I used to think highly of this company, including their Staten Island locations. Key words: used to.
When my car got hit by an unavoidable object, my first thought was to bring it to A&B. They'd worked on my car at another location a few years ago (when it got hit in a parking lot) and they'd fixed my husband's car after an accident. Both times I was satisfied with their service, so I trusted them this time as well. The first day I came in for consultation, everything was great. One of the mechanics (very friendly and knowledgable) took a look at my car, gave me a quote with a breakdown of each item plus labor costs, and I agreed to it. The repair was done a few days later (on time, and I was kept up to date), I paid for the repair, and everything was great.
That's where the good stuff ends.
A couple of days later, I noticed that my bumper popped out on the right side. I contacted A&B, they were very nice about it, and they took care of the issue by reseating the bumper. Pleasantries were exchanged, everything was good, I left happy.
A few days after that, I noticed that my bumper had popped out on the left side now. No problem. I contacted A&B, they were very nice about it, and I brought the car in. Except this time, someone called who I presume was the owner over. He then proceeded to tell me that it was my driving that caused the bumper to pop out again. I have no idea why or how, so I ask some questions only to get spoken to like I'm an idiot. Afterwards, the owner says that he'll have his team secure the bumper for me as if he's doing me a favor after saying I'm the problem.
During that same visit, the owner and a couple of other employees showed me that a bracket was broken. Someone else then explained to me what had happened in a much calmer, less accusatory way: apparently, I must have hit a pothole or something with enough force to break the bracket and the car is designed to have the bumper pop out whenever that happens. I don't recall hitting anything with the amount of force necessary to do that, but sure. I don't know a lot about cars, so I took the explanation in good faith. I agreed to pay for the replacement part and to have the bumper reseated again. I brought the car in a couple of days later, they did the repair, and I left not happy, but at the very least relieved that we shouldn't have any more issues.
We're a little more than a week afterwards and, lo and behold, a few days ago I noticed that the left side of my bumper is sticking out once more. Unless I've gone off-roading in my sleep, there's no reason for this to have happened again.
I want to make sure that anyone reading this review knows that during this whole ordeal that I never once accused anyone at this business of doing the wrong thing and that I was polite and cordial throughout the process. I made sure to show gratitude every step of the way because regardless of how the owner acted, pretty much everyone else was professional. Honestly, that's the reason why this review is two stars instead of one.
To also be fair to the business: everything was done on time, and I was made aware of any changes or parts that needed to be ordered along the way. There are plenty of other people who have been happy with their repairs, and if all you care about is getting the job done, then this place should be good enough. I can't speak to whether or not the prices are fair, but I'll say that I paid $2k out of pocket and not through insurance (to be clear, it was for more than just the bumper). I don't know if that impacts anything price-wise. I don't even mind that I had to come back to have the car looked at again after the initial repair. Stuff happens, I get that, and I'm not about to get my undies in a wad over something trivial.
The negativity in this review doesn't come only from having to come back multiple times. Like I said, it really wasn't that big of a deal. A lot of it comes from how I was spoken to by the owner and how I was told something was my fault when I now know it clearly wasn't. You can't treat your customers that way. I understand that dealing with people all the time who are probably complaining about every little thing can grate on you, and it could very well just be that the owner had a bad day, but don't take that out on the people who are genuinely just trying to make sure the job you were paid to do was done correctly, especially when it comes to a potential safety issue.
All that said, I'm going to go to a different place to see if they can tell me what's actually going on. I'm done with A&B. read more