Landers Automotive Svc Ctr

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We called this morning to ask them how much they would charge to take a quick look at our van. We were told that it would cost $15-20 for them to drive it down the road and see if they could give us an idea of what was wrong and they would call us back, give us a report, and we could decide with that information whether we wanted him to do anything else. They promised to call back. They did not call back. I finally called them to ask if they had driven the van yet and the lady said yes they had and placed the repairman/owner on the phone to talk over the problem with us he had found. He told us the problem (but did NOT tell us that he had ALREADY run a different diagnostics test on the van that cost $60). We asked him for a price quote to fix the problem and he said he would call us back. When he finally did call us back and gave us the quote we told him we could not afford it at this time and would come back and get the van. When we arrived at Lander's Automotive, we were told that the price was $60 that we had to pay for this service. When we objected stating that we had been quoted for $15-$20, the owner/repairman came in and said that he had put the van on the computer/machine to test it to see what was wrong and that this service costs $60. We explained that we did not have this money and that should we have notified in advance of his doing this test that we would have requested he not do it. He was very short with us and told us that we had to pay the $60 or we wouldn't get our van back. When we continued to object to the $60 charge that had been incurred without our permission for such service, he became heated and argued that he doesn't work for free and that he has to pay for his machine somehow. We told him we would gladly pay the $15-$20 that he had quoted us beforehand for the service that he had promised to give us. We reminded him yet again that he never called us to ask if we wanted him to do any further testing that would cost more money. When he continued to refuse, we told him that we would have to dispute the charges with the bank. He then told us again that he doesn't work for free and went so far as to include other customers in the argument to bolster his argument. He told us that the quote had been given by the lady in the office and that he works in the garage. We told him that there was a breakdown in the communication between him and his office staff, but that we could not pay for it, and that the lady that works in the office does not work in the garage. So the communication between THEM is what needed to have been clearer. We also reminded him that we had also talked with HIM about the specifics of our car and that HE never mentioned any additional cost to us. After a while of this, he finally threw the keys at us and yelled at the office lady to and quot;let them have their car back and get them out of here.and quot; We did pay the $15 charge that we were quoted this morning. Mind you, we have used Lander's Automotive before this and were happy with their service and customer service. They came recommended to us from my old mechanic who can no longer work and who takes his own vehicles to Lander's. So yes, we are disappointed and displeased to have had such a confrontation and to be basically kicked out to never return.

It was great they got my car towed and got it done over the holiday.