Complaint Review: Bert's Automotive - Duncan South Carolina

My family has had our multiple vehicles serviced exclusively by Bert's Automotive for the past 9 years.   Our experience is that Bert's is trustworthy and honest.  They charge fair prices for their work. If you choose to wait on your servicing, they have a friendly dog named Maggie who will entertain you while you wait!  What more can you ask?

My name is Kristen and I drive a 1992 Toyota Celica. It too has seen it's better days but I love this car and can not afford to buy another car.

Bert's Automotive has done work on my car for the past year. Tune up, CV axels, and wheel bearings. I am not car savvy at all and the mechanics there are always very informative and always show me exactly what is wrong with my car and my old parts. I am always free to make the final decision on what work I want done but unlike Ms. Woody I understand the 'what if's' if I leave something unattended.

I have used several shops around Greenville but not anymore. My car gets worked on by these knowledgeable people and their prices are very completive especially if you are like me and have to keep your outdated car running. Cudo's to you Mr. Wilkerson and your technicians!

Sometimes I think people should have to wait 24 hours before running to the internet and trying to trash a good company. A time out period and to Ms. Woody, I will give you my personal e-mail address if you need info on my (good) personal experiences at this garage.

Well we made it 9 years without any negative info on the internet. And I feel as though I do have to stop what we are doing and respond to a customers dis-pleasure and defend myself. I would also like to add that with the all the work we do, it would be a lie to say we please everyone but we try to do the right thing each and every time. Dealing with the public is generally a pleasure, but we are not going to please everyone no matter how hard we try. Sometimes I think it would be easier being an old crusty auto repair shop owner that has a take it or leave it attitude but thats not the way we run our business.

Well, here is our side of the story..

In response to the complaint by Ms. Candice Woody, The customers car came in on a wrecker and she told us the car (1998 Mitsubishi 3000GT w/ 176,062 miles) had hit a deer, would not start, was running hot, steam from under hood and clicking noise behind dash. After diagnostic time, we recommended a distributor cap and rotor button on the no start and clicking noise behind dash, and a thermostat and gasket on the overheating / steam issue. Ms. Woody declined the thermostat and gasket and declined the distributor cap (which had holes @ the area where the cap is secured to the distributor, caused from the rotor button hitting the cap). The customer paid her bill 113.71 and left in her car. That evening the customer called our wrecker service, and said that the car was over heating and cut off (remember customer refused thermostat). We towed the car that evening and we were charged 75.00 by tow service. Customers father approved the thermostat and gasket and agreed to pay the bill. The thermostat fixed the over heating problem and on our test drive the rotor button we replaced came apart and car cut off. We replaced the rotor button and brought the car back to the shop and found the distributor had problems and called her father and Ms. Woody and told them it would cost almost 500.00 to replace the distributor and cap and that WE DO NOT RECOMMEND spending that kind of money on this car. We told her that there were numerous additional things that this car needed and we did not want to see her dad or her put that kind of money out on a car that had seen better days. We did not charge her the 75.00 tow, even though the car ran hot and she had declined the thermostat that we had recommended. Then trying to be fair we reduced the price on the t-stat and labor by 33.04, trying to make it easier on her and her dad on a car that was not worth going further on. She paid the bill of 60.72. At this point she seemed pleasant and understanding and agreed. Well I was wrong.

As far as intentionally damaging the distributor, there is not enough time in the day to diagnose and repair the vehicles which come in with legitimate problems to intentionally damage any customers cars. This just does not happen here.

As her complaint states she went to her family mechanic and she bought an after market distributor and had her family mechanic install it for 40.00 and this fixed this problem.

We can put any brand part on any vehicle, but we choose to use name brand parts at our shop and our labor prices are fair. We have payroll, a mortgage, insurances, workers compensation, state of the art equipment and taxes, so competing with a family mechanics family labor price is not an option, and I could not keep the doors open if I did it for cost.

I wish we had turned this vehicle away, but we did not. We are not in the business of making people mad, and we did not see this coming.

Well I hope you see my side too, and for this customer, any existing customer or potential new customer with questions, I am Bert Wilkerson and the number to reach me is 864-486-8080. I am truly sorry this worked out this way. Thanks for your time reading this.