Complaint Review: Gordon-Darby Arizona Testing Inc. & Arizona Department of Environmental quality vehicle inspection

Ok first let me say this the greenfield station is not in Apache jct it is in mesa.  Apache jct staqrts at mereidan not power like people think.  second i am an ex employee of Gordon Darby and if we are having a problem with a car we get some one else to test it if they are getting the same result we get our manager. If the manager feels it will damage the car  we reject it. As far as you going in to pay we do not take payment inside it is all done outside.  Your car would not of died on the dyne   as stated if we shift from a high gear to a low gear it would not die it would just rev the motor up and drop the test. Your  maintenance on your car is not our responsabilty   but yours.  our managers would not tell you to go away and your wasting your time.  it is all vido recorded and adio recorded and we have a contract with the state of AZ and can lose it for reasons like that.  Gordon Darby will rather pay for damage than lose the contract.  so quite lying and face accept guilt

I have read hundreds upon hundreds of vehicle related reports on this site. AZ should be voted "Most likely to rip you off". It seems that a disproportionate amount of the reports hail from AZ. Is there any consumer laws down there that would help people or is basic you're SOL. As to the original poster, after reading these reports, he did a wise thing and went somewhere else and bought a car.

I HAVE THREE CARS 1971, 73, 78 EVERY YEAR WHEN GO THROUGH INSPECTION THEY DON'T PASS AND I HAVE SPENT $1,000'S EVERY YEAR TRYING TO GET THEM TO PASS. SO I STARTED WONDERING WHY A CAR WITH EVERY PART ON IT WAS NEW WOULD HAVE SUCH A PROBLEM. I DID WHAT EVERY PERSON WOULD DO REPLACING PLUGS, WIRES,CAP , AND A WHOLE LIST OF OTHER IGN. PARTS. SO LAST YEAR I BOUGHT AN EMISSION ANILIZER AND STARTED TESTING CARS WELL I FOUND THAT NONE OF THE CARS I TESTED WOULD PASS I TESTED ALL KINDS OF OLDER CARS. MY FIRST THOUGHT WAS THAT MY TOOL WAS BROKEN. I SENT IT BACK TO THE MANF. THEY CALLED ME AND SAID NOTHING WAS WRONG AND THEY WOULD SEND A REP. OUT TO TALK WITH ME. WE STARTED GOING THROUGH OLD ARIZONA EMISSION TEST REPORTS AND FOUND THAT ALL OF MY CARS FAILED THE FIRST TIME. SOME EVEN FAILED 6 AND 7 TIMES. THATS $84.00 JUST FOR EMISSIONS AND ANOTHER $200 + FOR REPAIRS.WHAT WE FOUND OUT WAS EACH TIME NOTHING CHANGED UNTELL THE 7TH TIME ZERO EMISSIONS. I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE WOULD LIKE KNOW WHAT WE FOUND OUT. HERE ARE MY LAST TEST RESULTS ON A 1973 CHEVY 350 TEST 6 LOADED HC;208 IDLE HC;99 LOADED CO;4.29 IDLE CO;00.00 . I DIDN'T REPLACE ANYTHING AND TOOK THE TEST AGAIN. TEST 7 LOADED HC;36 IDLE HC;67 LOADED CO;0.00 IDLECO;00.00. WELL WHAT DO YOU THINK IS HAPPENING HERE. I THINK IF I CAN PROVE THIS SOMEBODY OWES ME ABOUGHT $6,000 FOR THE LAST 6 YEARS

Please do not discount this report of an ex-employee, as a case of sour grapes. I hope to let people know how corrupt and abusive this company is towards customers and its employees. First is the pay.$7.50 an hour.

This is a joke, considering the work that is done, and abuse we take from customers and from within our own company. Most of the employees in Gordon/Darby can barely read the tests they have to take,have criminal records, and since they know they are getting paid the same as a McDonalds hamburger cook, have bad attitudes.

The managers and assistant managers of these stations are put under such pressure to perform and to cover their behinds,that a pervading aura permeates the working enviroment. This sense of not trusting anyone, has made everyone in the system (company) be odds with their counterparts at the other emissions stations, to the point that even the most average conversation almost requires tape recording.

Combine this with an abusive and dictitorial Area Manager(Oscar Jimenez), that holds grudges,bends the rules to suit him,but uses the rules to get rid of good people,when they make a mistake or bend they rules. Its always Quid-Pro-Quo with Oscar.He runs roughshod over the managers under him and treats people like slaves.If they don't acceed to his wims,then he will remember even tiniest mistake you have made.

Into this mess, the customer is subjected to testing that is accurate, but run by people who are trained, little better than the cook at a Wendy's. The equipment, which is old and outdated, is maintained by technicians that care more about sitting around at the main office, than actually going out to repair something at a station. The equipment is in a state of constant flux, always having to be fixed, adjusted, or replaced.

The customers are treated by the employees(managers to inspectors)as unintelligent, illiterate,and completely without common sense.
Sometimes this may be the case,but most of the time,the customers get that attitude, undeservedly.

Vehicle testing is done with shoestring budgeting,Such as Not enough inspectors at a station to adequately test any and all cars that may come to that station.Supplies to these stations are so tightly controlled that often
inspectors are using scratched safety glasses,so badly scratched,that they can barely see.Some stations don't have enough wheel chocks to stabilize a car being tested,because the station manager can't get them,from the main office, usually due to being ignored.Despite rules saying to the contrary,vehicles aren't being strapped,to help stabilize them(Front Wheel Drives Only get to be strapped).

