January 2014 by Rob S.
Alternator gave up on my trusty 'ol Toyota pickup. No time to replace it myself so I had these guys do the swap. They did a little diagnosis to confirm that it was indeed the alternator and called me up with the quote. I asked if that included new belts; they said it did not. I asked them to swap the belts too since the belts are old as well. We agreed that there would be no additional labor charge since the belts were already off to work on the alternator. When I came to pick up the truck, the total bill was over $100 more than I expected. We went over the bill verbally, I disputed the additional labor charge. They said fine, knocked off the labor charge to give a bill that still seemed a little high but not outrageously so, so I handed over my credit card. When they gave me the printout, I realized they'd charged me for three belts. Difficulty: this truck only has two belts, one for the alternator and one for the air conditioner. They conceded that this was an error too, but said that "because of how their system worked" they'd have to write me a check for the difference. They wanted to give me a refund check for $24.84. I suggested that $26.33 (refunding the sales tax on the part too) might be a little more appropriate, and indeed that's what I walked out with a check for. I was left with a feeling that being the kind of person who could have done the job himself if he'd had a couple of spare hours to do it and one more vehicle in the driveway was the only thing that kept me from getting ripped off. Won't be back. