ComplaintsforGerry's Automotive Ltd.

• Initial Complaint

  20/12/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I had contacted "Gerry's OK Tire North Abbotsford" garage a day prior to schedule service for my vehicle, providing a detailed description of the issues and even mentioning that I possessed certified spare parts to expedite the repair process.Upon arrival at the scheduled appointment time of 12:30 pm, I sought clarification from the clerk, Sam.B, regarding the service, confirming readiness, repair duration, and cost. I was provided with an estimate of two hours at a rate of $139 per hour and was led to believe that I would receive a call upon completion of the service.However, after waiting for an hour, I was informed by Sam.B that the necessary tools for one of the services were unavailable. Consequently, despite my intention to seek assistance elsewhere, i was unable to retrieve the car as it was already on the lift. When I requested clarification, I was met with a denial of any prior conversation or agreement.This experience was deeply disappointing and distressing. Arriving at the garage at 12:30 pm, being informed an hour later of the service impossibility, and then, at 3:02 pm, receiving a bill for 3.35 hours is unacceptable. Practically the Garage provided service to my car approximately for 2 hours but I had paid for 3.35 hours.Despite feeling cornered, I settled the inflated bill as I had no immediate recourse, maintaining composure before leaving for home. I am now burdened with finding an honest garage to complete the repairs, compounding the initial inconvenience.As someone who values honesty and integrity, encountering what I perceive as ****** *** ************ in this situation has deeply troubled me.

  

  Business response

  20/12/2023

  We are sorry to hear the customer's experience was not what he expected. First of all when ******************************* initially called to make the appointment she failed to mention that she was bringing her own parts, second upon arrival, we gave her an estimate on how long the work for replacing your sway bar links and rear leaf spring bushings. when we brought her **** ***** ******* with ******* license plates into our shop, we noticed that she had more parts in the back seat that was not on the initial estimate, namely outer tie rod ends which she agreed it would take extra labour, third one sway bar link she provided was deffective the boot was torn, so we had to order one sway bar link from our supplier which took up extra time waiting for the new part to arrive. We generally shy away with customers supplying their own parts for that very reason and more often than not they either bring defective, incomplete or the wrong parts altogether. We did the customer a favour by completing the work and offered her a loaner vehicle to get around and grab some lunch while she is waiting for the repair to be completed. I have attached tow pics of one sway bar link showing the torn black boot and one sway bar link that we provided showing what a quality part should look like. We returned the defective part to the customer so she could return it to her supplier for a refund. All the work provided was agreed upon prior to commencing the work.

• Initial Complaint

  04/01/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Dec 5th I dropped my *** at *****'s ** Tire to have the Timing Chain replaced. They started it on the next day. They called me with a list of other 8 things they said my *** had to be fixed, for $4374.62. I told them to just do the timing chain. I can fix the rest., which none needed fixing. They called on the 8th of Dec. it is ready. Paid the bill got no receipt. Then he showed me the pics which had chunks of metal that came out of the Oil Pan. One pic was the oil pan screen filter up under the motor with chunks of metal in it. We cleaned filter & put it back in. Got them to send me the *************** That pic magically disappeared, & he is denying it even exist. Drove it home to Mission, no problems. The next morning I had to go to *********. *** started knocking. I called *** at *****'s and told him the problem & would be bringing it back for them on Tuesday the 13th to fix it. The mechanic said it is the bottom end of my motor and had nothing to do with the timing chain.. I got upset, left because they were saying it had nothing to do with the work he had done. Took the *** down to the Stop Shop, asked the mechanic to listen to the motor & tell me what he thought about the noise. That is an engine bearing. Drove around the corner to ******************* the opinion was the same, motor bearing means my motor is shot. Got them to send me the *************** 05 ********, cannot be rebuilt. So I went home all ****** & depressed. The next few days I left it parked, had an other mechanic who used to work at *****'s come & have a listen to the motor. Well now it is worse, sounds like someone standing on the motor with a *********************. Shut it down now he said. Showed him the pics, he said they should not have done the job. I am now without a vehicle. I am on permanent disability, I get Old Age Security, Guaranteed ******* ****** Totaling under $1500 a month. They took all my savings for nothing. Now I can't even buy another vehicle.

  

  Business response

  31/01/2023

  ******** took his SUV to another repair shop to have it diagnosed before he brought it to us and told us that he would like his timing chain replaced and he did not want to pay to have it properly diagnosed. Prior to starting the work we found rough and noisy idle and rough run on test drive. On disassembly we noticed front sway bar links seized, have to be replaced to drop oil pan and finish timing chain job. We also found plastic pieces and metal flakes in the oil pickup tube, and has likely gone through the engine. We notified the customer of these findings and many other issues such as both upper control arms have play, front inner tie rods have play, front pads and rotors need to be replaced, rear pads and rotors need to be replaced, left rear wheel bearing has play, right rear upper control arm has play, rear sway bar links are worn out. Provided the customer with a quote to fix issues and customer declined. We carried on with requested work replaced worn damaged components, reassembled engine, runs quiet but still slightly rough idle. Scanned engine code found P0402 for excessive EGR flow - Noted engine runs lean due to this condition. Condition was present before work was done, and EGR system not touched during engine work. We understand the customer was on a limited budget and did not want to put anymore money into fixing the vehicle. We took several pictures of above mentioned findings and prior to completing the work.  

  Customer response

  31/01/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  The vehicle is sitting in my yard because I cannot drive it after the work they have done.  With the amount of plastic and metal found, knowing that it had serious issues from the amount of c*** found they should have refused to do the job.  I feel they just did the job to take my money.  If they were honest they would have recommended that they do not do the work and saved me the $2700.  How would you feel if the day after you got your vehicle back and couldn't drive anymore?  As far as going over my vehicle to trying and get another $4000 out of me, which I never asked them to do.  That time is shop time that they charged me on it.  

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  

  Business response

  14/02/2023

  To replace the timing chain on this vehicle you have to start by removing the front differential, front sway bar, front axle, to drop the oil pan and oil pick up tube. All that work was done to start removing the old chain, and only then that we can see fragments in the oil pan. We took pictures and advised the customer that their is evidence of small fragments in the oil pan and may have gone into the engine, and that we could not determine that for sure. All was noted that on the work order. If the customer advised us to stop the work after he was notified of the metal findings he still would have had to pay for labour to remove and put the parts back together. As mentioned earlier the customer had the vehicle diagnosed by another shop and did  not want to pay for another diagnosis. The customer hired us to replace the timing chain only and that is what we have done. There was another issue that was noted on the work order with the *** valve stuck open, advised the customer that could be why it was idling rough and declined to have that replaced. 

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