I first called this shop to ask for a quote for replacement of my catalytic converter. I spoke directly with their muffler man, who said it would be about $180. I also had a leaking radiator, so I decided to drop the car off there the following day.
When I took the car in I mentioned the radiator, the cat, and also asked them for one of their "free ac inspections" since my ac has been intermittently working ice cold and then blowing hot air.
I received a call from Mark saying that the radiator was indeed cracked, and replacement was gonna be $280. Sounded fair enough. Then I got a call a little while later, was told that the catalytic converter was clogged and need replacement. He said that would cost me $250. huh? I stopped him in his tracks, and mentioned that I spoke with their muffler guy who quoted me $180? He said "well I just spoke with the muffler guy, and this was his price".
I should have told him to forget it right then and there, just do the radiator and take my business elsewhere, but I was very pressed for time and just needed the car fixed. So I agreed. No offer was made to lower the price even a little bit by Mark. Their 10%off discount is completely bogus, at least it was for me!! He could have offered to lower it even $10 bucks to make me feel better about it, but instead all I got was well that's his price.
I reminded him that my car was hesitating and had very slow acceleration after authorizing the replacement of the converter.
I came to pick up the car the next morning, and while he was ringing me up for the $550 bill, I causally mentioned that I was glad that the catalytic converter turned out to be clogged because my car was sooo slow before hand, and that I was looking forward to having a faster car, and he said "well it's definitely not slow now, haha" and we both chuckled about it.
Now the good part, as soon as my girlfriend and I leave, we discover that the car is in fact absolutely not one iota faster with its acceleration, and the hesitation was still present as well! They clearly didn't even take it for a single test drive.
Which brings me to my next issue that I forgot to mention- Mark called me back and said "we've been driving your car for over an hour, and the a/c hasn't failed, so I don't know what the problem is". I was fine with that since I fully realize that intermittent issues are the most difficult to diagnose. What I find interesting, was that the mileage was exactly the same as it was when I left it! My guess is they ran it for 15 minutes then said screw it since it was working. That IS NOT a professional a/c diagnosis in my opinion. They probably pegged me for someone who couldn't afford a/c work as I already wasn't thrilled with the jacked up, bait& switch-esque price to replace a universal converter, so when the ac worked at first they just gave up on looking for the problem.
Basically, I guess their charges to me would be considered average in the automotive repair world, but their bait & switch like pricing, and lack of any attempt at making a customer happy by offering to meet me halfway or at least explain why the price jumped up $70 with no explanation!! Not acceptable in this day and age, this is not good customer service. The work itself seemed to be done fine, but I will not be going back to this shop ever due to their poor customer service and their price "quotes" which can't even be trusted.
Save your money and go to a more trustworthy repair shop. I for one am going to bring my car to Orlando Import Auto Specialists as they have excellent online reviews which all mentioned how honest those guys are. read more