Three words: Bait. And. Switch.
They quoted one price over the phone for an alarm system plus installation, and waited until my car (whose make/model/year they already knew) was in their hands to tell me it would actually cost another $150.
Theoretically it could have been an honest mistake, except that the guy who called to inform me of the price change never once tried to apologize, and in fact got very nasty with me for daring to have follow-up questions. Direct quote: "You're making a big deal out of nothing!" Okay, if $150 is nothing to you, why are you trying so hard to browbeat it out of me? I told him "It's not nothing to ME." His rejoinder: "Yes it is!" Customer service as delivered by the second-grade playground bully. Super.
I wasn't fishing for a discount, and would have paid the higher price -- in fact now I'll be paying slightly more than he wanted, but for a better product from a place that treated me with respect -- but I WAS expecting some acknowledgment that it is not nice to tell someone one price over the phone and then charge a higher one later on. Mistakes are unavoidable; yelling is not.
On that subject, interrupting the customer to shout "IT'S A GOOD PRICE!" again and again in a louder and louder voice does not make it true. That little customer service tip, you can have for free!
Bonus round: When I mentioned Castillo's at a different electronics place, the guy working there winced and said their shop gets a lot of work undoing Castillo's shoddy installations. Obviously I don't have firsthand experience with the quality of Castillo's work, but that doesn't strike me as a positive sign, y'know?
So take your pick -- illegal bait-and-switch tactics or garden-variety incompetence? Either way, these are not people I want working on my car. read more