Little's Automotive

Review: I had taken my Mother's 2004 [redacted] Silverado in for some brakes. They took in the truck and said that it needed more than brakes, it also needed a transmission cooler line replaced, a new belt, and complete brakes front and rear. The repair was then to exceed over $1,000. I got the work done and I thought everything was ok. A month later I started noticing that ut was leaking fluid again from where they supposedly fixed it. And when I called them to complain about the repair it was suddenly a "new" business and they had no record of any repairs done to the vehicle. They also said the business was "sold." A few months later I was using the vehicle and ABS warning system went off and I could not drive it. So it was taken to a different shop in the Bay Area where they said it was due to the ball joint and idler arm, and they also found that the transmission cooler line had NOT been fixed.Desired Settlement: At least the amount paid for labor and parts from the transmission cooler line, and a portion fo the brakes repair without proper repair or preventative work being done to the vehicle and the ABS system being triggered.

Review: We were charged for unnecessary work, that was done to our vehicle.

11/25/2013 My car was towed into Littles Automotive because it completely died as I was getting off the freeway.The receptionist said she would like to do a 2 hour diagnostic to be safe and thourough, and I said okay. she told me if the work was done there, one of the tests would be free. I told her, "as I got off the freeway, my car just died and all the dash lights came on". She said that was helpful, and told a gentleman what I had said. He went out and looked at my car and came back in and told me he was pretty sure it was the drive belt. He wanted to let me know ahead of time, that sometimes when this belt comes off or breaks, depending on the engine type, it can possibly ruin the engine. He said,"Just in Case, I wanted to give you the possible bad news". I said "Okay". I told them to call my husband the next day with what was wrong with the car because I was at work. They called him and gave him a list of things that needed to be replaced due to the belt coming off, and if they did the work, the car would be "up and running" by the end of the day, and the total would be no more than $916.00. The receptionist called 11/26/13 and said they needed the car overnight because the didn't get a part they needed. They said it would be ready early morning 11/27/13. The receptionist called my husband this morning 11/27/13 and said the valves were bent on the motor, and the motor was bad. They knew in the beginning there was a possibility that the engine was bad because they told me. I was told by the receptionist that all this work had to be done before they could determine that the engine was bad. Before any work was done, they should have checked the valves! We spent $728.65 for a car that no longer runs. Our invoice # is XXXXX XXXX red Hyundai Accent. Paid with Visa $728.65.

Sincerely,

[redacted]Desired Settlement: We would like to be refunded the full amount that we were charged. $728.65

Business

Response:

Initial Business Response

This complaint has been dealt with already. We contacted the customer and apologized, as well as refunding the money in full.

Final Consumer Response

(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

Review: Took truck in for tuneup and brake inspection 7/3/2013 was told front brakes needed to be serviced back brakes were fine.

I received a call stating I needed wheel bearings packed and calipers and front brakes needed to be replaced. When repair completed took truck home and parked it. charged me $566.97. Took truck out on 7/4/2013 drove 12 miles and right tire started smoking. Took truck back on 7/5/2013 since they were closed 7/4/2013. They state that brakes exploded and were in pieces on the ground when I arrived. Told me that now I needed drums/back brakes, and that emergency brake had locked up causing the damage and charged an additional $377.54. Took truck out again on 7/6/2013 drove 10 miles and left rear tire smoking, returned again to shop and now told that brakes locked and they were unable to bleed the brakes and that wheel cylinders were now bad and diagnosed problem to be skid control proportioning valve bad and needed to be replaced and keep truck until part was available. On 7/9/2013 charged me an additonal $183.50. Gave me my key to take the truck and it wouldn't start, they jumped it and I drove it home waited 5-10 minutes to check truck again and now will not start. I've paid for the service and still do not have a truck that is working. The battery is not dead lights/radio working fine. I was constantly told by the employees and the owner ([redacted]) that it was an old truck and things happen and it is not their fault. The truck went in running fine, this was a maintenance check. I am requesting a refund of my labor fees of $862.00 on services not performed correctly and truck coming back unusable.Desired Settlement: I am requesting a refund of $862.00 for labor cost so that I can take the truck to a location that knows how to work on 91 Ford Explorers correctly.

Business

Response:

Business' Initial Response

The customer states that the vehicle was brought to us originally for a tune-up and brake inspection, and that in the course of this and subsequent repairs her battery died. She states that therefore we should refund all the money paid for "...my labor fees of $862..." (labor charges were actually $852 before the $220.72 discount we gave her making the actual labor charges $631.28) because NOW the vehicle is "unusable". Though the facts stated are correct, essentially this is tantamount as to being asked to refund customers money because the vehicle ran out of gas on the way home!

This complaint is very disappointing. We bent over backwards for this customer, and we discounted her bill by around 20% AFTER performing several repairs for FREE (As well as supplying some parts at our cost, ie - the proportioning valve was $485.45 oem. We found a used one and charged below our cost, $90.00 . Also we supplied some parts and labor for FREE, ie - the rear wheel cylinders were done at NO expense to the customer). Now the customer requests we refund most of the charges for the discounted, free, extra work we did on this vehicle because we had to keep her vehicle in our shop while waiting for the part we charged below our cost on after performing free work for her because her battery died all while it tied up one of our lifts while we waited without charging her for any of this?