They often damage cars,and let the customer,drive off.They then turn around and pay for damages that we may not have caused,and punish the poor employee that tested it.They force demotions rather than fire an employee,so they make the guy suffer,or quit,and they get out of paying unemployment benefits.You just have to work there to really understand.I just thought the public needed to know.I hope someone looks into this.

After reading this report I noticed some problems with the original complaint and with the comments from the last guy ranting and raving.

- the cars do drive the rollers, however the rotors dont spin easily. They are heavy and have considerable momentum. When going at speed they would have enough inertial energy to spin a dead engine and/or break things.

- the car could have stalled for many reasons, some of them driver caused. However if going to 5th gear if the person 'missed' they would hit third, revving the engine higher, not stalling it. perhaps they were going for 3rd and hit 5th, or going for 2nd and hit 4th. other than that the stalling was caused by something else.

-we dont know what kind of car you have. Every car that comes in the door is different, and so are their pedal sizes and locations. My car (mustang) allows only an inch (1/2 inch per side) of room to hit the brake without the gas or clutch getting pushed- if you have aftermarket pedals it gets worse. the lady may have hit the brake pedal when trying to gas it.

Depending on how the car is hooked up makes a big difference- usually they are hooked in a way that the tire would peel out before enough force was transmitted to break an axle

Finally- after 1800 miles if the cv boots protecting the shaft ends(on FWD car) were in bad shape then 1800 miles with a little dirt or sand wouldnt help anything. Im guessing that at the facility the lady may have damaged a wheel bearing with all the jerking . If the car was poorly maintained/ high miled then it could be feasible. Driving the car for an appreciable distance would make things worse quick. I would say the quotes you have are high, by 300 bucks or so. And a damaged wheel bearing could have only been maybe 100 installed, and 20 if you did it yourself. I dont know if she was solely at fault but I would not have left without something in writing or at least taking the manager for a test drive. if it got worse in 5 miles they would have to agree they caused it.

first off if the lady was shifting up to 5th gear and as you claim she went down into third instead of into fifth gear it wont stall the car out all it will do when you shift down one gear is drop the RPM's of the car.....

so face the fact that you bought a piece of s**t car man.also as far as the rollers go there driven by the cars wheels not the other way so when they are coming to a stop and the cars wheels are too it will still spin.if the car isnt running or in gear how the hell is it going to drag the clutch they dont drag moron or tranny

when the car is shut off from stalling then is not in gear clutch isnt engaged so if that is the damage that occured you did it your self dumbass.if the axle shaft was broken and the bearing was shot you shouldnt have been able to drive that car at all....

friend had the same thing happen in his honda accord......guess what man it wasnt driveable.why the hell you even attempted to drive that car in its condition with the risk of it falling out and your tire and spindle falling off is behind me from greenfield road to dobson and broadway road....

in case you havent figuered it out im from mesa arizona and know a hell of a lot more about mesa than you ohio boy.there not ripping you off dude you messed up your piece of s**t car buy driving it from ohio to arizona its a surprise it made it that far.

next time fly to arizona and buy a car here there in better shape there anyway and there not rusted out like in ohio.

they can prove that you were there genius just bring in the specs sheet from your cars reading thats your proof there smart guy.

...but I was still good luck because I stayed in the car, sitting on the passenger side and saw what the jerk was doing. Instead of putting the shifter on "D" he was performing the Test on "1"-
I thought that he would blow the engine. He was confused because that transmission didnot have the "D" with the circle and they are advised not to do the test on overdrive. So that's why he decided to choose "1".

My suggestion is: stay in the car, you have the right to sit on the passenger side and watch what they do.

This email is a rebuttal to RipOff #6166.

It was sent by frank metz at streetrodracing@hotmail.com.



Arizona Department of Environmental quality vehicle inspection program Rip-off. Destroyed my vehicle. (#6166)



They filed the following rebuttal to the above Rip-Off Report:



Their email: streetrodracing@hotmail.com

Their name: frank metz



Their relationship to the company: another victim



Rebuttal:

I took my ford truck to the one in scottsdale they did almost the same thing to me. They where forcing my vehicle into gear and grinding the gears. So I told them to get out of my truck and get someone else. My truck was now stuck right there on their property.



As I was pulling out the linkage, it seemed to be jammed when I went to fix it, right there at the inspection station. You could tell by the dammage, that they just caused it. I could not have driven in this way.



When I went over to speak to them and explained what happened, I could get no help from them. THey said they cannot be held

responsible that this was not thier problem. I then got a buddy to towe me home about 20 miles away.



I fixed that damage and then went back to get my vehicle inspected as required by the state of Arizona. I could not believe it, as I watched one of the employees break one sensor (plastic) when he was pulling on a vacume hose! When I asked what he was doing he said,"it was allready broken"! I then went home and fixed it. I went back again, this was the third time.



They made me pay another fee!!!! I'm not a big fighter and usually don't argue with people. I do feel this is wrong and something should be done about them not taking any esponsibility.

It just looked like they did not know what the heck they were doing. They should let the owners with stick shift vehicles be a part of the test and let them run their stick shift car for the tests.



It cost me $125 for a new shifter and a new check valvefor anoter $15. I'de also like to mention that I had to be towed just after I left the Inspection Station costing me about $65 to be towed. It took me over three hours to fix the vehicle which took me away from other work I need to do.



They seem to except no responsibility for their actions each time and no matter how many times I called to speak to anyone, they always said there is nothing we can do about it.