Paul Campanella Auto & Tire Service

To whom it may concern,
 
After reviewing complaint I have contacted the customer and
offered to tow the car back in for free and diagnose the car for free
and work out the details after we knew what was wrong with the vehicle.
She agreed to this and...

still has not contacted us for pick up.
I have made several attempts to reach out and find out when it will be available.
I am waiting on her.
 Thanks

Review: I brought my vehicle for repair after hours on Monday, December 16th, after first notifying them of pending issues, requesting them to identify the problem causing the car to run rough and make loud noise from the engine. The list of pending repairs included timing chain, tune-up, water pump, which are very costly. I explained my car is a 2004 Hyundai XG350 with over 97,000 miles on it and I do not wish to put any money into the car for repair as I will be trading it in soon. I just wanted to get through the holidays and drive it into a dealer to trade it. If it is something simple, I would consider the repair, however just wanted the problem diagnosed.

Over the phone, [redacted] explained replacing the radiator would get my car running and get me through the holidays as there was no coolant in the car and lack of coolant was causing the noise. I explained the car did not overheat and he said sometimes the gauges don't show that, happens all the time. [redacted] also confirmed the timing chain was not broken, as the car would not run if that were the case. I gave the go ahead to replace the radiator.

When I picked up my car on Wednesday, December 18th, 2013, I paid the invoice and attempted to drive the car. The noise was still obvious before I put the car in reverse to leave. I went back in to get assistance. [redacted] came out, opened the hood, asked me to start the car up. [redacted] watched the car for some time and closed the hood, saying "wait here." He never returned. After a half an hour had passed since my co-worker dropped me off, I went back inside and [redacted] said, "Are you still here?" I explained "You told me to wait." He finally explained that he spoke to the mechanic who thought the noise was there before I brought it for service with a new problem. I explained that I had spoken by phone in depth about the car and was clear this was a new problem. Unfortunately, by 7 pm, I decided to leave as [redacted] did not apologize for leaving me in the parking lot or offering anything to rectify the problem. I will never forget driving north on 202, crying hysterically as my car was making the same noise, engine running very rough after I had paid $747.86.

I avoided driving my car except 5 miles to work and back until Sunday, my car would not make it up Brandywine Blvd. when I attempted to go to church. I returned in another car to confront [redacted]. I explained I would never have agreed to the expensive repair had I known the car was not fixed, that it was still making the noise and now I cannot drive the car. [redacted] explained there had been a death of a friend and things were crazy. [redacted] declined to make any adjustment on the bill, and that I would not get a refund unless they removed the radiator. I said I should get a refund on the diagnosis at least because you still don't know what is wrong with the car. [redacted] then decided to offer to look at the car again, "we can tow it here and help you out with the price." I said I have spent my budget already and my car is not fixed. I stated he would have never treated me like that if I was a man. I agreed to call in to have the car looked at again, but decided to have another another mechanic look at my car. This mechanic recommends that I trade the car and is not surprised how I was treated as "can't believe the things he gets away with!" referring to [redacted]. This mechanic has not charged me anything and my car is still sitting in their parking lot. I am relying on friends for rides until I can get another car. I attempted to contact my bank to stop the charge on my card, however, once it goes through, their hands are tied. They cannot assist me.Desired Settlement: I would like a refund for the repair charge totaling $747.86.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern,

After reviewing complaint I have contacted the customer and

offered to tow the car back in for free and diagnose the car for free

and work out the details after we knew what was wrong with the vehicle.

She agreed to this and still has not contacted us for pick up.

I have made several attempts to reach out and find out when it will be available.

I am waiting on her.

