I'm not entirely sure where to even begin with this "review" as a single star might be too good for them. All I can say is if you use them, you'd better record the hell out of everything they say and do with your vehicle, get all estimates in writing, and take pictures of the work before and after. Better yet, get a second mechanic's opinion. I had to deal with them on behalf of my uncle, an old Japanese man who doesn't have much who's hard of hearing and whose English isn't terribly great--eventually I laid out the money ($1800+) just to get the car back.
He brought his car in on 2/23/2018 after a minor accident (bumper and front headlight fell off), was told on 3/14 the cost of the repairs verbally over the phone ($2700+ for a 2002 Hyundai Accent) and he said to go ahead. He unfortunately didn't come to me for advice until Friday at which point I called them at night (and someone picked up) and told them to stop work because the car was worth less than even a third of the cost to fix it--the owner gave me the usual: parts have been ordered and can't be returned, car is off the suspension. We still asked to stop work and I said I would pay for the parts and the work already done and he said he'll talk to me Monday. On Saturday, because their website claims those hours are open, we went to go look at the car to assess how much was taken off. Car was still intact.
Monday morning we go first thing at 8am--I should have seen the car and taken a picture of it. Was told to come back at 9 because he wasn't in yet (but his mechanics were) and when we got back, the front was jacked up and the wheel was off. Fine. Should have done my due diligence with taking a picture right then when only the wheel was off. Was told "Could have been done this morning, not going to tell my guys to stop over the weekend."
I requested a written invoice for the $1700 (+tax) and on it included labor for taking things off, supposedly all of the supports for the suspension, the headlight, the wheel, the fender, and the bumper (that was after our conversation on the phone to stop work), plus parts. Interesting to note that the bumper and headlight had already been off and in the car by the time he picked it up (we have pictures), when asked he talked about the "framing" for them. Also to note, he whited out the original cost of the tow that my uncle signed and added an extra $75 bucks so that it would match the new invoice he gave me--an invoice for parts and estimates that we don't know due to the estimate having been "verbal."
Came today to pay him and tow the car away using another company (decided to file with the DMV and deal through them) and he wrote on the receipt "called to cancel Monday." Fine, we got phone records and written back and forths with my Uncle about what was said and when. I'll deal with the DMV.
But what really pissed me off about the whole thing was when the tow truck showed up, they just popped the tire back on--nothing else except the fender had been taken off. When I asked how the hell that had happened when he said everything was disassembled, he smirked and told me I asked him to reassemble everything when I hadn't.
If that was the case I could have driven the damn car off myself, although I had been told the entire axle was bent and it was undriveable which was why they disassembled it to prepare to fix all that.
I did, thankfully, get verbal admission recording that he had been told to stop on Friday, even though the written receipt has it saying it was Monday (which, by the way, he added after he gave me the original copy over email, so I have that discrepency to provide as well.)
Lesson learned. My uncle will be asking me before he agrees to anything.
Even for a slightly extra cost, get second mechanic's opinion before getting work done.
For future consumers--they cannot charge for storage until they give you written notice AFTER you ask for a stop work order (or until the repairs are done.) If anyone tries to threaten you with it, call the DMV's consumer protection line to get the real information (which was what I did.)
Take pictures at every stage if there are issues.
I guess if I had to give that single star a reason, I would say I am becoming very familiar with laws in regarding these issues--knowledge is power and all that. I only hope my experience will serve to help others in the future to be diligent when getting work done on their car. I'm sure they probably do good work when they're not trying to rip off old people living off a pension, but I wouldn't know.
Will be getting a second mechanic's opinion on whether or not the work they invoiced and parts they invoiced for was necessary which is required for filling out the form so stay tuned for this most exciting saga! read more
