DO NOT TRUST. DO NOT TRUST. DO NOT TRUST…read more
We had a huge incident with this mechanic. I think it's important to detail exactly what occured and the kind of person that owner Rodney Chaffin is.
We had some work done on our brakes earlier in July by a new mechanic, as the issue was pressing. That mechanic informed us the brake pads were worn and would need to be replaced soon, but not immediately. About ten miles after getting it out of that shop, it stopped moving. It ABS was locked up, and I believed the mechanic may have accidentally caused the problem.
Accidents happen, and not wanting to tell them they'd made a mistake without being sure, I took it into this shop for a second opinion. We wanted a diagnosis and a diagnosis alone. We would have paid for this, it was agreed upon.
However, after a week, he informed my wife he'd changed the brake pads "because it needed to be done." Of course, we knew the brake pads would need work. Our usual mechanic was unavailable for weeks. It was not pressing enough to need immediate repair, so we decided we would wait until he was open. I needed the diagnosis ASAP though, as I needed to know if the issue had been caused by the previous work. We did not want him to, as he later claimed, "bad mouth" another mechanic, just the truth.
My wife pushed back and asked him how much the repair would cost. He said he didn't know and would call her back "in a couple of minutes". He did not.
At this point, I had not yet interacted with Rodney. He did not know I existed. He had dealt only with my wife. So the next day, after waiting until after their lunch period with no call, I reached out to him. The intention was to have a calm but firm conversation about my rights as a consumer and the illegal action he had taken. I was not going to pay for unauthorized work. Rodney, if you read this, all you had to do was call. Tell us about the brakes, we would've told you we knew and were getting it taken care of. You took it upon yourself to make the decision that should have been mine. You acted as though you did it from the goodness of your heart, but good acts don't have price tags. You thought my wife would be too intimated or dumb to question it. She's not.
If he had let me finish, my intention was to pay for the diagnosis and a second repair to the ABS he believed would fix the problem. Unfortunately, Rodney's personality flipped on a dime. He interrupted me and demanded I come take my vehicle. I asked if he was willing to let me drive it off the lot. He said no, not until he removed the ABS fix. That was fine, I just wanted my van back at this point.
I got a ride over and entered the store. I patiently waited while he spoke on the phone. When he was done, I demanded my keys, and asked if he thought we wouldn't catch on. He told me my keys were in the van and that he was in the process of putting the old brakes on.
Now, this is a salvage yard, and Rodney had already proven himself to be untrustworthy and willing to do shady things. I have no way of knowing if they're the same brake pads.
Things quickly escalated from there. Rodney came around the desk and, in an attempt to intimidate me, got as close as possible and stared down at me. He's a big guy, and I'm short, so he's got a good foot on me. He called me a loser and a mooch, I called him a crook. At this point the two women in the office had started demanding I leave, and though we argued a bit more, I did.
Not trusting him with my vehicle, I stood outside the garage door and quietly observed. I thought it might be worthwhile to take a photo of it being worked on again, but this upset Rodney. He came out of the garage, demanding I wait in the truck that had brought me. I refused. We argued some more, and he told his mechanic to stop work and finally released the vehicle, though the brake lines had not yet been bled.
Rodney, I will apologize to you and the women in the office for my temper. I should not have let my disrespect for you as a mechanic become disrespect for you as a person. But you are a bad mechanic. People need to know before you pull this on them too.