Thanks

Review: I finally got my car back this evening at 6:05pm after total 6 days of my car remained in the shop for oil change and PA inspection. I first dropped off my car for service on July 22, 2014 at 10am, and was told the car would be ready by end of the day. I came back by 6pm to get my car but was told they did not do anything to the car due to busy schedules of the day. I was told to drop off another day by 8am, and they guaranteed to have my car ready by the end of the day. I then dropped off my car again at 8am on Aug 1, 2014. In early afternoon on that day, they called me saying the total was $1,200. I was shocked by the high number. They explained to me that one oxygen sensor was bad and it costs $550 to fix, and rear brake won't pass inspection and need replace, and it is $460 to replace. Plus oil change and inspection, so it is $1,200. Although it was way over my expectation, but I had no choice. I asked if that is the final cost and they answered yes , no more. They also said the car will be ready by end of the day. Around 6pm, I called back and asked if my car is ready, but was told it was not, and they need it for another day. I said I need the car for work, and they promised me I should have the car next day. When I called back next day, they told me that the car is not ready and will surely be ready on Monday morning in time for me to use for work. The Monday morning I called around 8am to get car, and they said the car is still not ready. I was so frustrated since my car is already there for 4 days and I already missed two days of work for this, and I cannot miss another day. Finally they agreed to loan me a car. My wife drove me there to get the loan car (they did not even ask to pick me up), and I drove to work. Around 3pm on Monday, they called me say my car is ready for pick up. I asked if it is $1,200 in total, but just was told it is $1,399.xx in total. I asked why it is $200 more than what I was told and promised. The owner Paul got on the phone and said the rear caliper also need to replace, and it is $200 for one rear caliper. I was not happy and told him all my experience. To my surprise, he was not aware of my whole experience, even after he checked and confirmed with his staff (I can heard over phone he was talking to his employees, and got confirmed on the cost and my experience), he was defending by saying that he did not know the situation and got frustrated when I was telling him my frunstration with the whole experiece and the cost. He said the caliper was not in the estimate and they found it out later, but did not call since it has to be fixed anyway, and the labor charge was low, and could and should be higher. I was offended by his answer and saying if he would charge $10,000 for the labor and I have to pay. He started to yell and saying they will remove the caliper and put the original back. I said that is ok with me. And he got even more angry and hang on my call. I never receive another call from them. By 6pm, I called back to return the loan car and get my car back, and they said that is ok. After I filled up the gas to the loan car, I arrived 20 minutes after 6pm, and I showed my respect to Paul and paid him the $1,399.94 bill. He handed me my key. I opened my car and just found that the inspection stickers are still the original ones. I asked Paul why, and he called his guy and found out they got inspections done on pother two cars but not mine. Paul gave me two choices, one is to drive my car away and come back another day for inspection, and two is to leave the car for the 6th day to get inspection done. I have no choice but leave the car for another day. Today (Tuesday, 8/5/14), I got to the shop to get my car back. Paul was there and told me they had to drive my car for 70 miles to get pass the inspection. I was surprised by his saying (I have never heard about this before), but I did not say anything. While after I opened my car and found out that they did not just drive for 70 miles, they actually drove my car for 130 miles (the oil change sticker shows my next oil change at 137,601 mileage, which is $3,000 miles away, but my odometer reads 134,601, which by calculation, the car was run for $130 miles from the tile the oil change was performed to the time I got my car. I had full gas when I handed my car to them, and the gas was half when I retrieved my car. It apparently the owner Paul was lying. They lied to me for the whole time including everything from the first day they had my car without doing anything to the huge cost they collected from me and the length of the service took - 6 days in total. The whole experience was a nightmare to me. I am not only paid a huge price for the poor service, but also made 6 trips to the shop, and missed two and a half days of work, not to mention all the emotion, frustration, and being yelled at, lying, and being taken advantage of.Desired Settlement: I would like the owner to explain and apologize for what they did to me. If they would adjust the service charge, I would accept. I would also like Revdex.com to expose my experience to public so others will realize what a poor services they provide and what a dishonest person the owner is.

Stopped by to ask about getting a pre-purchase inspection on a used car I was considering buying. They seemed helpful and easy to talk to about potential fears I had about the vehicle (which was an older car). Oh, and it turned out for this type of inspection there is NO CHARGE! Requested an appointment for the following week through their website but it did take me calling back a few days later to actually get a confirmation of the request. Seemed they did a good job on the inspection (results, even quantitative -like amount of brakes & tire tread left - consistent with a Ford inspection I got). Will definitely give them a shot when I eventually do need service - but a major reason is because I live so close to their location.