Complaint Review: Spring City Car Care - Spring Texas

My email to Driver's Auto Repair - Sums up my experience:

My boyfriend brought my sons Mazda Miata to your shop on Louetta on Tuesday, November 10th.  We had never used your shop before, but we figured wed give it a try since it's just up the road from our house.  The clutch on the car was not engaging properly, however the car was still drivable and could be shifted from gear to gear.  After all, it was physically driven TO your shop.  We wanted to get a diagnosis of the problem and an estimate of the cost to repair it. One of your technicians got in the car and I guess, in an attempt to diagnose the problem with the clutch, proceeded to pump the clutch, pop it out and, with 2 hands, yes, 2 hands, physically FORCED the stick shift into reverse. My boyfriend was standing there and witnessed your technician do this. At that point, after your technician forced the car into reverse, the stick shift was stuck.  My boyfriend was told the problem was the slave cylinder and he was issued a written quote of $180 to fix it.  He contacted me and I agreed to have the slave cylinder repair work done at your shop.  Ultimately, what choice did I have?  The car was now stuck in reverse and I couldnt have driven it someplace else, even if I wanted to.  Later that day, I received a phone call from one of your employees, Jay.  He proceeded to tell me that when my boyfriend brought the car in, he said it was stuck in reverse, implying thats why we brought the car in. I found that quite humorous, seeing as how the car was physically driven to your shop and the issue was never that the car was stuck in reverse. 

At that moment, I realized that one of your employees damaged my vehicle and Jay was going to try to pass the cost of repairs onto me. You can imagine how I felt when I realized your shop was trying to charge me to repair something that they broke. At that point, I pretty much lost all faith in the integrity of your employees and your business as a whole. Yes, I brought the car in for a clutch issue. However, my car was further damaged by one of your employees. I corrected Jay and told him my car was never stuck in reverse until the technician forced it there.  When he realized I wasnt buying it, he quickly changed his position and stated that when the technician did that, it broke a piece called a grommet, which is located on the stick shift inside the transmission.  He said it would be no problem to fix it, and he would do so at no cost to me. He then informed me that the initial diagnosis was wrong and it was not the slave cylinder, but the master cylinder that needed to be replaced. He verbally issued me a new quote, stating the repair would now cost $250:  $116 for parts (the master cylinder), $104 for labor, plus an additional $30 dollars or so for tax and replacement of fluids. 

Initially, I agreed to the $250 to fix the master cylinder. However, after further consideration and questioning of the integrity and honesty of your employee, I called Jay back and instructed him to fix what was damaged by the technician, and to restore my car to the condition it was in when I brought it there.  I told him I would come and pick up the car that evening when I got off work. Jay agreed and told me it would be fixed. While on my way to your shop that evening, I received a call from Jay. He stated that the car would not be ready after all, as the transmission would need to be removed and taken apart in order to retrieve all the pieces of the broken grommet from inside the transmission. The following day, I called Jay to find out the status of the repair. He said the car was still being worked on, as it was very time consuming and important that all the pieces of the grommet be removed from the transmission. If not, it could cause further damage to the transmission and he did not want the shop to have to pay for a new transmission for my car. Jay then told me he would call me back later that evening and give me an update. I never heard back from Jay Wednesday evening.

Then, Thursday came and went, and still no call from Jay. So, Friday afternoon I decided to give Jay a call. However, when I asked for Jay, I was informed he was out for the day. I proceeded to explain the situation to another one of your employees, Mike. As I was explaining the situation to Mike, he abruptly interrupted me and informed me that was not the story he had gotten from Jay. Then, in a rather sarcastic tone, he commented well, there must have been something wrong with your car or you wouldnt have brought it in, right?" This made me very uncomfortable, as I did not appreciate him patronizing me. As a General Manager of your company, I find that highly inappropriate and unprofessional to say the least. Yes, obviously there was a problem with my car when I brought it in a problem with the clutch, not a problem with the transmission, or the grommet, or the car being stuck in reverse. He informed me he would have to contact Jay to get his side of the story and he would call me back. Mike called me back, and I will say, he was much more pleasant toward me after getting Jays side of the story. I believe after speaking with Jay, Mike realized that one of your technicians damaged my car and he had no choice but to repair that damage at the expense of the shop.  He stated that he was going to take care of the transmission issue at no cost to me and it was up to me how I wanted to proceed with the repair of the master cylinder. He said he would give me a call the next day and let me know when the transmission repair was complete.

