The only way to enter less than one star is to not review at all. Which would be a disservice for potential customers looking for a shop to take care of their car or truck. I chose to take my wife's car to Rincon based on two factors. One being a local shop, and I prefer to do business locally whenever possible and support my community. (As I am a local small business owner also). Two, the google reviews. Which I am starting to wonder if these 5-star reviews were purchased for the sake of increasing their rating. I'm sure some probably had a good experience, and I am sure they are good mechanics. But from a business standpoint, Romeo is amongst the most unprofessional, condescending, unethical business owners I have met. After Romeo quoted me a lump sum price for a part replacement, I asked for a breakout of materials and labor. (Which is common practice to begin with, and well within the rights of the customer to request and receive prior to authorizing work). Romeo's immediate response was along the lines of "if you can't afford it, then come pick up the car". When I clarified my request again to obtain a formal quote, he began to raise his voice to the point I told him "There was no reason to yell and get upset. I am only asking for the details of the quoted work." I ultimately decided not to have Rincon perform the part replacement on the car due to the nature of this conversation. When I went to pick up the car the next day, I was charged with what I consider a very high price for the diagnosis, and an oil change (which I had him do while the car was there at his shop in conjunction with diagnosis). It was a lump sum price for these two activities, and when I asked, "what was the price of the oil change, and what was the price of the diagnosis", he refused to provide that information. And proceeded to argue with me from a position that I am the dumb customer, and he is the smart mechanic. Thank you for assuming Romeo, but I am perfectly capable of performing the work on the car myself. (Oh, and I did know the issue before bringing it to you for your diagnosis. You didn't discover that, you only confirmed it) The only reason I looked to take the car to a shop was a personal time factor. And I selected the wrong one. I now have the car back and will do the work myself. Only after spending more money than I had to, to receive nothing in return other than a headache and a story. The only thing I regret worse than taking my car over to Romeo, was ever contacting them in the first place. If this review turns just one potential customer away from Rincon Auto and spares them the headache of dealing with this arrogant business owner, this is time well spent. Maybe he was just having a bad couple of days, but I doubt it. Tread cautiously if you consider doing business here. It would have been great if Rincon could have performed the work on the car, and I wanted them to. But the disrespect, poor customer service, resistance to transparency, no common courtesy and lack of professionalism, it was a hard pass.
I am not just a keyboard warrior, hiding behind a screen writing a negative review. I told Romeo, in person, while picking up the car that I would never attempt to do business with him again and would never refer anyone to his shop that was in need of repairs or maintenance. His response was basically, "good, I don't care". So, this is me following through on my position. As for me and my small business, I strive to serve my customers to the best of my ability with dignity and respect. Regardless of whether we can come to an agreement on the services or not. And I expect the same in return when choosing to do business with other local providers.
I expect there to be a "response by the owner" on my post. But I can guarantee it won't be from the hands of the shop owner. Most likely it will come from a designated responder who monitors these reviews for damage control. Which should go to prove my assessment of their business practices as described here. read more