ComplaintsforLone Star Bavarian Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  04/17/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  they charge me $1500 for a battery and labor. I already had the parts the car needed a Transmission interlock solenoid and new gear shifter. First I had a appointment for Thursday April 7th didnt hear nothing that day so I called and they said they didnt get a chance to look at it first why do I have a appointment if your not going to look at it then??? I call them Monday the 11th because I still had not heard anything they said they was going to start now it then and let me know. They called me Tuesday 12 to tell me it needed a battery first that was $450 then they would be able to fix the problem I sent it in for. Then they called me called my Tuesday afternoon to tell me the parts I sent was the problem and the car is fixed and its was now $1300 something I asked them to look at one more thing and he said that would be another $150 totaling $1480.66 I said okay never once was it bought to my attention that the radio was no longer working which was working before I took it up there. So I went to pick the car up today April 13th, I went in a paid even though I knew they was charging me to much I just need my car back. I went to start the car and set up navigation to get home and the radio wouldnt come on. So I went back inside and he said ya the mechanic said it wasnt working but yall never said anything to me?? And it will be another $150 for him to look at. Why do I have to pay another $150 for something that was working when I took it up there??? So my husband went inside and asked to speak to the owner. Never once did me or my husband have attitude well the owner was being very disrespectful and being racist to my husband black with long dreads even reached across the counter and said the gear shifter was taking apart when we got the car what does the gear shifter have to do with the radio not come on now???

  Business response

  04/18/2022

  When this individual called they said that they thought it needed two components they had already purchased because their key was stuck in the ignition and the vehicle would not power up or start.   I told them we would need to verify that it needed those components and while I don't allow my clients to source their own parts because they were a new client I would overlook that this time.  I told the caller that we were on a 3 weeks wait for appointments but under the circumstances that her car didn't run she could send it and we would try to work it in in between other vehicles in the next week or so...otherwise she would have to wait 3 weeks for an appointment.  It arrived on the 4th of April.  We were able to work it in on the 12th.  It came in with a dead battery and the interior center console half torn apart and various other trim pieces torn apart.  Had I know that there had been someone working on this car prior to arriving I would have refused it.  It was against my better judgement that I even allowed this car in the shop after seeing how it arrived.

  It is important to know that the key did not work in the ignition so there was no way to start it or know what worked.  Once it was pushed into the shop we realized we were not going to be able to do anything till the vehicle had a working battery.  So that was the first call we made.  Once the battery was installed, we could finally pull fault codes and diagnose the issue.  We had no way of knowing what worked or didn't before the car arrived here because nothing worked when it arrived.  Nothing would power up. 

  With power from the new battery we set about diagnosing the issue and what we found did line up with needing one of the parts they had brought so it was installed and we found that that corrected the starting issue.  At that point we realized there were many things not working correctly and there were multiple fuses blown.  We replaced those fuses which fired up a few of things not working.  Because the vehicle came in torn down with prior intervention I told the tech not to go any further.  At this point in my business evolution I will no longer come back behind DIYs or other shops because typically we are never told a complete story and are typically lied to, misled or information is left out because it is unknown and we waste countless unbillable hours chasing our tails...so I decided months ago, no more. 

  The radio was not working when we were able to power it up(after installing battery) and I can't say why but that was before we had even begun diagnosing for the issue it came in with.  We put the the vehicle back together, even the things we didn't disassemble and called the client to tell them it was working.  At this point even if I had told them the radio wasn't working and they wanted me to figure it out, I would have passed because of my prior statement...I have no interest in diagnosing behind other shops or DIYs. 

  When the vehicle was picked up, a gentleman, not who we had been dealing picked it up and after going out to the car came back in and said radio wasn't working.  I told him I was aware of that but it didn't work when we it got here or when we powered it up and that I had no interest in diagnosing the issue since more than likely it was a self inflicted issue.  And yes he had attitude when he came back in and insinuated we had done something wrong. 

  -They were charged 2 hours for diagnostic at $155....normally I would charge a 3 hour minimum to come back behind someone else.  That charge was $210

  -They were charged for the battery and install.  That amount was $450.31

  - They were charged for 4hours of installation of their parts and reassembly of all they took apart.  That was at $170 an hour, so that total was $680.00

  And finally there was tax of $25.58 and shop charge $14.77 for a grand total of $1480.66. 

  Their car was washed and cleaned up inside and out before they picked up.  And once again this client has proven that no good deed goes unpunished.  I will never again allow another car that is torn down prior to coming here to stay and be worked on in my shop.  They have cinched that for me...never again because over the past 22 years of doing this I have found that this is the final outcome more often than not.  No matter what I charge they are always angry that had to spend more to fix their vehicle, even though I or my staff had nothing to do with what caused the original failure or why they sent it here.    

   

  Trent @ Lone Star Bavarian
  

   

  Customer response

  04/19/2022

  Complaint: 17025095
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  Attached is what was told to me not matching what they are saying to yall. Nobody worked on the car before they touched it I took the gear shifter off because the button was getting stuck. I did buy this car used a few months ago and have never had a problem with it until this happened. They never told me it was a 3 week waiting period they told me I had a appointment for April 7th but I could send it earlier and if they had time to look at it they would. The radio was working before I took it up there I personally turned it off trying to save the battery because the keys was in the ignition. I have been in the car industry for 3 years now and would never treat any of my customers the way they did. The guy (my husband)  they had the attitude with is a owner of a car lot who I wish had a mechanic shop so I could have took it to them. 
  Regards,
  
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