Back in late September, I took my car to Lukes Performance Center for repair after an auto accident. Knowing we didnt have rental car coverage on our insurance, my insurance agent mentioned that Lukes offered a free rental during the repair period. Though I had used another local repair shop, I opted for Lukes to save me some additional money.
The repair process went reasonably well. When the time came for payment, they told me their credit card machine was down. After much haggling on my part, the guy tried to process the credit card and surprise it worked at that moment. That made me a little suspicious but I didnt think Id have to deal with them anymore so I moved on.
On Monday, December 6th, I received a letter from Hertz corporate. They informed me that even though Lukes promised to pay them for my rental car I was being stuck with the bill since Lukes wasnt paying. Well, this $140.02 surprise wasnt the Christmas gift I was expecting!
I tried calling Lukes several times and continually got Lukes personal voice mail box, which was full. I made a personal visit at 3:50pm, and they were closed up. Not a car or person in site. Their business hours are 8am to 5pm. I tried calling again the next day (Wednesday) and once again, got voice mail but this time it was a mail box where I could leave a message. I have since made five calls -- the first in that series, I left a message with someone who called himself "Greg" only to find on my subsequent calls that there is no one named "GREG" though he sounded JUST LIKE the guy I was talking to named Don. No attempts to return my calls have EVER been made to date.
My insurance agent has also has the same experience with Lukes stiffing him with a bill. He has spoken with Luke personally and the response Well, were having some tough times. Lying to customers by sticking them with a bill you promised to pay thats not going to help them get off the ground any faster.