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Complaint Details
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Initial Complaint
03/05/2024
- Complaint Type:
- Sales and Advertising Issues
- Status:
- Answered
I contracted a service through Open Bay + Maphre . They quoted me $467.22 to have repair at a local mechanic. I dropped my car off at the local shop. The receptionist called me much later in the day with a price of $880 for the exact same service. I emailed her the quote from Open Bay. The local mechanic stated that they did not remember being part of Openbay and that those were not their prices. I left my car there on my only day off-and it needed brakes or I could not drive it. I spent the entire day trying to contact Openbay. Live chat had no response. Email had no response. Phone went to voice mail. Finally I had to have the car back and agreed to the repair. I felt like since Open bay had a "guarantee" they would make good on the price. When I finally reached a representative he said the only guarantee was another mechanic on another day at the lower price (if he could find one). I had no choice since I needed the car for work to agree to the repair. I want Open bay to pay me the $413 extra that I was billed for the Exact same service. Open Bay explained that the prices were out of date and that is where the mistake was made on their part. The Open Bay rep then changed the prices and sent me the higher estimate for the exact same service as a response. This $880 is what the garage normally charges and does not reflect any of the discounts that Open Bay normally provides. I contracted this service in good faith with a promise of a discount and some savings and received a repair at full price.
Business response
03/06/2024
First, thank you BBB for bringing this event to our attention.
For educational purposes, Openbay goes through a vetting process with all auto repair facilities that apply to become part of our nationwide network of automotive service centers.
Once a repair facility is approved, they are trained on how to use Openbay and what is expected of them when they service a customer from **********************.
As part of the onboarding process, repair facilities provide Openbay with pricing information to include labor rate, discounts, margins on parts, etc. These prices and discounts are presented to vehicle owners without any manipulation from Openbay. Shops control their pricing and discounts directly from their Openbay account.
All repair facilities must maintain transparency and disclose updated price estimates to any customer delivered by ********************** prior to any work performed on the vehicle.
Openbay has Trust and Safety Policies for all platform constituents. Any party violating these policies receives a warning and then they are removed from the platform if the behavior continues.
After an internal investigation we uncovered the following:
- Openbay validated that the repair facility did indeed honor the discount offered on the Openbay platform.
- The driver was indeed able to reach an Openbay customer support representative.
- Regarding the estimate increase, per our terms, price estimates on Openbay may change prior to any work being done on the vehicle as the repair facility has final approval on an estimate.
- We verified that the repair facility notified the driver of the changes prior to completing any of the original services. However, upon further review of this appointment, we determined that the repair facility should have reviewed and notified the vehicle owner sooner rather than immediately before the appointment regarding the change in the price estimate. We instructed the repair facility of the change they need to deploy.
- During conversations with the vehicle owner, they demanded Openbay compensate them for the difference in the service estimate.
- The Openbay team offered to help the vehicle owner find an alternative repair facility at a lower price, but the vehicle owner declined and accepted the updated estimate from the repair facility.
- After receiving the updated price estimate, the vehicle owner approved the price and the service was performed on the vehicle.
- The pricing that was delivered to the vehicle owner was competitive when compared to the other price estimates received.
Customer response
03/07/2024
To OpenBay,
As far as the estimate I received. It was not only wrong it was ludicrous. After alerting your company that your pricing was misleading and unrealistic, the same service went from $467.22 to $1,025.68 on your platform.
Your pricing was not only incorrect for this location, but after my complaint I saw all of the offers in the $500-700 disappear and be replaced with offers in the $900-$1100 range.
You purport not to control the pricing but I literally saw your representative manipulate a range of pricing in real time. He used my account as a test and I kept getting text messages for estimates I did not authorize. When I asked him about it he said he was playing around with the pricing. The first estimate was $467.22, the next was $727.16, then $1,025.68. All for the exact same service at the exact same mechanic. I screen shotted everything and will be sending this complaint to the attorney general of MA.
The garage in question maintains that when ******* called them to confirm my appointment they told him the pricing was incorrect and he was supposed to call me with the changes.
When I finally reached the Openbay rep he told me the garage agreed to the original Openbay estimate of $467.22 and never told him this was wrong. Why would the garage agree to this price and tell me the next day they did not? Maybe this was an honest miscommunication but you need to own responsibility for it.
I had an 11:00 AM appointment. I needed my car fixed that day. When I got the new higher estimate I tried to work with the garage but they would not reduce the price. They tried to contact Openbay and got voice mail. I tried live chat and got no response for over 30 minutes. I emailed and got no response. I called and called and got voice mail. All the while the clock is ticking . The garage closes at 5pm and I needed my car that day.
Openbay put me in a position that I had no choice but to authorize the repair. I waited until the last possible time and tried to contact Openbay but then I had to have my car fixed or I could not go to work the next day. It should not take several hours to contact you.
It would be one thing if it were a fluke. But all the prices in my area were obviously incorrect. Your company should take some responsibility if your platform has this many problems.
As far as your guarantee it is meaningless. Nobody does a brake job for $467.22 (the parts cost more than $300) ******* was going to see if he could maybe find another mechanic to honor this price and then get me another appointment. But I think we both realize how unrealistic this scenario he was offering me was. You put me between a rock and a hard place. Either pay double and be able to get to work in the morning or bank on a promise from ******* that some other mechanic can help me some other time and maybe at this price. Hide behind your policy all you want but this is not good enough and you know this.
FAQ
Regards,*****
Initial Complaint
05/10/2023
- Complaint Type:
- Service or Repair Issues
- Status:
- Resolved
On several occasions, open bay provided quotes through their platform that were in accurate and unrealistic. After driving to the auto shop, I selected through Openbay, I was informed that the price quoted by open bay was 1/2 of the expected total price that I would need to pay. I spoke with someone at Openbay, and they provided no assistance. They put responsibility solely on the auto shop. Marketplaces like open bay need to be held to account for their pricing. Open bay is not a legitimate marketplace.Customer response
05/24/2023
[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Better Business Bureau:
I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #********. I understand that by choosing to accept the business response that my complaint will be closed as resolved.
Regards,
***************************
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