Took two visits to fix the same issue...and was told I had to pay for diagnostics twice (even for the failed first attempt). Next, was quoted $500 on the phone and by the time I got to the shop, they'd tacked-on another $57 in shop fees. Really? I don't know how you can treat people like that and expect repeat service. I know I won't be going back. There's too many other good shops in Corvallis.
RESPONSE FROM Greg's Auto Service:
We are sorry to hear that you are dissatisfied with our services. We make customer satisfation our top priority, as you can see from our other reviews.
The first time the car came in, we tested the alternator thoroughly and its output was perfect the whole time. The belt was found to be slipping due to a broken tensioner. This problem could very well have been the cause of the symptom, and had to be fixed regardless of other problems. There was no reason for us not to believe the problem was resolved after the first repair, as we retested the the charging system, and it was working well. We charged $68 for diagnosis, which is standard for a charging system issue.
Intermittent electrical problems (extremely difficult and time consuming to diagnose) are very common on this particular model, so it is somewhat expected that they will continue to crop up later. Sometimes more than one fault can be the cause of a single symptom, which turned out to be the case here.
When the car came back, we were just as frustrated as you were, but we were willing to continue spending our time to resolve your problem. The alternator was working perfectly once again. We had to spend several hours chasing the phantom problem before the alternator finally messed up again and we caught it. You were told on the phone that you would be charged a minimal amount ($51) for the many hours we spent continuing diagnosis, and that the alternator replacement would cost $506. The cost of the alternator was high because you opted for a genuine OEM part so that the problem would be sure not to resurface again.
You were charged a total of $119 over the two separate visits for our time chasing an intermittent problem. This amounts to 1.4 hours of shop time, even though we spent close to 8 hours in testing your vehicle and researching the possibilities.
We are very sorry to have lost a customer over this diffucult situation. We strive to keep our customers happy and returning for their future vehicle needs.
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