Their estimate was over $700 MORE than what the cost actually ended up being for the needed repair, but their FALSE diagnosis STILL ended up costing me an EXTRA $500!
I went to SPECK because my vehicle's turn signal wasn't working. When it would occasionally work, the blinker made more of a clanging noise than the usual clicking/tapping sound. All this happened after I made a repair to the cluster/instrument panel, and simultaneously replaced my old cracked dash panel with a matching dash panel I'd gotten from a salvage yard. The dash panel itself is connected to the *hazard lights* switch, and comes off with the panel when you access the cluster.
I told the people at SPECK about when/how the situation arose and they charged me $166.05 for an analysis. They came to me with an estimate of OVER ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS to replace my car's "multi-function switch" that controls the blinkers, high beams, cruise control, and windshield wipers all in one. I dealt with VICTOR in person and spoke to him over the phone when he gave me the "diagnosis" and the estimate. I told him that there was no other issue with other functions the switch controlled, like the high beams, windshield wipers, etc, and that it would make no sense for that to be the real issue, especially with the timing of when the problem first occurred and the work that had been done on it didn't go anywhere near any of the multi-function-switch's wiring or other mechanisms, but he ASSURED me that his guys did some troubleshooting and the problem was definitely with the switch and had NOTHING to do with anything going on behind the dash panel.
On top of the $166.05 for the diagnosis, they wanted to charge $347.50 for AN HOUR AND A HALF of labor to install the switch, which they were going to sell me for $615 (+ tax). I knew I wasn't a fair price for the part, so I opted not to get my car serviced there, and found the exact same part from the same manufacturer for less than half that $615. I also considered doing the replacement myself, so I looked up videos on it, seeing videos from professionals and amateurs, and even the guys with very little experience got the job done in less than an hour, the pros were getting it done in less than 30 minutes, NOT an hour and a half. I don't even know what sort of repair shop charges over $200 per hour for service. I drive a Chevy, not Ferrari.
I'm fortunate that I didn't try replacing the switch myself, because when I took my car to another auto-repair shop, when they replaced the part, they called and asked me again why I was getting the part replaced because after exchanging the part, the blinker still wasn't working. Ergo, SPECK'S diagnosis was wrong. So, I told them to go ahead and do an analysis to find out the problem. I told them about the fact that I'd had to go into the cluster--forgetting to even mention that the hazard light switch was from a salvaged vehicle--so they could start there. They called me back later with their analysis and lo and behold, the problem WAS in fact caused by the faulty hazard switch interrupting the current for the blinkers, exactly what VICTOR at SPECK assured me that it WASN'T.
I am glad that I only paid for CHEAPER part (that I didn't actually need) and the CHEAPER repair (that I didn't need either), and not the $965+ that SPECK was trying to charge for their parts and labor. If SPECK had done their job right in the first place--or if I had done what YOU should do and AVOID them altogether--then it would have only cost me $300. Who knows if SPECK would have honestly dealt with me if I'd let them install that $615 switch and charge me nearly $350 for the labor only for it to not have fixed the problem, I doubt they would have put my old part back in for free, or if they would have even honestly told me that they were wrong. For all I know, that $1,000 estimate may have turned into $1,500.
The only good thing I have to say is that they DID issue me a refund of the $166.05, only AFTER I complained. Luckily, I had kept the sheet from both SPECK and the other auto-repair shop to provide evidence that I had told them about the work I'd done on my car prior to the issue arising. VICTOR still tried arguing with me even after showing the proof and explaining what happened.
Another guy--I didn't get his name--issued me a refund and, in his apology, he said "It's not an exact science." You know what? It's not a science at all when you ignore information. Science follows that data, and the data that they had was that the cluster had been worked on and the dash replaced. That set of data was not relevant to their conclusion. INTERESTING how Science™ works for SPECK when it allows them to charge you more money.
Don't go to SPECK. Don't trust SPECK. read more