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Hello,
I recently took my VW to a mechanic in Christchurch because it had some transmission issues.
They assured me they would call me when they knew what the problem was to see if I wanted to go ahead.
A few hours later I got a txt to say that the car was ready to be picked up (no call to say what the fault was).
I then got an invoice (for $163.01) with comments on work completed saying - the problem had not been fixed (but they suspect its a faulty valve body) and that they had replaced a fuse for an ABS fault (something i never asked them to look at.
The bill was made up of labour $93.75, diagnostic scan which showed up nothing $40, and Sundry, which is probably the fuse $8, plus GST.
are they ripping me off? should I pay this bill?

It's not unreasonable for the garage to charge you for labour, diagnostic scan etc. The fuse would be included in the sundry items, and would have most likely been something they came across during their diagnosis.
Obviously, they haven't gone ahead with dismantling anything to determine for sure that the valve body is the problem, which would be the next step and an expensive one.
Personally, I think the $163 they've invoiced you seems entirely reasonable.