I should have submitted this complaint two years ago. At that time, my 73-year-old mother had a very unpleasant encounter with the owner of All Pro Automotive, Eric, who was extremely rude, dismissive, and unprofessional. His behavior became ruder in response to the fact that my mother has a foreign accent, even though she speaks fluent English. Eric made it obvious that he is only selectively nice, depending on your origin, and I am not saying that lightly.
Move forward to last week. I am not sure why she decided to return there, but she did, and the mechanic did a diagnostic test on the fan/ overheating issue. When she returned to pick up the car, she was quoted a price in the high $750s to replace a fan causing the problem. As it was quite a large sum, my mother said she wanted to consider it before proceeding. After checking around, she learned that an acquaintance had the same repair done for less than half that price, as the part is quoted at $ 160$ with little labor involved. To be clear, she never received a written invoice from All Pro Automotive at that time.
Additionally, in the past, my mother has had a diagnosis done on her car without charge, so when she was never given an invoice, she assumed the same. However, a week later, I received an irate voicemail on my cell stating, "If you are not getting your car fixed, you need to pay your bill!." I then called on behalf of my mother to ask what the issue was, and in an unpleasant tone, he answered, "She needs to pay for the diagnosis!".
When I asked for the invoice, he bellowed, "It's $160!" Given what I would consider verbal escalation on both sides, I discontinued the conversation.
My mother then stopped by the garage to request the invoice in person and asked about the price.
In response, Eric became unacceptably insulting and even blurred outrageous racist statements. He called her "a bitch" and shouted that she should "go back to your fascist country (France), go away, go away, you horrible people," while pointing his index finger one inch to her face in front of all employees. My mother was in tears. He then asked the employee who had done the diagnostic test if he had provided an invoice on the day of service (May 25th), which he had not.
Therefore, Eric magically presented an undetailed invoice never seen before, with the repair price differing from the verbal quote previously given and backdated to the 25th.
My mother (who has never cussed in her life ) came home crying, and I see no excuse for the kind of abuse leveled at her.
To Eric: Sir, it took me all I had not to come down to your store and give you my two cents about your unacceptable behavior toward my mother and open racism toward my home country, but I decided against it because you, in the end, are not worth my time and breath. I understand that reasonable charges should be paid for your services. Still, I strongly disagree with your way of charging according to how you feel about the customer, especially after neglecting to decide about a charge until after the fact! And at an apparently adjustable rate according to your personal, emotional radar. Just to let you know, if you do not adjust your diagnosis accordingly, which should be no more than 30 mins labor, this case will go to civil court if you choose to pursue it. read more
