Summary:
The shuttle is great
I felt they were trying to sell me services I didn't need
They charged me for a service I specifically declined and I had to argue to get it removed from the invoice
The sales person was incredibly rude
While I don't feel they were "out to get me," I have an overall feeling of dissatisfaction and distrust for the woman I dealt with. I would not go
back or recommend this business.
I purchased a groupon for a year membership to the auto club.
I took my car in for an oil change and asked that they also check the bulbs and and anything else that seemed out of the ordinary. I was initially very impressed with the courtesy shown at the front desk and by the driver of the shuttle. I received a call later in the day from a woman and again, she was initially very helpful as she gave me their recommendations. She recommended several things (prices were approximate so they may be off by a few dollars) new shocks (she said my tires were damaged heavily from having bad shocks) for $640-700, an 80K mile service for $569, windshield wiper replacement for $70, battery cable cleaning for $30, taking my car to the dealership to get recall work done, and bulb replacement and cabin air filter replacement (I don't remember the prices - they were reasonable). She even gave me a recommendation for which dealership and service person to take my car to for the recall work. After discussing the recommendations I told her to go ahead and change the bulbs and air filter, I would consider the 80K inspection for another visit (I only have 76k on my car) leave the wipers and battery cables alone because I could do that work again and hesitantly told her to go ahead with the shocks.
However, a few minutes after hanging up the phone, I decided to get a second opinion at the dealership for the shocks as $700 was more than I wanted to spend. When I called her back about 5-10 minutes later to tell her I wanted to hold off on the shocks, her whole attitude changed. She went from being helpful and almost maternal to downright rude, telling me what a big mistake I was making before hanging up.
When I went to go get my car (the driver was still incredibly nice and helpful), her rude attitude continued. I don't know if she was offended that I didn't take her advice or what, but she was VERY UPSET it seemed. When she gave me my total it seemed a bit high and I asked to see the bill and she handed me an invoice with no descriptions. I asked again for an itemized receipt so I would know what I was paying for and the attitude and huffing came out again as she gave me the list. Included on the list was a charge for battery cable cleaning. Now, $30 isn't going to break me, but I am not going to pay for something I specifically said not to do. I politely told her I didn't authorize that service so I wasn't going to pay for it and asked for my new total. She argued a bit but eventually took it off the bill once she realized I wasn't arguing back but just staring at her waiting for my new total. I realize the work was done, but if I didn't order it I am not paying for it. She then asked who I was taking my car to for the recall work and when I told her a dealership that wasn't the one she recommended (BTW the one she recommended is 30 miles from my house on the other side of Phoenix and the one I went to is ten miles away from my house) she again got offended and told me I was making a HUGE MISTAKE. When I replied that I appreciated the recommendation but it didn't make sense for me to add on an hour to my commute each way when there is a dealership on my way to work she was again rude, telling me what a big mistake I was making.
The entire experience after I told her no thank you to the shocks was very unnerving. I don't think that I was scammed, but I do not feel comfortable with my transaction either. Although I have two more "free" oil changes there, I will not be going back.
Update: I had my car thoroughly inspected at the dealership and they said that not only were my shocks fine, my tires were too. Additionally, they said the wrong type of coolant was in my vehicle and I needed to get the system flushed and cleaned because of it. I am not saying Virgina Auto put that type of coolant in my car because they didn't mention adding any, but I would imagine that checking the coolant would be something they would have checked on during the inspection they claimed they performed.
Again, I will NOT go back to this shop and will not recommend it.
I give the shop 2 stars instead of one star is because I think if you go in there and say you want one thing and one thing only, they will probably do a good job, the driver and the shuttle service was great, and the woman did take off the charge for the battery, although I did have to fight for it. read more