I went to this shop because it was closest to me and because a friend of mine is friend's with the owners brother, I knew nothing of the business or their practices. My car is currently still in their shop, it's been there for two weeks. I figured this was reasonable because my car had quite a few unexpected issues, most recently involving a steering column replacement (the final issue I have been waiting on them to fix). I have been very understanding about the timeframe it's taking them to finish my car because they were nice enough to search for a used steering column for my car, and the shipping is of course hard to guarantee by a certain day. However, the steering column arrived yesterday. I wouldn't have known this if I didn't call them and ask for an update because they rarely have reached out to me about updates with my car (is this normal for all shops? I'm not experienced enough to know, I have only received one call from them from the first diagnosis a day after I dropped my car off. Everything else has been me reaching out to them, which they never seem happy about-- in fact I have been told NOT to call because they will call me. I waited a week throughout this process without hearing anything before I started ignoring that advice).
I just got off the phone with Brad. I asked for an update on my car, knowing the used steering column might not work as they said they wouldn't be able to tell until they went in and installed it. On the phone call I just had with Brad he told me they didn't have time to work on my car today because they "were still working on yesterday's cars." This is immensely frustrating to me as a full time student that lives off campus and also needs to work. I do not understand why cars that came in yesterday have priority over my car that's been there for two weeks. I almost said exactly this to Brad over the phone but knew I wouldn't be able to manage a polite tone and instead just said thanks and hung up.
I never leave reviews anywhere but the lack of priority for my car that I am spending thousands of dollars for them to fix doesn't make sense to me and is really making my day to day life difficult. I am lucky to have so many people willing to give me rides but some days I have had no way to get where I need to go. The most recent update was my breaking point with this place, likely will not be returning.
UPDATE: I brought the rating up because I finally got my car back (on wednesday 2/5, initially brought in 1/20) and they were really nice!! Only charged for one alignment when two had to be done. Mentioned the long wait too. I hope they're able to implement a better priority system for cars that require more than the initial fix they come in for, that would have changed my review. Other than the communication difficulties I am happy with the work done on my car and please to have had a used steering column offered to me that was a LOT cheaper than a new part. I wish no harm to this business or the owners, I simply didn't have a stellar waiting/communication experience-- on the other hand I doubt they enjoyed doing so much unexpected work on my little kia soul lol. Might find myself here in the future in an emergency since it's closest to my current home in Rice Lake. read more