Don't be fooled by the "women-owned, local merchant" angle. I did, and I regret it. This place is bad, to the point of being criminal.
I moved to Sebastopol ten years ago and began my quest for a competent and fair priced mechanic. After trying a few other local shops with mixed results, I ended up at K-Tech. I went there based on a recommendation from a neighbor, along with the fact that I kept receiving discount coupons in the mail. I was also happy to do business with a woman owned shop.
Initially K-Tech seemed like a decent place to go, and whatever work I had done back then (eight or so years ago) was nothing memorable but was enough to keep me coming back.
Over the next few years I continued to use K-Tech, although there were little nagging issues that kept occurring. Those issues start with their aggressive sales tactics: the aforementioned mailers, the constant phone solicitation, along with the annoying customer service surveys that followed every service. If K-Tech put as much effort into performing competent auto mechanics as they do into mindless promotions, they'd be rock stars. But I digress...
I kept bringing my cars to K-Tech in spite of these petty annoyances. And, much to my detriment, I always followed their advice whenever they recommended specific repairs or service, to the tune of thousands of dollars in maintenance and repairs.
Along the way there were several minor concerns that I had, but the straw that broke this camel's back came when I took my classic 60's muscle car in for an oil change. This is an all original car with 85,000 miles on it that I drive in the summertime and I made it clear that I just needed a seasonal oil change, and also to check an oil leak.
As is ALWAYS the case with K-Tech, I received a phone call from Alivia (more on her later), along with a corresponding email detailing all of the many repairs and services I needed on my car. The email contained all of the fancy sonogram photos of every aspect of my car. The simple oil change had now morphed into $7000 dollars of recommended repairs! These included replacing parking light bulbs ($65) and other non-essential or needless work.
The kicker was the recommended suspension work: bushings, bearings, alignment, etc. I normally take this classic car to a shop in Santa Rosa that specializes in classic cars, with a focus on suspension and alignment. This shop, owned and operated by just one guy, had just, a few months prior, installed a disc brake conversion and a full alignment on my car. So, needless to say, I declined all of their recommended suspension work.
I did, feeling a bit of pressure from Alivia, agree to flush the transmission (wasn't needed) in addition to the desired oil change, to the tune of around $700. I drove off and immediately noticed that the front alignment was completely out of whack. The wheels were pulling to the right and the tires were squealing on every minor turn.
I was perplexed, having just had the alignment done, and I truly believed then, as I do now, that K-Tech mechanics either intentionally sabotaged my car or they are simply totally incompetent. I drove home and a few days later I took my car to the shop in Santa Rosa, along with a printout of the suggested repairs that K-Tech had provided me.
My mechanic, an old school, hard working guy who services all of my in law's vehicles, went through the roof when he saw the suggested repairs, as well as the outrageous prices K-Tech was charging. I have never seen this guy so hopping mad. He was so incensed that he contacted his transmission shop to see what they charge for a transmission flush, which turned out to be half of the $500 K-tech charged me.
Looking back, there were always red flags with this place, yet I trusted them implicitly to do the right thing by their customers.
As to the aforementioned Alivia, she is a light in a rather dark place where she works. I have always enjoyed dealing with her but, unfortunately, she is part of a very sketchy business.
This review is long, and long overdue. I can't believe, based on all of the other reviews, that this place is still in business. I think that it's because they work on volume and not customer loyalty, by bombarding the mail with their environmentally horrific plastic discount cards and endless telemarketing scam.
Monica and K-Tech should be ashamed! read more