THIS IN RESPONSE TO THE REVIEW BY ""Riedman"". \r
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Fortunately, Shane Riedman had the integrity to use his real name. I appreciate this, as it allowed me the opportunity to contact him to discuss the issue. Other negative reviewers have made false claims and hidden behind false names, so I have no way to research their claims or respond to them.\r
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I discussed the issue with him and with my Service Manager, Stan. As best I can determine, Stan informed Mr. Riedman up front that there would be a diagnostic charge to find out why his van failed DEQ. After the diagnosis, Mr. Riedman was told that the repair portion of the bill would be approximately $255.00, but was not reminded of the diagnosis charge. There was nothing added on after-the-fact; it was simply poor communication.\r
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Mr. Riedman returned to Art of Maintenance the next day, and I refunded the $94.93 diagnosis fee. We also discussed his noisy fan belts and I had a technician adjust them at no charge (Mr. Riedman did offer to pay for that, but I declined). Mr. Riedman told me on the phone and face-to-face that he had changed his mind about our shop and would amend his review. (I guess the check is still in the mail on that one.)\r
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Now, to correct 3 fallacies:\r
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1. You can get cheap quality converters for some vehicles for $75.00, but the one for his van is a high capacity converter, for which we charged $153.30. The price was clearly printed on his invoice.\r
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2. DEQ will ""test"" your vehicle to determine whether or not it will pass. DEQ does not perform any kind of ""diagnosis"" to determine what has failed or the underlying cause for that failure. This must be done at a DEQ certified repair facility.\r
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3. For anyone to believe that DEQ does anything for ""free"" is profoundly naive. Unless the building and equipment miraculously appeared, the employees are all volunteering their time, and the tooth fairy is taking care of all the ongoing upkeep, it is not free! You and I (and everyone else that sets foot in the state) are already paying for it. To be shocked that we would charge a diagnosis fee to have one of my employees spend an hour diagnosing someone's vehicle is beyond absurd. Everyone deserves to be paid for the work they do. Then again, if I had unlimited power to legally confiscate your money, and had employees who carried guns to make sure that I got the money, I would probably do it for ""free"" too.\r
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Bill Davis\r
President\r
Art of Maintenance\r
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P.S. For an unbiased review of our shop, check with AAA. We are a AAA Approved Auto Repair facility with 97.5% approval rating.
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