Unethical business practices to extort money out of customers. Estimates were never provided to me on either of my cars and the owner, Barry Buchanan, took it upon himself to perform services that were never authorized. I have a Cadillac STS that needed a battery charged so I could take it to my mechanic I have used since 2009. My mechanic contacts me about the repairs and never touches my car until I sign the work order approving the estimates. I have been doing business with my old mechanic since 2009 with no problems. Now on the recommendation of an acquaintance I go to Jake's Garage and have all kinds of issues.
Barry Buchanan of Jake's Garage hauled my car to his shop and all he had to do was charge the battery. My insurance company would have paid for a tow and the battery charge as this is part of my insurance plan. But that is not what transpired. I went to get my Cadillac and was told by Barry Buchanan I owed over $1000 for work I never told him to do. I told Barry I never wanted him to do any of the work on the Cadillac other than charge the battery and he said I could pay him over time. Seriously for work my mechanic would have done for a third of the cost!!! My attorney disagrees since I never was told about the repairs and never given the opportunity to tell Barry "NO don't touch my car".. Then on my Lincoln LS, I needed the catalytic converter replaced but the converters I bought didn't work so he did something to get the car to run until I could get the right part. The Lincoln LS was leaking oil so Barry did an oil change and charged me over $79 for something I was getting done at Valvoline for $49.95. Again, work that I never authorized to be done and never even contacted about his plan to do the work. Now Barry Buchanan is refusing to turn over my Lincoln LS that is paid in full to the tune of $282.49 for the unauthorized repairs (the oil change and drilling holes in my catalytic converter) and expects to be paid storage on top of the amount already paid. I would never recommend this auto repair shop to anyone. It is a rule in Florida that all estimates be presented to the customer before any work is done. Once the customer is made aware of the estimated cost of the repair, the estimate needs to be signed by the customer for the work to be done. The auto repair shops do not have the right to do any work unless the car owner authorizes it. This type of complaint should put auto repair shops like this out of business. Ethics are in short commodity at this garage. I am not the only person who has filed complaints about Jake's Garage. I intend to let all of my business contacts know how I was treated and I will most likely sue for damages and conspiracy to defraud. Anyone else having issues with this shop should file with the DPBR of Florida to see this doesn't happen to other customers. read more
