TLDR: Sergio still owns the shop but he's no longer there. The new guy gave me an attitude and…read moreaccused me of "harassing" him for asking the price discrepancy and inability to pay deposit with credit card.
I went to the shop in July, Sergio re-charged my AC. Everything went great. My AC gradually stopped working for the past 2 weeks and stopped completely yesterday. Came by the shop this morning and saw a new guy. He told me the shop is still Sergio's but Sergio has another shop in Barstow and he works there now. I told the new guy the problem with my AC. He said "most likely the compressor". I was like "don't you wanna check it first?". He went into the car, turned the ac on, the ac was blowing hot air, again he said it's most likely the compressor. He never popped up the hood to see the hoses/compressor etc. I thought it was weird but hey who am I to question a mechanic? If he said it's the compressor, then it is. He said he'd call the shops to ask for the compressor prices and would give me a call back at 9.
By 9.15 am, he still hadn't called. So, I called. He told me he forgot to ask me the car and model. Okay, why didn't he call me after I left? Why did he have to wait til I called him? Whatever, so I gave me the year and model. He talked to the shops, called me back and said one of the shop people said it could be the condenser? He wasn't sure if it's the condenser or the compressor but in his opinion, it's the compressor. He said let's try replacing the compressor first, recharging the freon and see if it works before buying the condenser. That's fine and he told me I would have to come back to the shop and leave a deposit. I told him I'm a long time customer of Sergio's and usually with him he'd just order the parts and I'd pay everything with my card altogether. He said he needed the money/deposit to buy the parts. I went back to the store and he wanted cash, not credit card. Again, I told him I always pay with credit card with Sergio. He said okay he'll use his own money to pay the parts first. I said thanks. He told me the recharge fee for the ac would be $90. I was like yeah that's not what I paid a month ago. He told me to call Sergio. I did, Sergio said the prices have gone up but for me he'll charge $80 just for this one time and he said I could pay the deposit with my card and Sergio said he'd call the new guy.
Now, this is where things went south real quick. I told the new guy that Sergio told me it's $80 for the recharge and Sergio would call him about the deposit thing. Out of nowhere he said "All of this for $10?" and he accused me of harassing (his word) him. "I was like "How was/am I harassing you? I asked you about the price discrepancy and I always paid everything with a credit card with Sergio." He went on how he had told me that but that was with Sergio, not with him etc. I was like "I get it but how is asking questions a harassment?" "You're raising your voice with me now. I've never had issues with anyone." I wasn't raising my voice but I was now upset because he was accusing me of "harassing" him for asking him questions and he's like there's a camera here, it can verify what happened. Yes, I know. I've been here many times. I've sat on that sofa for hours waiting for my car to get fixed by Sergio. I know there are cameras and I'm glad. So, Sergio can verify what really happened."
I called Sergio and I told him what happened. He apologized. He assured me one more time I could pay everything with a credit card including the deposit. He told me he'd order the part and ask me to come back tomorrow. I asked him "Will you be here tomorrow?" He said no. I told Sergio I'm not coming back to his shop if it's the new guy who will work on my car. I told him I've never had issues with Sergio. Sergio's always been polite, courteous and professional and I was treated so poorly by the new guy,I refuse to come back. On top of that, even though Sergio apologized a few times to me on the phone, NOT once did the new guy ever apologize or utter the word "sorry".
I left.
I mean, maybe I was annoying for re-iterating how certain things were when Sergio was here and asking why are they different now but how was that me harassing him? I never asked him to do anything he couldn't/wasn't allowed to do. He asked me to talk to Sergio and I did. I did not use profanity. I did not yell/scream at him.
I've never felt so disrespected by a business.
It's a shame because I really LOVED this shop and Sergio. It's not easy to find a good, reasonable, honest mechanic in LA. If Sergio comes back, I will happily change the rating back to 5 stars and bring my business back to this shop. I did everything for my car at this shop: rotors, brakes, emergency brake, radiator, oil changes etc.