We are a straight shop, honest and transparent. Ms. [redacted]'s opening line in her complaint attest to this "Took truck in for tuneup and brake inspection...", as we explained to her, this vehicle did not need a full tune-up, just plugs, we charged $87.48 for this, a full tune-up costs in excess of $400! We suppose though that part of the refund this customer seeks is leaving us with this $87.48... that's fair.

We are sorry Ms. [redacted] is unhappy. At this time all we can do is wish her luck finding an honest shop!

Review: I feel that Little's Automotive is using bait-and-switch methods when dealing with their clients.

On January 24, 2013 I went to Little's Automotive to have the oil and filter changed on my 2005 Honda CRV. Although the service was a little more expensive than other local vendors, the experience was pleasant overall. At that time, I was told by the mechanic that the brakes on my car were worn nearly to the point that they needed to be replaced.

Keeping that in mind, several months later I thought about replacing my brakes. I did some reseach on vendor pricing for this service. I found the going rate for this service was advertised by several local vendors for $49 per axle and Little's was one of these vendors.

I made an appointment on May 1, 2013 and returned to Little's to see if the brakes were at the point where they needed to be replaced. I was told it would cost $55 to have the brakes inspected. When I questioned this fee, I was told the fee would be waived if I opted to have the brake service performed. So, armed with their initial assessment from January, the passage of time and assumed wear, and the knowledge that the fee was per axle was $49, I okayed the inspection.

Their inspection yielded a recommendation to replace the brakes. They worked up a cost for the job. It turned out to be $350.00 for all four brakes(two axles). When I asked how the cost went from $100($49 per axle, rounded up) to $350, I was told the $49 each was only labor and did not include the cost of brake pads, resurfacing the rotors, etc. I requested a detailed breakdown of these costs and was not given one.

In trying to mitigate some of the costs, I asked how much the job would cost without resurfacing the rotors. I was told that would be $300 and they would not warranty the work. Since I could not get a detailed accounting of the fees, I opted not to have the work done therefore I was stuck with the $55 inspection fee.

Next I went to Brake Masters and made an appointment for May 2, 2013. They offered to do a complete brake inspection for free. Upon completion, the findings were different than that of Little's. The remaining thickness of the brake pads were several thousandths of an inch greater than reported by Little's. Brake Masters said I did not need a brake job at that time and further, I could go for another 10,000 miles before needing one. They said when I needed the brake job, it would cost $190 for all four brakes including all parts, labor and any associated services needed, such as packing wheel bearingsDesired Settlement: A refund of the $55 for the inspection fee.

Business

Response:

Business' Initial Response

We would like to offer our apologies to this customer, though we did not know until this complaint that he was not satisfied at the conclusion of this transaction, it is always our goal to satisfy 100% of our customers 100% of the time.

The special the customer is referring to is advertised as $49 per axle Labor plus parts, we explained that the price did NOT include anything other than the installation of pads - that we are unable, as all other repair facilities are as well, to estimate what else his vehicle might need without a full inspection - the reason for this is the need to visually and physically access the entire wheel / brake assembly to measure and examine / inspect each assembly completely.

We offered to move forward with the $49 special and once we got it apart for the customer to look at the measurements and examine (with us to show, explain and educate) what else he may need - or - to do the $55 inspection (rack charge) which would then be applied to the labor of the actual job. We do this for folks all the time, some choose to go one way and others the other. He chose the latter.

Upon inspection we discovered the need to resurface the rotors, on this vehicle this is rather straightforward but does require more than simply popping the rotors off and back on, so we referred to Mitchells Labor Guide (an industry standard) and priced the job accordingly.

What Brakemasters may or may not charge is important to us, they are neighbors and we are in direct competition with them, therefore we have very detailed information regarding their pricing and policies. We will not impugn their store nor the pricing policies they employ, we will say that from the information provided the customer is quoting the pricing Brakemasters provides when ASKED by phone or in person, however, in reality their brake jobs are routinely higher and much higher in price than ours, and they don't offer the various quality options we do.

We offer a lowest price guarantee, if someone finds they can get a competent job done for less we will meet the price. There are advantages to doing this beyond price for the customer - we offer a NATIONWIDE 2 year / 24,000 mile warranty as standard on all repairs (no one else has this standard available). We only employ ASE certified techs, been in business for 6 decades, are a Full State of California Star Certified CAP Program Test Only/Repair & Gross polluter test station and on and on we can go - so why does this matter? We only employ the best practices in the industry, are completely straight, transparent and honest with all our customers. This level of work ability, effort, equipment, quality, integrity all cost money, lots of it, yet we still will meet the price of any licensed station. As our staff motto goes "we are NOT here to make money, we are here to make customers... the money takes care of itself!"

Our object is to offer the absolute best practices, complete transparency, honesty and the lowest possible price!

With this in mind, if this customer would like the brakes done on the subject vehicle, we are positive he does in fact need the work, we would invite him back and we will reinspect (at no charge) the brakes in front of him, if in fact we find that his statement that his brakes are fine, we will happily refund his original $55 and give him a $55 off certificate for this vehicles brake job in future.We are also willing to still honor the $55 off the job (we give a 30 day window normally) off the job as originally offered. If he can document that this job can be done elsewhere we will price match as we always do.

We are happy to offer third party intervention if this will help, perhaps mitigation through the Revdex.com will further the resolution of this complaint. We are open to any reasonable resolution. Thank you.