Customer ReviewsforMate's Truck & Auto Service

I was on vacation in my RV with my 95-year-old father when the ball joint on the RV gave way. Mate was kind enough to get the RV into his shop the next morning and replace the ball joint, tie rod and do an alignment on the RV. The weather was unseasonably cold so rather than sit in Mate's waiting room for several hours while the work got done, I decided to check in early at a hotel for the night. Mate drove me and my father to the hotel and when the repair was done, he came and picked me up so I could get the RV and drive it to the hotel for the night. In addition to adjusting his schedule to get my RV repaired immediately and driving us to the hotel, he also performed the work for a very reasonable fee. I will always be grateful to Mate for being so kind and fair to me and my father. I highly recommend this business.

Thank you *****. Your business and your review of how we did for you is greatly appreciated! It was our pleasure to do business with you and to see you able to ********************! Thank You!

In May of 2021, we were trying to return home to ********* from ******* and our SUV wouldn't start. We didn't know who to go to, and so went with the recommendation of the tow truck company and went to Mate's Truck & Auto Service. Mistake. They replaced our Fuel Pump Control for $724.17. When I got back to *********, 2.5 hours away, the engine light came on. I took it to a local mechanic, and he said the Fuel Pump was bad. I called ****'s to let them know, and they said they'd put in a new part if I drove it over there. I suggested they just refund me and I'd get it done again locally. They said they wouldn't do that, but if I shipped them the old part, they'd refund me the money for the part. So that's what I did. My local mechanic replace the part for $557.02 (significantly less than Mate's). I spent nearly $50 shipping the part, and I asked for that money to be refunded to me as well. I also reiterated that to truly make this right, they should just return our entire charge. Well, not only did they not do that, but I never received the refund for the part either. I kept all the receipts from this miserable exchange. They are truly the reason people do not trust mechanics. I don't know whether they didn't test the part they put in or purposefully gave me a bad one knowing that I was from out of town, but they are disreputable.

Dear Customer,I find this to be an interesting way to go about the problem! Especially after over a year and a half of our transaction! We have agreed to refund the price of the part, this is why you shipped it to us. If you didn't receive your refund shouldn't you have gotten ahold of us to get an update? In fact, we have records showing that we have tried to get ahold of you on multiple occasions, to either get your address to mail a check to or, get a credit card number to process the refund! Here is what MOST people DON'T UNDERSTAND: a mechanic gets a bad review or bad publicity for a faulty part???? WE DON'T MAKE PARTS IN-HOUSE, WE INSTALL PARTS WE RECEIVE FROM OUR SUPPLIERS!! In the middle of the ***** pandemic on a Saturday, when your repair was done, our hands were and still are extremely tight of available suppliers who have a reasonably priced part in stock with a good warranty that is willing to deliver! This is also part of the reason for the price difference, and of course, we are in two different markets! You didn't have problems because we of an installation error, you had a "faulty" part. You drove your vehicle out of here and drove it for two and a half hours before you started to experience issues. We didn't see a need to test a brand-new part since the vehicle was running and driving and no signs of any issues! But we did test your "faulty" part when you sent it back to us and it was in working order! We have no time or desire to play games with anybody, test new parts that are in working order, or purposely rip people off! This is the reason why mechanics are VERY reluctant to help people from out of town, no good deed goes unpunished!

Yes, it's bothered me a year and a half later, but this review wasn't my first and only attempt to solve the problem. I went to you first.I called, I jumped through all the hoops you gave me, and I came away with no resolution. You had me send in the part and kept the money. In the letter I sent with the part, I had my mailing address, but we talked on the phone more than once and I gave you all the information you asked for. And, I don't know who you called on "multiple occasions" but it wasn't me. You say I should have followed up with you for an update, and maybe I should have, but I also provided you with a mailing address, and I just thought I was waiting for a check. And that's what this review is about--I didn't receive the money that you promised to refund me. I'm not blaming you for a bad part because I "don't understand" that you don't make parts. No one thinks that. The condescension I've had to deal with when talking to you is on full display here.Furthermore, if the part wasn't faulty, as your claiming, then it was the install that was the problem, since I've had no issues since it was repaired locally.I asked you on the phone to make this right, and you said you would, but you didn't. I don't post negative reviews lightly, and I waited for my anger to die down and pondered this a long time, but I decided that it's important people know about this experience and see your "professional" response.As a final note, charging for work isn't doing "good deeds." People often feel grateful, I'm sure, when you do your work well and don't extort them, but that wasn't the case here.

I think what's "on full display" here is how you trying to hurt our otherwise good reputation. If you wanted your refund you would have provided a means for us by now to be able to fulfill your request. We can only use the phone number provided to us by you. We tried contacting you for your preference for the return and to get more information from you. Without luck. "I jumped through all the hoops you gave me"... We took your word for the part was faulty even though it didn't appear to be. We could have asked for proof, an invoice that the part was in fact faulty and replaced! But we didn't! We also could have just gone about our day here and not worried about how you get home but, we dropped our work to get you back on the road. We didn't extort you or anybody EVER! You need to be careful with your accusations! We diagnosed the issue with your vehicle, we called you with the estimate for the repairs and you approved the repair and drove the vehicle away.

If my experience with your business hurts your reputation, then maybe you should have provided me with a better experience. And I DID provide the evidence that you requested. It cost me quite a bit to send you the part back. So, you didn't take my word for it, and you never refunded me.If you'd like to rectify this situation, I'm still open to that.