ComplaintsforZarate's Auto Smog & Repair

• Initial Complaint

  02/01/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I qualified for the consumer assistance program BAR to help me fix my car in the amount of $1,200.00. I found Zarate's Auto Smog & Repair which accepts this voucher. When I dropped off my vehicle on 9/11/2023 I explained to the front desk that I specifically wanted them to repair my catalytic converter since I had previously done smog check and was advised on 02/10/2023 it needed to be repaired. On 09/14/2023 I went back to pick up my car and was told they did other repairs beside what I had requested to be done on my car, was then told that the catalytic converter needed to be replaced and it would be $2,000.00 to do so. I asked why they did not replace catalytic converter and was told they fixed what they needed too. I was very upset because they did not listen to anything I said when I dropped off car. On top of that they never communicated what they were fixing and then advised I owed them $200.00. I feel that their customer service and communication is horrible. I am disabled and can not work. This repair was crucial to my everyday doctors appointments, because of their lack of attention my car did not get fixed.

  Business response

  09/05/2024

  Hello ******,
  This customer came in with the CAP program, which is a BAR sponsored program, each case is monitored and approved by the BAR. Even if a customer comes in with a specific request for an  Auto Part replacement, there is a process we must follow that adheres to the BAR's guidelines to fixing vehicles in order to pass emissions to pass the smog test. The CAP program requires that even if the vehicle is showing that the Catalytic converter is failing, but there are other issues that could be causing high emissions, those other issues must be fixed first, before the **** The CAP program requires that the customer pays 20% of the total cost of the repairs and they will cover the other 80% up to $1200. This vehicle had 3 trouble codes when it was brought in. Two of these codes were detecting a problem with the thermostat and were detecting a large evap leak. The third code was detecting that the *** was not working efficiently, this could be caused by the first two codes, so the CAP program required us to first fix these 2 problems first, to see if emissions were positively affected enough to pass smog without replacing the **** After getting approval from the customer to proceed with the first step to hopefully improve emissions, we replaced the *** valve, the Thermostat, the canister purge Valve, and the canister vent valve. Unfortunately while the first 2 trouble codes were fixed with these repairs. The third code, which was the *** efficiency code, was still showing, so we had to let the customer know that we would have to go ahead and replace the *** as well. The first set of repairs totaled $906.37, however the CAP program was covering 80% of the cost, which is $725.10. The remaining balance of $181.28 was approved by the customer after it was explained to her that there could still be further repairs. The second repair of the *** would have totalled $2036.00, but the CAP program would have a remaining balance of $374.90 to help fix the *** since they would reach their $1200 limit, so the customer would have been responsible for the other $1661.10 of the replacement of the ***, making the customers total $1842.38. The customer did not want to proceed with the second repairs, so she was just responsible for the initial repair she approved for $181.28. As I stated at the beginning the customer would need all these *********************** in order for her Vehicle to pass smog, not just the Catalytic Converter, however we were hoping that fixing the issues for the first two trouble codes would help the *** run more efficiently. We did get approval from the customer, explained the issue beforehand, and have documentation to prove it. We have approval from the CAP program on their end that proves that we did do the first needed repairs, and that proves that the emissions would need all the above repairs to pass smog. The customer's desired settlement for us to "finish the job" is not something we could do for no charge. As the repairs were completed on September 14th, 2023, it is going to be a year now, so we could not possibly know what other repairs the vehicle would need as well, as if the prices for the parts are the same, there is not much we could offer the customer at this time.
  
  Thank you!
  *******************************
   ******** Auto Smog
  

  
  

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