Being new to the Tyler area, I was forced to find a new place to service my vehicles...both of which are high-mileage. Since this place is right down the street from my residence, I decided I'd give them a try. The guy behind the counter seemed like nothing more than a curmudgeon who was forced to keep working in order to afford his octogenarian meds. I had taken it in for A/C problems, but the Ancient Mariner guarding the counter didn't even want to give me a quote on a DIAGNOSTIC without me handing over the keys...something I'm understandably reluctant to do at a place I've never visited before.
I decided to leave the truck with them so they could look it over, and they told me they would call me once they found something out. Pleasantly surprising, they called me just a short time later to tell me they had found at least two fittings that were leaking. I asked for a price and was given something that was VERY affordable, so I okay'd the fix. Fast-forward several hours and I get another call about one of the fan speeds on the front blower not working (it never had), and again, I was given another quote that, while I really didn't WANT to spend the extra, they already had the A/C torn down, so I okay'd that fix, as well.
Fast-forward another hour or so and the truck is ready to pick up, and they're ready to close and go home, so I rush up there to pick it up. When the finalized invoice is about $125 MORE than what we had expected - and TWICE what we had hoped to pay (granted, I could have saved some money by not bothering with that #5 fan blower) - I wasn't happy. But I couldn't argue, as the truck had already been repaired, and the A/C was blowing cold.
I'll give them this: whatever they did worked nice for a few weeks. That A/C blew as cold as it ever had, and I remarked on numerous occasions how glad I was they had done such a good job. That lasted less than 60 days, however, before I began to notice it wasn't as cold as maybe I'd thought...and especially when stuck in snail's-pace traffic on Broadway in 90-degree weather. My fears were confirmed when a recent drive at highway speeds - at night when the temperature was a moderate 93º - with both front and rear A/C units blowing were barely enough to keep us cooled...certainly not COLD.
Took the truck back the next day (remember, this is less than 60 days after shelling out $$$$ to have it "repaired") and the old Curmudgeon himself greeted me like I'd stepped off another planet, and he wasn't happy about it. Didn't bother greeting me; acted as though he'd never seen me in his life, and when I mentioned they had recently repaired the A/C in my truck, his only response was, "Okay. So?" I told him "It's already quit blowing cold..." Again, he didn't want to give me the time of day until I finally FORCED the question and said, "How much are you going to charge me to just DIAGNOSE the repair?" At which time he begrudgingly said "You've already paid for the diagnosis. It's why we put the dye in it last time. It's obviously leaking somewhere; we just need to find out where."
Again, I left it with them. This time, they called me back to tell me "You need a fan clutch. That's why it's not working at low speeds. But that shouldn't affect highway speeds, so it's leaking somewhere. We haven't found that yet; still looking, but you definitely need a fan clutch." Turns out this "fan clutch" - that isn't going to fix the problem, but I need to pay for it anyway - is going to set me back another $250...but the truck is still leaking freon somewhere and they still have to find that. No offer to warranty their previous work, no explanation as to why it didn't need the fan clutch six weeks earlier, no apology for not finding whatever leak my previous $400 had overlooked...just "It's going to cost you at least another $250 and that won't fix the problem."
I picked the truck up while it and my wallet were both still intact.
It's a crying shame, because the dude that I had visited with on my first visit in there (not the cranky old coot behind the counter) actually seemed like a nice guy, and I was prepared to give him some repeat business. Just goes to show you that people will look you right in the eye and smile while they're breaking it off as deep in you as they possibly can.
Fool me once: I chalk it up to being new to Tyler. But I'm a quick study, and this place won't get another dime of my money. read more
