Complaint Review: GUSTAFSON BROTHERS AUTOMOTIVE SERVICES - Huntington Beach California

2013-09-05

21:05:59

I also was rippoed of by Gustafson Brothers Mechanic.

This complaint was filed in 2008 - things have not changed. Read up on this company - they have been rippping people off for years.

The only reason I ended up there was my tow truck driver from AAA talked me into going there - WHAT A HORRIBLE MISTAKE!

My girlfriend told me not too go here.

For those wanting to learning more the link to my Ripoff Report is below. Thank goodness I paid them with a credit card so I can dispute it.

http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Gustafson-Brothers-Mechanic/Huntington-Beach-California-92648/Gustafson-Brothers-Mechanic-crooked-mechanic-unscrupulous-body-shops-mechanic-starts-l-1082062

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Dearest consumers, it is in the interests of the public that the Bureau of Automotive Repair requires all Test only and Test and Repair Stations to test the vehicles as received and to run a complete emissions test on your vehicle. Testing as received gives records of the improvment the IM (inspection Maintaince) program is providing the State, and a complete test provides the consumer and technician with a complete picture of the repairs that may be required, in the story, if the tech would have repaired the vehicle with your consent only to find a larger problem when the tailpipe portion was complete and then have to call you again with another expensive repair, you and I as well as every other right minded American would be a little irritated. The bottom line is these folks had to follow the "procedure" as outlined in the manuals that define the scope of their license and acted in your best interests. Information and definitions as well as consumer help can be found at the (((Redacted))) All the best to you and yours, Merry Christmas, Steve CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

Dear Jim and Jacquelyn, My name is Ken and I work for Gustafson Bros. I am not the owner, I am a service writer. Gustafson Bros is a state of the art facility and we pride ourselves on customer service and as such, I owe it to all who work here to defend our reputation. While this situation is certainly unfortunate, we at Gustafson Brothers had no intention of deceiving or taking advantage of you as a customer. As always, there are two sides to every story. Here is our side. Mr. W brought his 1989 Toyota Camry to our facility for a smog test on June 9th. This vehicle had over 150K miles and was in very poor condition (maintenance and over all cleanliness). The vehicle actually passed the state required emissions test however, during the EVAP portion of the test, a leak was detected and subsequently the vehicle failed the overall smog test. A quick investigation revealed that the BVSV EVAP thermo switch valve had failed. This is a temperature activated vacuum switch valve and it was broken and hanging off the engine. When Mr. W called to enquire about the status of the test, I informed him of the failure and what we needed to do to fix it. According to our parts suppliers, this was going to cost Mr. W approximately 100.00 to correct (parts and labor). At that point Mr. W became upset and stated he would just come down and pick up his car. Mr. W arrived at our facility on a bicycle shortly thereafter to pick the car up. It appeared that Mr. W had injured himself during the ride over because he had a laceration on his scalp that was bleeding quite noticeably. He refused any assistance from our receptionist when she offered him a damp paper towel to control the bleeding. Unable to assist Mr. W with his injury, we went ahead and proceeded with his invoice. Upon realizing that he still had a balance due, Mr. W became quite agitated. He could not believe his test was not for free due to his failed results. Since we performed a service that took time and expensive equipment to accomplish there was a labor charge, Pass or no pay was never discussed or promised. Our policy is if your vehicle fails, a follow up re-test, after corrective actions are carried out, is free. Mr. W demanded that I speak to and explain the situation to Jacquelyn on his cell phone in our lobby. Upon explaining to her our policy, she hung up on me. Mr. W then went on to make additional calls on his cell phone while using loud profanities regarding his situation to the person he was speaking with. We have closed circuit video footage to support this. This was a very awkward situation for myself, and our staff as well as the other customers who were in our lobby at the time Once we were finished with Mr. W invoice, I asked him if I could show him where the broken sensor was on his car so he could fix it himself and bring it back for his retest. He told me "don't bother, that I had lost a good customer". He then threw his bicycle in the trunk of the Camry and drove away. Needless to say it was embarrassing for myself and everyone else in the lobby who witnessed the exchange. The following day Mr. W called our reception desk and explained that he realized he had over reacted and was wondering if I would call him back to schedule a retest as he had done the repairs himself. I made the decision myself, even though our policy is to turn the other cheek and move forward, to not call him back. My reasoning was due to how irrational he became the day before when his car initially failed. I was concerned that if it still failed, we would have to deal with the same situation. I'm glad that the vehicle was ultimately smogged and passed. I must say though that 1.99 fix is not something we could have offered. As an official smog repair facility, we must follow the law and repair a vehicle correctly using the correct parts. Jury rigging a repair simply is not an option for us. We hope all who read this understand that each and every customer has concerns and we do our best to address them as fairly and equitable (for both) as possible. Best regards, Ken