Staton & Sons Auto Service, Inc.

I cannot believe what I went through with this place... Do not trust them!!

$1000-2000 fix they were about to charge me for something that was not even broken!

I had driven my car to work one morning just fine, nothing seemed wrong. After work, tried to start it and switch gears from park to reverse, and it just didn't do anything - stayed like it was in park but the shifter was just sliding from park to reverse as if it wasn't connecting to anything in order to put it in actual reverse. So, I called this place because I knew of them through the family. They towed it, and looked at it the next morning. I got a call that the problem was the transmission that needed to be replaced so it was more worth it to sell the car to them for parts than to pay to fix it. I was completely shocked and devastated because I thought from what I had researched about the problem that it was just some broken cable for the shifter. So I proceed to buy a used transmission, and try to get it quoted to fix which through them would be $1000 on top of buying the transmission. We shopped around for different prices and found someone to do it cheaper, but during this time I had to spend a fortune to rent a car for a week as well. Finally we found someone who could start working on it so we brought it to this other place, and I just got a call that there was NOTHING wrong with the transmission and it WAS in fact, just the simple cable that was broken. Staton and Sons was about to let me sell them my "broken" car for "parts", or charge me for a $1000 new transmission plus $1000 to fix it when it TRULY was just a simple, $100-200 fix that could have been done in one day. I wasted so much money during this whole process for something that could have been fixed for a fraction of the cost. Never going back.

*WARNING, BEWARE, IN OUR OPINION/EXPERIENCE, NOT A REPUTABLE BUSINESS*

Everyone must make their own decision, however, we wanted to share our experience so other people can make an informed decision on this automotive service.

We had our car towed to the Staton and Sons Auto Service center, [redacted], Lynchburg, VA 24501, ([redacted] on 09/02/16. My wife asked for a written estimate and [redacted] the owner’s wife said we would receive a call and an estimate on what was wrong with the car. We never received a written estimate as is required by Virgina code: § 59.1-207.3. As noted in this regulation, the estimate is to be given with: 1. Cost of labor, 2. Cost of parts, 3. Description of problem or work to be authorized, 4. Completion time.

The owner Cecil Staton left a voice message on my wife’s phone that the car was fixed and ready for pickup. My wife called confused because we were not told what was wrong nor was our authorization to repair ever given. We were told when she called that the bill was $438.97. Some facts regarding the bill: the part price was originally listed on the invoice for $238.84, it was crossed out/but visible and the amount $285. 23 was written underneath. Interesting fact: We called around to [redacted] for price of part ranging from $219-224 with a lifetime warranty. We also called [redacted] just incase they may use them for their parts: their price was $182-226 depending on model required with only a 12 month warranty. Interestingly, they used [redacted] so we were overcharged for the part by either: $103 or $59, and this does not include the discount that mechanic shops are given when they purchase the part.

When we asked about the labor charge which was not written we were told it was 1.7 hours for the “diagnosis” and replacement of part. Several shops we called prior to picking up the car and they stated the time required to replace part (distributor) was around 15 min or a little longer. I questioned why we were being charged for the diagnosis/estimate. After moments of arguing from the owner he said he would remove an hour ($80) from the bill for the diagnosis.

The owner threatened at several points to pull the car back into the shop to remove the part and put the old part back in and push our car off his lot. We stated he did not have authorization to do the work in the first place and he would not be removing the new part. I had to go out and sit against the hood of my car to keep one of the sons from pulling the car back into the shop. When we went in to continue our discussion the son of the owner drove the car into one of the shop bays until the issue was resolved and we paid. The owner refused to take payment via a credit card or check, stating we would cancel payment when we left. We told him he did not know that and we were offended at his suggestion and inference of our lack of character and honesty.

The owner tried to say my wife was not telling the truth about things, however, the owner was not honest with us on several issues: 1. When my wife spoke with [redacted] on the phone he said the price was so high because the distributor was “in” the engine. This he denied in person. 2. On the phone he stated the part would have a one year warranty with 6 month warranty on the labor. In person he stated they purchase “top of the line” parts from [redacted] and it had a life-time warranty. The part was a remanufactured item and had a limited warranty and thus in our opinion was not “top of the line” quality. I told him I spoke to the [redacted] worker and they said the part came with a one year warranty. Cecil had his son check online with [redacted] and print a one year warranty sheet. The owner refused to provide us with a copy of the part sales receipt in case we needed it after the 6 month labor time-frame with them. The bill did not have any wording regarding labor warranty and he mentioned on the phone it would have 6 months per him, he said, oh I can give you 6 month warranty as if it was a gift. I had him write it on the bill/receipt.

The owner raised his voice and became visibly upset multiple times though we remained calm in our discussions. He told my wife several times to “be quiet and let him finish”, then he would cut in when she/I responded. He also during a heated conversation pointed his finger at my wife while I was on the phone with the Campbell County dispatch officer for assistance with possible arbitration of the issue. The sheriff’s office did not have to come after all since the issue was resolved, though not satisfactory on our behalf. My wife told the owner to get his finger out of her face and he did. She also told the son to stop hanging against the door of our car and he did.

Over all this was NOT a positive experience, and is submitted in our opinion based on the facts of our interactions and we will never use this automotive service center again. They should be ashamed of their obvious gouging of people and mistreatment of customers.