $594 invoice still seemed high, and was told that there was a 4% credit card fee attached, which New York merchants are scrambling over to attach this fee to their customers.
On the way out, I asked for the labor mark-up that Kingston Caps & Trailers charge over the parts cost, and Josh told me usually $100 for each an hour. My work took about 40 minutes. I looked at the price of the Curt trailer hitch that I just bought, and the part was $235. At $100 for labor, the cost should have been $335 plus tax. I was charged $259 over the part and labor cost that I should have been charged, or a 77% overcharge. Nice. With the disrespect and contempt some merchants treat their clientele, I have to wonder about the intelligence of the merchants. I was clearly duped by KCT here, and it is my fault for not being super careful with these guys. In the long run, however, I wonder how much damage they are actually doing to their business, with practices such as these. read more