Eric has been my go to guy for YEARS--he got me out of a pinch with changing out my transmission fluid where the fill plug was stuck. I called him on a weekend morning and he quoted me 2 hours work to get it done. Not bad considering I did almost all the work except for releasing a fill plug. Yeah, I do most of my work myself, but when I can't lift the engine, or remove a tranny I'd go to Eric. More recently a double rubber gasket wore out on my 08 535 transmission and I called Eric to get the work done--this time Phil answered and said Eric was out of town. Okay, well if he works for Eric this repair should be fine. No, it wasn't fine. What I was told is that's a few hundred to fix the gasket. A few hundred in parts + labor. In the end the total was almost a thousand dollars to replace an 8 dollar part (plus other parts that were recently replaced!). Most Indy repair shops would charge $500. I didn't expect this but Eric is at a new location and Phil didn't know how far back we went--I'll let him win on this and move along to find a more reasonable Indy mechanic. That night while home I get a coolant low light and a little more oil smell than before from under the hood. Not too alarming per se. So it's the holidays and I let the car sit for a while before I start to troubleshoot the vehicle; that's when I notice the under carriage paneling is GONE. No problem I call the shop and Eric is there and he says his help forgets to put the car back together occasionally; he'll babysit the part till I have time to bring it in. Now I'm concerned. I notice there is a NEW oil leak and NEW water leak immediately after being at OC German...wow; talk about coincidence. I figure the car needs a water pump so I replace that, only to discover that the water leak is coming from the radiator overflow tank--see the pictures--yeah, it's been punctured by a flat head screwdriver... I call Eric again, and let him know what's up and I send pictures--he tells me to bring it in because he can't diagnose the issue over the phone. I explain to him there is nothing to diagnose; that's been done and I think you have a problem at your new shop. He says bring it in and we'll make it right. A day later he tells me it's the over flow tank and it's leaking from two locations. Let's make one thing straight--I removed the overflow tank myself, took it to my sink and took pictures of the ONLY LEAK from a puncture. No problem Eric says, I'll not charge for installation, just the part. Yeah, a $29.00 part shipped to my house; let's see what Eric quotes. Yeah, $68. G R E A T. I've been hassled more from this repair fiasco while Eric wasn't at the shop than 10X of these tanks combined. So this is just insult to injury, so I ask him well, how did I get an oil leak, and where is it located--his response, it's the oil pan for $900, or it's the valve cover gasket for $680. Hm... this is starting to get really crazy expensive so I call and tell him I'm coming for the vehicle. Sure thing Phil says. I drive up with my wife--with my tool box in tow, and another overflow tank in the trunk. I see the car sitting in the front, door open, signal on, engine running. GREAT, it's just ready for me to take her and I do. Not more than a mile away he calls demanding payment--I said, for what exactly? He said for the overflow tank! Before I can respond he says, if you're not back here in 5 minutes I'm calling the cops, and hangs up the phone. Interesting I think. So I call the police myself, and ask them to meet me back at his shop. This is getting long and if you're still hanging around to read this it's worth it. Instead of driving the vehicle back to his ops, I park across the street, and carry the replacement part in box to him and say, if you really did replace the part, I owe you this, and we're even then. He chased me out of the facility, cursing, and enough to file a police report. I'm sorry to say he threatened me and I quote, said, "I know where you live!" Whatever Eric is going through I hope he finds peace--he should know better and to treat the locals a little better than what I experienced that day. What happened when he was out is a litmus test for his ability as a leader/small business owner to manage a business appropriately AND treat his long time customers right. Whatever he's been going though lately isn't the same Eric I used to know.... I'm sorry Eric, but this story has to be told because you need to understand how to control your temper. read more