Huge and costly mistake taking my car to United Auto in Flowery Branch. Shame on me for trying to…read moresupport a local business that doesn't deserve it, in my opinion.
Summary: I understand that auto shops need to mark up parts (on top of wholesale prices) to make a profit. The owner of the United Auto Shop said that 'they mark up parts by 35% over their cost'. After two verbal requests, I finally got (after I paid the invoice) the part numbers for the parts (supposedly) replaced. I looked up the retail prices and saw that they charged me over 2X retail price for identical, readily available parts ($2,800 for parts that I could buy at retail for $1,300). When I discovered this, I called to speak with the owner (Ryan). He said that he would not rebate me 'one red cent', which indicates to me that he's perfectly fine with gouging his customers well above his stated policy.
I would think such (in my opinion, egregious) pricing practices were required to be disclosed to consumers and protected under Consumer Protection Regulations.
BTW, they didn't complete the work correctly, so I will need to take the car to another shop to get it done right.
Details: My car was leaking hydraulic fluid in the retractable roof area and into the vehicle. I had viewed a YouTube video showing the exact same symptoms on the same make / model of car but thought it better to take it to an auto shop to have it fixed instead of doing it myself. Mistake number one was taking my car to United Auto.
When describing the issue to the shop manager, he said that he had experience with such problems and knew how to fix them.
The manager called me with a rough estimate (not a quote, let alone a written quote) before they even diagnosed the issue, 'for about $5,000' if all of the entire cylinder systems needed to be replaced, which he said he doubted would be necessary. Still no quote. Another mistake on my part.
Then he said something that should have been the biggest red flag. He offered to buy my car from me (presumably at a substantial discount) before the work was started. Based on my forty years of business experience, I would say that ethical businesspeople don't do that. But I said no thanks, and let it pass. Another mistake of mine - I should know better.
I provided the YouTube video that showed the exact same issue for minimal cost and effort. The representative said that he reviewed the video thanked me and said that he shared it with the mechanic.
After doing their work (which is still not complete), which took much longer than they estimated, they charged me over $5,600. Of course, their website states that they can levy a lien on your car if you don't pay in full. So, I did pay, given my experience with them up to this point, and then called the owner to discuss their, in my opinion, egregious charges for the parts (setting aside the extensive time charged me for the work). I requested a reasonable rebate just to adjust the parts pricing from over 2X retail versus what he said was only 35% over wholesale. His response: 'Not one red cent rebate'.
I will never make the mistake again and allow United Auto to get near one of my vehicles ever again.
