OMG. Called in advance to confirm they'd install my own brand-new parts. I needed an entire…read moreexhaust system replacement on my work-van, and had no problem paying their labor rate to have them do it. They'd done work for me previously, two years earlier, did an excellent job at a fair price, and I highly recommended them after that. I'm a decent mechanic and normally do my own work, but an injury prevented this after I'd bought the parts from Amazon (hospitalized).
Ron told me to bring it in at 8 am since they didn't take appointments, "So they could make sure they'd have everything needed to do the job". I explained that I was two hours away so asked if I could drop it off the night before, making me first-in-line for the next morning. He said that would be even better. I didn't want to leave the house at 5:30 AM just to make sure I was first in line (really glad now that I didn't). It had to be done the same-day if my wife couldn't pick me up.
It's a major event to pull this off because my wife works around the USA in federal courtrooms, and is normally only home on weekends, so we had a rare weekday time-window to pull this off with two drivers. She flew back into town the night before and stayed-overnight to make this happen.
I pulled in at 3 PM Thursday afternoon after a two-hour drive down, and Ron shockingly told me he'd need to keep the van 4-5 DAYS before he could get to me. WTF? "You guys who bring in your own parts move to the end of the line. MY CUSTOMERS come first!"
I was stunned. I WAS A REPEAT PAYING CUSTOMER!!
"I don't care if you even came all the way down from CANADA! It's not my problem".
We didn't come from Canada, but 12 miles short of that. USA.
Didn't care that I was a repeat customer who'd highly recommended him in the past.
He then told me that he wasn't going to commit to doing my repair "Because someone else may come in who needs a $1000 catalytic converter replaced, and they're my priority. I won't risk losing their business because I'm doing your job".
Of course.
I did my best to stoutly shame him into being held accountable to some sort of human decency and accountability, that I had acted solely on his instructions in bringing it down, reminding him that in dropping my rig off the night before, I'd be first in line for his 8 AM chaos.
Seeing that his brash, crass, BLUNT rudeness wasn't running me out of his office, and that I was holding him directly accountable, he reluctantly responded that I'd have to leave it overnight, and he'd TRY to get it done on Friday. Refused to GUARANTEE this 1-hour job was going to be done, 'because the electricity may go out or something'.
Playing games. COULDN'T BE TRUSTED. Didn't need or care about my business. I pressed him several times for a guarantee. Refused to give one.
He assured me that he was the only shop in town that would install a customer's parts, which was a lie, and I told him BS.
Apparently that line works for him.
He then told me that he was working alone that day because his partner was in the hospital. He told me the exact-same-thing two years earlier. I say bullsh!t.
I wasted five hours of my time and $50 in fuel, and my wife, two hours and $35 in fuel. I charge $150-an-hour for my time, and my wife $85-per-hour for hers. I'll never recommend Discount Muffler again.
I acted in good faith. Ron did not.
While I was there, a woman was going to have her cat replaced on her 2000 Toyota Tacoma. Ron had previously replaced her forward cat, and this time it was going to be the rear. He told her $556, and she asked when to bring it in, she then being told 8 AM the next morning. That cat can be bought on Amazon for under $100, less for Ron, and YouTube will show that it's a 30-minute job for a professional to remove 8 easy-access exhaust bolts and 2 gaskets, no welding, and then replace the same. $450+ profit in 30 minutes. That's $900-an-hour.
That example is why MY business moves to the end of the line. Mechanics routinely rip customers off, and this is no exception. No way in hell would I agree to paying $900 for my 1-hour job.
Prey on the unknowing. My wife couldn't believe what she was seeing.
I have no problem with him choosing to favor large-profit jobs over those like mine. That's his business model. That's how he shuffles those showing up at 8 AM. My problem is that he never informed me of this over the phone, before we adjusted OUR lives and schedules to make this happen. I needed and expected same-day service, my only requirement, and he knew that in advance.
His attitude was that he was doing me a favor to do my work, and that I was a very low-priority due to bringing my own parts. My entire exhaust system, catalytic converter, muffler, and pipes, only cost me $237!
Ron should NEVER be dealing with the public. He should hire a service writer.
Find another shop. Spokane deserves better. Stop rewarding this BS.
