Thanks very for the advice everyone, it gives me a lot to go on. I now have a much better idea of my & his rights in this matter. I was going to pay by check, now I'll be sure to bring cash so he'll have to accept it. Tomorrow I'm going to get a written estimate from the Ford dealer on a fuel pump replacement, then when I go to pick up my car I'll show it to the guy and have him justify why he's charging so much more.
The POS has probably had great luck screwing out-of-towners who don't want to waste time and money pursuing the issue. Unfortunately for him, I'm not like most people. I'll gladly spend $800 to get $400 out of him, just on principle.
Oh, I forgot to mention the most important thing! This outfit is called "Ace Auto Services", located in Arlington Heights, IL.
I noticed there's really not any good websites to discuss share mechanic horror stories. Hopefully the upcoming "aceautoripoff.com" will change all that.
