Complaint Review: Sun Devil Auto

Very bad shop. I have experience doing my own repair and modification work since high school and Case Western Engineering University .I am a retired aerospace engineer and was a Vice President of Engineering for a company in California. I also was a Chief Engineer for Allied Signal and Honeywell in Phoenix.  I took my car to Sun Devil near my home and did not received  a written  estimate, an unexpected absence in the process. I took my BMW in because of a

dangerous fuel leak. Charlie, their service rep. said that I also needed new front struts. I told him that I did not have the money for the struts just now and would let him know if and when I wished to proceed. I am retired and live off a pension, SS and 401ks we live within our means. Just because I am older and live in Sun City does not mean that I am stupid. They ordered the struts anyway. I told him that I would not want the struts and he should return them. He agreed to stop progress. I was not comfortable, however, with Charlie Shephard's overly agreeable response  so I went to Sun Devil on Monday morning at 7:00 am. to verify the work I declined was not in progress. Sure enough the new struts were laid out on the shop floor below my car.  Standing face to face with Charlie I  once again told him  he should not install the struts because I was not financially prepared for the expense, living on a strict budget at the present time. Charlie assured me and  my son,Noah, to our faces that they would not install the struts and he would call when the car was ready to be picked up. I later recieved a phone call from Charlie that my car was ready. He said he needed $3000.00 for the struts ( that he said he would not put on my car). When I objected to his unethical action  he informed me that Sun Devil never does any work that the customer does not sign for in advance. He lied. He also tried to humiliate me that I did not have the money to pay for the work that I never authorized in the first place. The place is not reputable and I would never recomend that you take your car to this dishonest shop.He had nothing in writing from me. I also wanted them to replace and reset the drivers side air bag. They charged me for installing a new steering wheel when all they replaced was the air bag. They said they had the equipment to reset the air bag control. Again they lied and did not have the equipment to reset the still nonfunctional  air bag. They said I would have to take the car to BMW to get it reset. Charlie said they overcharged me for installing a steering wheel that was not installed but when I asked him what the reduced price was he gave me a higher price. Charlie lied to me again, if the work for the steering wheel was less the charge should have gone down not up. This guy really thinks older people from Sun City are stupid. They should be put out of business I paid for work and services I did not receive. This is not legitimate business. I hope this helps someone, if only by warning a  trusting person from going to these crooks.