ComplaintsforCar Center

• Initial Complaint

  03/28/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Thurs. 3-23-23 I had scheduled appt. for car repair arrived on time and told them what I thought was wrong with the vehicle. They call me back me back later that day to tell me that the tech. that knew how to do that job would not be in until Mon. I said O.K. keep us on your schedule for Mon. Next day we found a reputable repair shop nearby that could do it for one third the estimate of "Car Center". We immediately called "Car Center" and cancelled our Monday appt. They said "O.K. no problem you can pick up your car right now if you want to". So we picked up our car and brought it back home. Monday at the cancelled appt. time we received an irate call from "Car Center" wanting to know why we were not there. We explained that we had cancelled the appt. last Fri. They said they did not know this happened . In addition they said that we would owe them $95.00 for a "diagnostic" fee. My life partner not knowing better paid this fee over the telephone. This so called "diagnostic" fee was for a diagnoses that was exactly what I told them what I thought was wrong with the car ( which we found out later from another repair shop was not correct) When I called them back to ask them what this fee was about they said the tech. took the car for a test drive and this took 1 1/2 hours to diagnose. When I told the them that I thought this was unreasonable the they hung up the phone on me. I believe they were upset that we cancelled the Mon. appt. and were determined to get money from us. Their "diagnoses" was word for word what I told them to do . I had a previous repair done by them in Jan. and this new problem did happen until immediately after this Jan. repair. This previous repair was also way over priced I recently discovered. I would not recommend this business.

  Business response

  04/02/2023

  On Thursday, March 23, the customer had a scheduled appointment for us to inspect a suspected wheel bearing issue. We informed the customer that we would be happy to diagnose the issue for the $95 diagnose fee (1 hour of labor). The customer agreed. We got the vehicle in, hooked up our diagnostic computer to the vehicle, and checked for issues (codes).  There were a few codes in the system that suggested that one of the *** sensors was bad.  We then took the vehicle for a test drive and confirmed that we heard the noise, and it seemed to be coming from the same area that the scanner was telling us. When we returned to the shop, we put the vehicle up in the air, removed the wheel, and confirmed that the *** sensor in that area did appear to have significant corrosion.  All 3 of these indicators confirmed the diagnosis to replace the wheel bearing. Then we called various parts vendors to try to find a sensor in stock. No one had it in stock (which can happen). The best that we could do was Friday for the part.

  So, we called the customer and let her know our findings and that we could not get the part until Friday. Also, the technician that was going to work on it was off on Friday so it would be Monday before we could work on it. We gave the price and timeline and she accepted and told us to order the part.  The manager of the store left early on Thursday for scheduled time off (she was the one that was communicating with the customer). The customer's partner (boyfriend) called after the manager had left and cancelled the repair and came to get the vehicle. When he came to get the vehicle, our service writer handed him the keys and they left. We did not collect money at that time because the service writer didn't know the details of the diagnosis. The manager had it written up as a repair to be done on Monday.

  On Monday, the manager called the customer reminding her of her appointment which was a mix-up on our end because the service writer did not get the manager up to speed. The customer said that she got the vehicle repaired elsewhere, which was perfectly find on our end. The manager then asked for our diagnosis fee of $95 which was agreed upon at the onset. The customer was very nice and agreed to pay it because we spent the time on it.

  A little while later, the customer's boyfriend called very angry with our manager for charging the $95. He wanted us to refund that money immediately. Our manager said that we performed a service that should be paid for, what was his reasoning... He became very angry and started shouting at the manager that we needed to refund the money. It settled on him coming by to get a copy of the diagnosis, which he did. The manager also called the customer again asking if she would like a copy of the diagnosis emailed to her. Which we did.

  So, if we diagnosed the vehicle incorrectly, then I'm very open to a refund. I would like to see written proof of that before we oblige. All of our communications with the actual customer and vehicle owner were very pleasant and professional. We communicated well and set expectations.  We did blunder in letting the vehicle go without collecting, but we remedied the situation. Please let me know how we should proceed! Thank you 

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