"We did the work you paid us to do"
Three weeks ago, my A/C was not working so I had it checked by a shop and was told I needed a new compressor. I asked around on FB and several people suggested Pro Tire & Auto (PT). I called them and said I have a Hybrid (they have a secondary system that non Hybrids don't) and my A/C was not working and was told that I needed a new compressor. They said they know how to work on hybrid A/C systems and to bring it in. I needed it fixed because I was going out of town for Labor Day that weekend. I dropped the car off, and the next day they called to say my car was ready to be picked up. I was working so Mom picked it up for me. The next morning I loaded my stuff so that I could leave after work and turned on my A/C...... The air was slightly cooler than when it was broken, but obviously not working and definitely not $1100 colder. I assumed it's a Freon leak and sucked it up for a few sweaty days out of town.
When I come back I called PT to say it's not working. They asked me to bring it in because "Rich (the owner) will definitely want to take a look and see why it's not working". I take it back to see what happened from when they fixed it until 12 hours later the next morning when it wasn't working. The owner, Rich Lesh, calls to say he's checked the whole system and doesn't know why it's not working, and suggests I just take it to a Ford dealership instead.
I went back in today to ask some follow-up questions hoping it's one of the issues I found mentioned online and hope they just missed something. I also wanted to ask if it was working when they called me to pick it up. (It would have to be a significant leak to lose all the Freon in 12 hours) Rich tells me IT WAS NOT WORKING WHEN THEY CALLED ME TO PICK IT UP. It felt slightly cooler than when I brought it in, but not what he would consider working. When I asked him why I wasn't told "we replaced the compressor, but your A/C still isn't working" he said "We did the work you paid us to do. I don't know why you wanted your compressor replaced". It is very disappointing that a business owner would pretend to be this oblivious. To be honest, no, I did not tell Rich himself that I wanted a working A/C, because I didn't speak with him when I made my appointment. I told the woman who answered the phone "my A/C isn't working, I had it checked and was told I need a new Compressor. Do you guys work on Hybrid A/C systems?" I didn't know that I explicitly needed to tell the repairman too, or they would think "this guys just wants to spend $1100".
Rich said he didn't know what the problem was and didn't know how to fix it. I asked if Rich knew how to work on Hybrid A/C systems. He doesn't have a lot of experience with them, but he's worked on some before. He did at least say that "maybe" they had dropped the ball on this. It took three trips there and the direct question, "was my car working when you first called me to pick it up", to find all this out.
I'm not angry, I'm disappointed. A mediocre business just does what their paid to do. An excellent business says Hmmm, we replaced the compressor and his A/C still isn't working. He probably wants a working A/C, so maybe we should tell him. And they definitely wouldn't have me waste my time to bring it BACK IN when THEY ALREADY KNEW it wasn't working, and they had NO IDEA how to repair it.
TLDR:
Me: My A/C isn't working and I need a new compressor. Do you work on Hybrids?
PT: Yes, bring it in tomorrow.
PT: Your car is ready
Me - - $1100 - - PT
Me: It's not working.
PT: Bring it back in. Yep, still not working.
Me: What?! Still not working?! Why didn't you tell me that when you first called me.
PT: We did the work you paid us to do. I don't know why you wanted your compressor replaced. Plus I'm not super experienced repairing them. I don't know what you want me to do. read more