My experience with Trusty Auto Repair was bad. I would not recommend them…read more
Summary:
* Poor communication and customer service
* Work was done without quoting a price or getting my OK
* A used part was used in the repair without telling me in advance and without giving me the option to go with a new part. If there had not been a problem with the part, I would not have known about it until I picked up the car
* Took three full days to complete work
* REFUSED TO TAKE MY CREDIT CARD BECAUSE I "HADN'T BEEN NICE" AND MADE ME PAY $1740 IN CASH TO GET MY CAR BACK.
I made an appointment a week in advance (they don't seem to be very busy; they had openings every day of the week) and dropped my car off at 8:30 AM, as agreed. I waited for a call; after 4 hours I called and was told that they hadn't even looked at my car yet. They said they would call back in an hour... an hour and a half later, I called again and learned that they had gone ahead and done a brake job ($275 parts, $180 labor) without quoting me a price or getting my OK.
They diagnosed a sound I had been hearing as a bad ball joint and steering knuckle, but because they had started so late, they had to keep my car overnight.
The NEXT day, no call from them. I called at 2 PM for an update. They said they were still waiting for a part. At 4:45 PM, Chris the owner called and said that the used part they had received was damaged and unusable. OK, that can happen, but again, if they hadn't wasted half a day, maybe this could have been resolved by now. BTW, this is when I found out they were putting a used part in my car. They kept my car for a SECOND night.
The THIRD day, no call from them. I called at noon and was told they still didn't have the part, they were expecting it that afternoon, but my car might not be ready until the following today. I was upset and said they should make my car a priority as they had already had it for two and a half days. The guy at Trusty said, "there's nothing we can do." I said, sure there is, you can tell me that as soon as the part comes in, you will install it because I have been waiting so long. Nope.
At 3:45 PM, Chris the owner calls me and tells me that my car is ready - BUT I will have to pay cash. When I asked him why, he said, "you haven't been very nice". When I picked up the car, I asked if he was requiring cash as punishment for complaining about the poor service. Chris just smiled - I'll take that as a yes. He certainly didn't deny it.
Chris told me that he has had a lot of problems with people paying by credit card and then telling their credit card company to withhold payment because of a problem with the service performed. That is certainly a red flag - "a lot of problems" with people saying that Trusty Auto Repair's work was not acceptable. That has to make you wonder. Banks don't withhold payment lightly.
Fortunately, I was in a position to be able to pay $1740 in cash - if you are not, you might not want to take the chance that Chris won't like your attitude, either. There are a half dozen other repair shops in Corvallis that can do the same work faster, certainly no more expensive and without having to worry that the owner will hold your car ransom because you had the nerve to speak up about poor customer service. I will be using one of them from now on, and I recommend you do the same.
