Am I being Ripped off at this car garage & do I have rights to refuse to pay

elsien

OP hasn't said it was a main dealer. 
Given that OP has said they weren't contacted about the additional cost, it doesn't appear as if there was any call at that point to listen to. 

sweetsand

Carrot007 said:

I expect a garage to be reasonable.

I know 2, one will go ahead and do all the work and then charge you (they may have a call first cut off point but it's too high!).

The other will do simple things, but if in for service and mot he will call if he thinks the car more needs to be scrapped before doing everything. He knows the next car will come there so why leave a bad taste my doing a service on a car about to be scrapped.

Of course this is harder depending on the age/worth of the car. But he has done it at all point to me. I tend to go for 3 year old cars and run them till they die (or have an annoying issue I do not want to pay to deal with (last one would not heat, yes it was all checked, it would have needed a complete tear down to find out the issue, on a under £500 car it was not worth it, still on the road though! maybe the buyers did it themselves, far to much effort, I just pocked around without removing too much!).

We had a problem with a  door mirro/indicator going leaky, car still under full warranty. The person looking after us at MB stated he needed to check the covering was not cracked/etc if it was we'd have to pay. My OH told him in clear terms, 'please consult us before going ahead with the repair if not covered by warranty.'. Indeed as we suspected no damage on door mirror/indicator housing and replaced with new a full unit was required they told us costing several hundred pounds.

Years ago when we had older cars, we always asked for a quote always at a main dealer and there were times when they said it could only be an estimate until the opened up the part or checked we deamnded a call or agreed a sum, max sum beforehand and always worked.

Costs can easily sky rocket and we always ask many quetions to ensure their is no upset at the end.

Once again OP, it happens and I hope they give you some goodwill
x