I have dealt with Pink's for my motorhome and two of my vehicles. I have had to go back a couple of times to get things done right. The last repair needed was my throttle control sensor came on. They charged me 30.00 for a tube of sealant which could have been bought next door at IWI for 8.00. Adeline called me on 3 occasions to say my vehicle needed more work. this is how their technicians notes read. previous estimate amount 148.19. additional cost 1122.93 revised estimate 1271.12, parts 345.38 labor 679.28. taxes and fees 98.27. revision #2 previous estimate amount 1260.14. additional cost 657.23, revised estimate 1917.37. parts 392.80 labor 190.44. taxes and fees 73.99. While talking with Adeline and the amounts keep changing I was so confused. More work to be done was added and at NO TIME did Adeline tell me the parts alone would come to 853.43. She assured me they would save me money on labor and they would try to save me money on parts. If she had told me the final billing I would have not approved all the work they told me I needed. The vehicle is a 2005 Dodge Caliber and to put 1,955.13 in repairs is ridiculous. There was an oil change done and I had to take the car back 3 times because of an oil leak. I felt they did work that wasn't necessary as they know I am living on retirement and would never see putting that much money to fix it. So I took my billing statement to another mechanic. He talked with the Dodge dealer and they both agreed that they had overcharged me 22.00 in that tube of sealant (of which we asked to give it to us and the mechanic told us it was on his work bench...so he went to get it and it wasn't there). And they also bill by the hourly rate there. If the Chilton book they use to calculate labor rates says to replace a part and says it will take 4.1 hours BUT they are in the same area to replace a different part and the book says 1.23 and the third part calls for 1.12 hours each hour is charged. My mechanic went in with me and asked AJ why they did this on my billing. AJ had no answer to that. I explained to AJ that I was never told about the TOTAL billing to fix the car and was always told a different total over the phone. Adeline had no answer for me either except that she assumed I knew what was going on. AJ ended up giving me a credit of 53.89 off of parts and 148.73 off labor. The next day my check engine light came on and being I had to take my vehicles back because the repairs were not done correctly I assumed that they messed up again. They did a diagnosis check engine light to find that my spark plugs needed to be replaced, my right blinker switch was bad, that my battery hold down was missing, and my rear window blade was ripped. This was an extra 109.37. These type of repairs should have been found with this last service call. I took my business to another mechanic who said the switch is faulty but I just need to push it up a little more to make it stay in place (it gets the job done), the battery hold down piece was laying in front of the battery so he put that on (NO CHARGE), and my window blade didn't need to be replaced (NOW). My estimate from Pinks was to be right around $244. I had the 4 spark plugs replaced at 27.00 for labor and 35.20 for parts. (65.62). Now on to the motorhome. I had a backfire to it and Pinks had it in the shop on 4 occasions put parts on it and finally said it doesn't backfire when they took it out and they couldn't fix it. They also said the motorhome needed a new oil pan as it has a leak. Which is ironic because for some reason all my vehicles I took in there had this problem. I have driven this motorhome for two years now and have only put 2 quarts of oil in. They wanted to charge me 443.00 for just the pan. The mechanic I spoke to earlier told me that I could add a lot of oil in manually for much less than what they were. Im so glad that these other two mechanics are honest and truthful. I appreciated the fact that Pinks would pick up my vehicle and drop it off when completed. That was a convenience but their billing and telling the customer ... in my case ... mis-information is not right. And one last thing. I was approved to make payments on any repair work I had done at Pinks. I didn't just pay them so much per month...I paid them my extra money I had each month or if I sold anything on my craft and flea market shows they got that money so to pay them off faster. On this last bill of $1,955.13 I was told I needed to pay 853.42 for the parts (which I did) and they wanted the rest right away. I spoke to AJ when the mechanic and I went into his office and he said yes I needed to pay in full. It is impossible for me to pay that amount right away so I receive a billing statement each money and now they are charging me a 10.00 finance charge on the balance. I would suggest anyone doing business with Pink's auto to get a written estimate either by picking it up or them send it to you for comparison with others read more
