Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/08/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I took my 1999 Lexus LS400 to ****** via AAA. I was informed the repair cost of almost $7,000 was due to 1. The use of Genuine Lexus Auto Repair parts 2. They're in the business of retail. ****** repairs are covered by a 3 year warranty. Less than 24 hours after my car was repaired it broke down. I called AAA again for a tow and complained. In response AAA launched an investigation due to price gauging. They could not demand ****** refund some of my money because I'd already paid them in full. I took my car back to ****** a second time and was informed AFTER THE REPAIR the part repaired ( throttle body) had nothing to do with the initial repair and they wanted to charge me (against the law for not following protocol). 2 car trips later to work, my car breaks down again and I take it to a Lexus dealership who verified after their inspection 1. Lexus Genuine parts were not used so my car is still leaking oil and transmission fluid, 2. Unknowingly to me ****** broke an intake valve to the throttle body and tried to glue back on, 3. AND the pedal position sensor was replaced not the throttle body they tried to have me pay for. I did submit a dispute with my CC company and ****** told them they'd been trying to contact me ( not true) and are working with me for compensation through their insurance company Travelers ( who said to me they had no details or invoice from ****** regarding my repair and dispute ) while refusing to give me any sort of refund. I provided ****** invoice 2 times to the insurance company and sent the video from the Lexus dealership. After 1 month and no contact I reached out for a follow up. Travelers finally sent an appraiser. After 2 weeks the appraiser calls me to see if I'd heard from Travelers and they too are requesting the appraiser ask me for ****** invoice ( this will be the second time Travelers has gone MIA) and once again for the 3rd time I'm having to chase them down for answers while ****** keeps my money for damages they caused.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/11/2022

  I am not really sure where to start after reading the complaint and trying to understand it. I will write out our side so it is legible and counter some of the things that ***** is trying to blame us for.
  

  
  

  Her vehicle was towed to us by AAA after she hit a road hazard and damaged the vehicle. We performed an inspection and documented what we found on the vehicle. This job was opened on 4/7/22. We started estimating the recommended repairs/maintenance, sourcing part and the availability of the parts. We are a Napa auto care center gold status so whatever we do we offer a 3 year or 36,000 mile warranty on it. Most parts are purchased through Napa. If not available through Napa we buy from the agency or from O'reilly auto parts if available. We presented our estimate to ***** on 4/12 and explained that the exhaust parts had to be bought through Lexus as there is no aftermarket source. Those parts were on back order at that time. The following day, ***** authorized repairs totaling $6597.02. She came to the store and left us a deposit of $1762.84. We started gathering parts and started repairs. Vehicle was completed on 4/25/22 and we test drove the car a total of 6 miles after repairs without problems. ***** paid the remainder and picked up the vehicle.
  

  
  

  ***** had the vehicle towed back in on 4/27/22 after driving approximately 110 miles and said the car had "no power and check engine light was on"  We test drove and found an intermittent check engine light and lack of power. Diagnosed and found the accelerator pedal position sensor was out of specs and needed to be replaced to correct the issue. We purchased one and installed without any authorization for testing purposes. Verified the vehicle was fixed and called ***** and asked her to come take the car and drive it. We never asked her to pay us for this repair. We never got this repair authorized and since it took over 100 miles to fail we felt it best to have her drive to confirm it is corrected before talking any money which she was advised of.
  

  
  

  That is the last we heard from ***** until she started filing claims regarding our work and asking for a full refund.
  

  
  

  First we had her credit card (Discover) company take the funds from our bank to which we complained, provided proper documentation and they agreed it was proper on our part and refunded us the funds.
  

  
  

  Next AAA came in and asked for documentation to which we shared the procedures and paperwork with and they agreed we did as we stated we would do and they cancelled her case.
  

  
  

  As far as her complaints go, she does have a 3 year warranty on items we did. She complains of trans fluid leaking however we never did any trans fluid leak repair. We did perform a fluid exchange due to it being contaminated with coolant from her accident. That does not require gasket replacement.
  

  
  

  The video from Lexus is accurate in the matter that we did replace the accelerator pedal position sensor and not the throttle body to which we had written down. If she had paid for that repair she may have a viable complaint though in the body of her paperwork, if she would read it, it clearly states we need to replace the accelerator pedal position sensor, a clerical error on our part as the throttle body needs to be removed or accessed to replace it. As far as a plastic nipple that is broken, I think it far fetched that a car with over 230,000 miles and is more than 22 years old someone can blatantly say it was "Phil's Auto Clinic" that broke it and glued it together.
  

  
  

  If she feels we broke that nipple on the intake is that grounds for a complete refund? We fixed something that was not our fault, accelerator sensor, without pay. She has received plenty from us and she has a good working vehicle which is what she agreed to pay us for.
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/15/2022

   I am rejecting this response because:

  Because of sentimental reasons, I was excited when I picked up my vehicle from Phil's the 1st time. I didn't find an issue with the cost because I was passionate about wanting my car fixed and Phil's knew that. But to break down less than 24 hours later after paying $6600 and after the 2nd car break down after the 2nd  repair it's only cautionary to get a 2nd opinion from the ACTUAL LEXUS DEALER.