Needless to say, some of my faith in the integrity of your company was being restored. Saturday evening at around 6:15 p.m., I received a call from Mike. He informed me that the transmission repair was complete and he wanted to know how I wanted to proceed with the repair of the master cylinder. Unfortunately, because my sons car was in the possession of your shop for 5 days for repair of an issue that was caused by one of your employees, I was forced to rent a vehicle to drive so that my son could drive my car in the absence of his. This caused me an unexpected financial hardship. I brought my car to your shop in the hopes that it could be repaired at a reasonable cost, in a reasonable amount of time. Clearly thats not what happened. Five days after I brought the car to your shop, the initial problem is not fixed and I have incurred a rental car expense that quite frankly, I cant afford. I told Mike I would not be able to afford the repair of the master cylinder at this time and I just wanted to come and pick up the car, until I could figure out a way to come up with the money to get it fixed. At that point, Mikes demeanor and tone changed, completely.  He abruptly said well the car wont be ready for you to pick it up tonight. I asked him when it would be ready. He said he could have it ready Monday morning at 8:00 a.m. Strange what else needed to be done to the car between 6:15 p.m. Saturday night and 8:00 a.m. Monday morning, with the shop being closed on Sundays? Why would Mike call to tell me the transmission repair was complete if the car wasnt ready? Needless to say, I arrived at the shop Monday evening to pick up the key to the car. I asked for the key and the employee behind the counter abruptly handed it to me and said absolutely nothing. "That was rude", I thought. I then asked if he could provide me with some kind of documentation reflecting what was done to the car and he responded, what was done to the car? and I said, what you guys did to the car. He printed a receipt and handed it to me, never saying another word. Did I do something wrong? I was never rude, irate or discourteous throughout this entire process, yet I was treated with complete and utter disrespect when I came to get my car.

To me, this experience was the complete opposite of the shining example of what a car repair experience should be. I am completely shocked at how your employees treated me when I walked through the doors of your business. Is this how you run your business? Is this how you treat your customers? I guess that big sign hanging above the counter in your lobby is a big fat lie. You know, the one that says something about your customers being important. Id like to ask Scott Darnell what he meant when he said he wanted his customers to have the The best auto service experience of their life because this, Mr. Darnell, was by far the worst Ive ever had. Oh, and before I forget, my boyfriend and I returned to pick up the car when he got off work Monday night at around 7:15. We got in the car and the first thing I noticed was a piece yes, a part to my car, which I believe belongs under the boot to the stick shift. It was lying on the passenger floorboard. Its good to know your experienced technicians take such care when putting things back together after they take them apart. I wonder what else they forgot to do. Not to mention, now the car wont even shift out of neutral. Go figure I was able to drive my car to your facility but now I cant drive it away. And the icing on the cake??? The two outstanding employees that were behind the counter when I stopped by to get the key... You know, the ones that wouldn't speak to me? They were still there when we arrived to pick up the car.

After discovering that the car would not shift out of neutral, we approached them to tell them the car was not restored to the condition it was in when we brought it there.  One of them was so kind as to say "it's your car now get it off our property.  Now thats real customer service!!  I cant wait to tell everyone I know about my experience at Drivers Auto Repair. It will bring me much pleasure to do so. I will also be filing a report with the BBB to let them know about the service you provide, or the lack thereof.