Ultimate Auto & Customs

I am rejecting this response because: 1) When the shop told me that the work/estimate for the job was going to go up I explained to them that I would perfer they put the wheels back on the car and let us leave, however the shop stsated they couldn't do this per my requestAt this time my vehicle was basically being held hostageThe original estimate for brake pads, rotors, and claipier was dollarsThey claimed they spent hours trying to free a broken/lose lug boltThis proceess is easily accomplished by drilling out the lug bolt form inside the lug nut then breaking off the lug bolt, not a hour job especially for professionalsHe did also state that they would not charge over hours for this labor task, which now brings the total up to dollars, notcie he called me to prea-pprove this workHowever when they were doing the calipers they inadvertently damaged the emergency brakes, which are a seperate unit from the bid job, and the shop proceeded with repairs without attemping to prea-uthorize the workThis extra dollars is that which is in disputeI didn't realize a shop waws able to do unauthorized work on a vehicle or to hold the vehicle hostage in order to drive up the amount of work they can doAlso the credit card dispute has not been finalized they credit card company is seeking more information in order to process the claimThanks for your time and attention to this matter [redacted] B

I am rejecting this response because: 1) When the shop told me that the work/estimate for the job was going to go up I explained to them that I would perfer they put the wheels back on the car and let us leave, however the shop stsated they couldn't do this per my request. At this time my vehicle was basically being held hostage. The original estimate for brake pads, rotors, and 1 claipier was 250.00 dollars. They claimed they spent 4 hours trying to free a broken/lose lug bolt. This proceess is easily accomplished by drilling out the lug bolt form inside the lug nut then breaking off the lug bolt, not a 4 hour job especially for professionals. He did also state that they would not charge over 2 hours for this labor task, which now brings the total up to 430.00 dollars, notcie he called me to prea-pprove this work. However when they were doing the calipers they inadvertently damaged the emergency brakes, which are a seperate unit from the bid job, and the shop proceeded with repairs without attemping to prea-uthorize the work. This extra 200.00 dollars is that which is in dispute. I didn't realize a shop waws able to do unauthorized work on a vehicle or to hold the vehicle hostage in order to drive up the amount of work they can do. Also the credit card dispute has not been finalized they credit card company is seeking more information in order to process the claim. Thanks for your time and attention to this matter. [redacted] B

04/05/2016 To RevDex.com,                 On 2/22/2016, [redacted]’s son brought in his 2005 Chevrolet Impala for an oil change. During the oil change our mechanic noticed looking through [redacted]’s rear rim that...

the brake pads were so far worn down that all that remained of the rotor was just a little lip that maintained the caliper in place. We warned him that that needs to be fixed as soon as possible and he said at the time he didn’t have the funds.                 On 3/08/2016 he returned with his Impala wanted to fix the issue with his rear brakes, we informed him that there’s typically 3 stages of a brake job, first is pads, also known as normal maintenance and at a typical cost of $100, second is pads and rotors for those who let the pads go down to the metal, typical charge up to $250. Then there’s his case where the rotor is gone and to expect it to be at least $250 plus the cost of a caliper as it would be frozen. This job alone with no other issues is easily $400 as calipers are not cheap.                 Before we even started the job the first thing we noticed is that the owner must have attempted to do the job himself and while trying to remove his lug nuts he stripped 2 of the studs. We called the customer and informed him that the studs were broken and he admittedly said that he broke them while trying to get the wheel off. He was informed that we would charge a “by the hour” fee for the time it takes to drill out the 2 studs, one on each wheel in the rear. This took 4 hours total and was a extremely difficult job. This charge alone at $90 an hour would have added $360. In the process of drilling out the stud, we ended up damaging one of the lug nut holes in his rim.                 Once we finally had the rims removed, rotors and brake pads removed we found that the brake shoes were so bad that they had separated from their bracket. The brake shoes alone are $125. This whole job, while all necessary to make the car safe again, came at a cost due to neglect.                 When we totaled his bill, parts included new brake pads, 2 rotors, 1 caliper, brake shoes, 2 studs and 5 lug nuts. Retail price for parts alone for this job came to $397.22. That means labor and tax came to $246.25. We spent well over 6 hours on this car, this breaks down to a $40 an hour labor charge after we discounted his bill.                 The original invoice came to $893.47, this price alone is about half what any other shop would charge based on the website www.repairpal.com. Even after being half our competitors, we could tell the customer was upset and gave him $250 off the total which comes directly out of labor as our parts markup is quite low. We allotted $50 of the $250 to be applied to replace the rim that was damaged which is what the local yards are charging. We then gave him $200 off just to help with the total cost even when the majority of the labor came from damage the customer caused to the car.                 Customer paid with credit card, then immediately disputed the charge with his card and reported us to the B.B.B. when their credit card company denied to give them their money back when they heard this same story. Thank you for your time, William [redacted] Ultimate Auto & Custroms [redacted] Spring Lake Park, MN 55432