Yesterday, I had an unprecedented experience of cruel, unprofessional behavior by Pinellas Auto. To…read morepreface this review:
1. I mistakenly chose this auto shop because of positive online reviews and a seemingly inviting dropbox.
2. I have never written a Yelp Review (observe blank history) and I don't like disparaging a small business.
3. The 5-star review conveniently posted right below me, right after I left, is from the manager, Shannan T. Please, these people are not worth your hard-earned cash.
Last night, my car shut down while I was driving. I have not had any major issues with my vehicle, and I've owned it for 9 years. It has served me well, but of course, these things start to happen at higher mileage. My car was stranded on the side of Alderman, in the midst of moderate speed traffic, just off of US 19, for approximately 2 hours, while I waited for AAA. When they arrived, they were extremely helpful and I asked the driver to take it to Pinellas Auto because it was convenient. The driver told me he suspected it was the fuel pump and later, when I filled out the drop-off form, I mentioned this.
At 8 AM, I received a call from the receptionist and she stated that the diagnostic would be $40. She said they would remove it with service, and I acquiesced.
An hour later, she said the mechanic could not find the issue and it would be another $85. Later, they told me that they meant it would be a *total* of $85, not $125.
Because she did not communicate that their diagnostic test is not a flat fee, like for example, Tires Plus lets you know up front, I was more than perturbed, I was livid. It sounded as if I were being penalized, baited-and-switched for their incompetence (It took Tires Plus one hour to find the problem following this incident). I left the drop-off note as a trail of bread crumbs for what should have been an easier diagnosis. So why should it take this mechanic longer? They apparently milk it and charge for a diagnosis by the hour; they might want to let the customer know that up front, instead of dropping the financial bomb on them after they were already uneasily biting their nails in the diagnostic stage.
I admittedly yelled at the receptionist with an, "Are you f****** kidding me?" and she remained silent. I asked again. She still remained silent. I said, "You are silent right now because you KNOW this is wrong." She still remained silent. I said I was coming to get my key, I said god****you, and I hung up.
I had a Lyft take me to the auto repair shop and when I arrived, I found my vehicle as is pictured: with the hood up, window open (I don't know why or how it was open because the car had no power to get it open and I couldn't close it afterward), a hose exposed and other assorted parts like my filter gathered into my passenger seat. The Lyft driver was appalled at the scene. I requested that the receptionist take a look at how my car was left and I asked her what kind of place it was. The manager, Shannan, followed her out.
Shannan smiled the entire time I expressed distress over the situation. I asked her if she felt it funny, and while she said no, she continued to facially express it with an even bigger smile. She said, "Well, you were rude to my receptionist."
Emotions can get high when you bait-and-switch a customer with something as serious as their vehicle, which for most of us, is the vessel for our livelihood: work. While I should not have yelled at the receptionist, she knew that not telling me their diagnostic fee could increase was wrong and at least looked and sounded as if she acknowledged this. We know when someone understands us and she did understand why I was upset. I actually want to apologize to her because I should have saved the full breadth of my insults for Shannan, who smiled smugly while exclaiming: "It's your problem because it's your car." Obviously, it IS my problem; however, I should not be told one fee and then another.
Shannan stood there with a verbal shrug: "We've been in business for thirty years," while I asked her how they could be so unprofessional to leave parts of my car in literal pieces, IN my passenger seat, with the hood up and car open in the middle of their parking lot. Anyone could have robbed my car of parts while it sat there, open and abandoned. They never even took the car inside their garage.
They may have been there for 30 years, but I've been here for 33 and this is not how you run a business. The mechanic never showed his face and he never spoke to me. He sent out his two receptionists to gloat at me while he cowered inside.
I had to waste another AAA tow to move my vehicle.
I would be saddened to hear this happen to someone else. Don't let it happen to you.
