Vineyard Alternative Auto

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # [redacted] I understand that by choosing to accept the business response that my complaint will be closed as resolved I thank the business owner for taking the time to review my concerns, investigate the options for repair of my vehicle, and to provide a comprehensive thoughtful discussion My only request was that the business should inform customers that there will be a diagnostic fee and that that the vehicle may not be able to be repaired at that time an appointment is scheduled If they would like for me to pay the additional monies for the diagnostic, I am willing and I certainly did appreciate the discount provided If I had known that there was a diagnositic fee and I may have to wait for repair I would have opted to spend the money to take the car to the [redacted] dealership for repair I also understand the thought out recommendation to have the vehicle repaired at the dealership and am in complete agreement I do not want to have a negative relationship with the auto repair shop, although we both agree its better that I do not use their service They may be interested in knowing that I was advised prior to bringing the vehicle there that I would not be satisfied, I took a chance because you can't always believe what you hearI then advised someone else of my experience without naming the business and the individual was aware of the business and has heard similar concerns about business practices I wish you continued success in your business Regards, [redacted] ***

After having read the complaint and desired settlement, I have come to the conclusion that there is a great deal of misunderstanding on the customer's part as to how an auto repair shop functions.  As well as what are industry wide standard diagnostic fees.  I have been in the automotive...

repair industry for 18 years at this point.  I have worked at many shops in the past ranging from [redacted] dealership, to independent repair shops, and even a [redacted] performance upgrade and race shop.  During that time I have never seen a circumstance in which a customer was not billed for a technician's time to pull the vehicle into the shop, put it on a lift, and inspect the vehicle to locate the source of the problem.  EVERY shop has a minimum diagnostic fee.  Some are simply a 1 hour across the board fee, some such as myself do not believe in that, as not all diagnosis takes 1 hour to complete, so we use a sliding scale based on the amount of time that the technician takes.  The minimum being .5 hrs. for putting the vehicle on the lift and inspecting.  I called [redacted] of [redacted] and their diagnostic fee is a flat $139.95.  The technician spent 45 minutes looking at the customer's vehicle to verify the source of the oil leak.  We accordingly generated an invoice for a total of $102.75 ($137 x .75 hrs).  But when that was met with a negative reaction from the customer, my service advisor immediately and proactively reduced the bill by $34.25 ($137 x .25 hrs), making the total $68.50 ($137 x .5 hrs).  Auto repair shops make their money by charging customers appropriately to diagnose and repair problems.  If you did "free estimates" in this business, you would be giving away a lot of free time and information and be out of business in a short time. As far as repairs are concerned, this vehicle has a fairly complicated variable valve lift system which passes through the valve cover.  The valve cover gaskets were leaking and I had not previously replaced valve cover gaskets on this specific engine (I have done hundreds, if not thousands at this point on previous model year BMW's).  I had read that if you are not careful, some components can break and create further, more in depth, and expensive repairs necessary.  As it was mid August on [redacted], we were running at max capacity and most customers have 101 things to do in that period of time.  I thought it best to avoid a potentially unfortunate circumstance in which the customer's vehicle was disabled and undriveable.  I suggested that I would do some research and we could possibly revisit the issue in late September or October when I had more time to focus on the necessary repairs.  Also during that time I could talk to my friends and fellow [redacted] technicians who have done this repair for any tips that may be helpful in this situation. However, at this point in time, I am not at all interested in servicing this, or any other vehicle that the customer or her friends own.  We interact with thousands of customers per year and 95% or more are satisfied with the service we provide.  Our business practices closely follow most industry standards, and it is unfortunate that sometimes misunderstandings can occur.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #[redacted]. I understand that by choosing to accept the business response that my complaint will be closed as resolved.  I thank the business owner for taking the time to review my concerns, investigate the options for repair of my vehicle, and to provide a comprehensive thoughtful discussion.  My only request was that the business should inform customers that there will be a diagnostic fee and that that the vehicle may not be able to be repaired at that time an appointment is scheduled.  If they would like for me to pay the additional monies for the diagnostic, I am willing and I certainly did appreciate the discount provided.  If I had known that there was a diagnositic fee and I may have to wait for repair I would have opted to spend the money to take the car to the [redacted] dealership for repair.  I also understand the thought out recommendation to have the vehicle repaired at the dealership and am in complete agreement.  I do not want to have a negative relationship with the auto repair shop, although we both agree its better that I do not use their service.  They may be interested in knowing that I was advised prior to bringing the vehicle there that I would not be satisfied, I took a chance because you can't always believe what you hear. I then advised someone else of my experience without naming the business and the individual was aware of the business and has heard similar concerns about business practices.  I wish you continued success in your business.  
Regards,
[redacted]