   Phil's COULD NOT charge me for the 2nd repair because they DID NOT FOLLOW THE LEGAL PROTOCOL OF NOTIFIYNG CUSTOMERS OF CAR REPAIRS. AND WHEN THE OWNER TRIED TO CHARGE ME FOR THE 2ND REPAIR I INFORMED HIM OF MY RIGHTS AND HOW HE DID NOT FOLLOW THE PROTOCOL.- My brother was there as a witness when the OWNER agreed I was correct. So for Phil's to state they didn't charge me is an attempt of portrayal of showing good faith practice because they did try and charge me. 

  
  

  Per my CC company the only reason they found the transaction valid was because 1.Phil's refused to grant me a partial refund while admitting no responsibility; and 2.Phil's has also had their insurance company reach out to me to file a claim with them as long as my dispute was open which showed actions of some responsibility. But now that Phil's insurance company has gone missing again for almost a month, Phil's blames a paying customer for a vehicle they damaged and because of their damages it's been sitting for months since the last time they worked on it (the difference in miles is a couple hundred miles which was 2 round trips from home to work in 3 months)- is what they claim is a working car. 

  
  

  In addition to that a certified dealership is not going to lie as to what happened ro their brand of car AND provide video to back its claims. And AAA voluntarily inititiated an investigation because I am a valued customer and they saw an issue with my experience with Phil's. I can't force that. I initially wanted a partial payment back because they did do some work that the dealership said they were accountable for associated to their repairs but to break a part that's discontinued without notice amongst my experience was the final straw.

  
  

  As for Phil's 3 year warranty, I took my car to them for repairs 2 times within 3 weeks of their repairs and it broke down 3 TIMES and incurred DAMAGE. So why would I continue to take it to them after a professional 2nd opinion. 

  
  

   I'm the consumer not the retail business or car expert. With all parties involved who worked on my behalf  and advised me to file with the BBB as a customer who paid for a service that's unsatisfactory and caused damaged to my car, Phil's wants to make me a villain and insult the condition of my car because it has 230k miles on it while stating it's in great working condition (a contradiction). And yet when I first brought my car to them and they inspected the car they were excited to fix my 230k car and receive almost $6700. This exemplifies my experience so far- the continuous insult to injury. 
  
  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/18/2022

  Not sure where to go with this. We are going to have to agree to disagree.
  

  
  

  You never talked to us about any refund, partial or full. The only time we found you were unsatisfied was when the complaints started coming in.
  

  
  

  We have been in business for a lot of years. We have no intention of cheating anyone and are always willing to talk and listen. Never have you mentioned to us directly that you were unsatisfied and you continuously are complaining about something we agree on, the second repair. We did not try and charge you. I documented it and asked you to drive it. There was never an attempt to collect money so move on from that.
  

  
  

  I can not be expected to say we did something wrong, or a repair did not work if it was never brought to our attention.
  

  
  

  As far as dealerships "not going to lie" it is obvious that you do not have much experience with a dealership.
  

  
  

  
  

  What do you reasonably want from us? What repair did we do that did not work?

  
  

  ***** Bird

  Phil's Auto Clinic

  ************
  

  
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/21/2022

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  In the previous statement the price quoted was the wrong price I was charged AND PAID FOR REPAIRS - its on the final invoice-  but I guess that'll be stated as a clerical error too. I also guess I was supposed to be belligerent when I dropped off my towed vehicle less than 24 hours of repair the 2nd time AND after spending almost $6700, to consider it a complaint or " made aware" of my dissatisfaction.

  
  Although there's documented evidence of the Owner ***** attempting to charge me for the 2nd repair -( it was a priced invoice I was asked to sign for payment of repair and after I stated my rights I wrote on the invoice "I wasn't responsible for the payment". I also had to ask 2 times for a copy of my signed invoice when ***** attempted to give me a copy of an invoice without my signature on it and I had a witness too) - I guess that was another error of some sort.
  
  Then Phil's Auto passed judgement on me with the dealership statement which exemplifies what Phil's thought of me when I first dropped off my car and why we are here in this situation right now and yet they forget they ALSO misdiagnosed my other car I'd just purchased from a DEALERSHIP months earlier- brand new and used cars have recalls and there's lemon laws in place to protect consumers.
  
  Since Phil's Auto Clinic stated I'm so inexperienced with dealerships, am I not to trust the dealership who provided me with video evidence (that Phil's Auto agreed with )- but instead trust Phil's Auto Clinic enough to have 2 of my cars in their possession at the same time for inspection and repairs and have both of my cars inspected by certified dealerships of the car brand (Mercedes and Lexus) and provided me with video evidence and an invoice that Phil's Auto misdiagnosed my Mercedes and caused damage and unfinished repairs to my Lexus?
  
  For Phil's Auto to state they don't know what I want when  it's clearly stated in this initial  complaint and in Phil's previous statement of this complaint with the acknowledgement of my complaint to AAA  and my dispute against them with my CC company- they know exactly what I want.
  
  The owner ***** providing a number at the end is to assume what?  I already have the business number ( it's on the invoices) and if it's a different number then why did ***** provide my information to his insurance company contact me but did not in his response on my CC dispute against them.
  
  I can go on with more contradictions and problems but it's obvious through their statements and actions shown how they view me and conduct  business with customers they say are inexperienced with cars- says and shows alot.