Business ProfileforFrank Laird Automotive

I recently brought my vehicle into Frank Laird Automotive for a diagnosis. When I got the bill, they had done unauthorized work that they would like to bill me for. We had an agreement that they would call me if the car needed any more work done, and instead of doing their diligence and calling one of the two numbers that I had left, they did work without my consent. And now they are billing me for it. The car was there for a general diagnosis. With this suspected timing chain issue, Instead of just diagnosing the problem, they have changed the spark plugs and they’re now billing me for the time that it took as well as the plugs. This has nothing to do with Running a diagnostic test on my car. When I asked them to rectify their mistake and told them that I did not want to pay for the new plugs that I did not authorize, they told me they could take them out and replace them with the old plugs but it would take an hour and they would charge me for the time. So either way this business is trying to scam money from people by doing work, not authorized by the customer!

Re: Kyle Scott 2008 Cadillac CTS "This vehicle has lots of issues he isn't concerned about at this time - He is concerned with the CEL flashing on acceleration. You need to insert the key & turn to the right to open the driver’s door. Another issue he will deal with at a later date--" This is exactly what was written on to the repair order after discussing what to do with the front end desk. The order was then given to the tech. With the initial diagnosis, we pulled 13 data codes from the computer. At this point the general diagnosis would be, your vehicle has a lot of issues-but you already know that-so we proceed to diagnose, in particular, why the CEL is flashing---MOST times it is due to a cylinder misfire. Your vehicle had 5 codes set pertaining to cylinder misfires, so that is where we started. We pulled all the plugs and did a compression test--flat rate out of the Mitchell manual for this procedure alone is 3.2 hrs--Check it out, phone around, get a quote on a compression test. With the lowest cylinder at 160 psi and the highest at 225 psi we decided to put in the new plugs as there was no compression reason for severe misfires (the plugs were in very poor condition), and we have many times solved flashing CEL's with simply new spark plugs. But not this car, it had other problems as well as worn out spark plugs -3 of the engine codes were related to crank/cam correlation (mechanical timing-chain stretch-). Further testing proved that the chain was indeed stretched to the point of inducing misfires. Not a cheap repair no matter how you do it. While your car was here, we had to jump start it several times and recharge the dying battery. Also when you sit in the seat-as you know-and turn the key on there is VERY loud electrical noise that is hard on the ears. All in all, your car is in a very poor state of repair. Many problem cars get charged anywhere from 1-3 hrs labour alone for proper diagnosis. I actually felt bad for your situation and only charged 1 hr plus the spark plugs. I did not feel bad for you when you were not nice to my daughter on the phone though, you could probably tell by my attitude to you in person. What comes around goes around. You can call us scammers but I can show you hundreds of people who disagree. In my honest opinion your car should not be on the road. We certainly did not overcharge you.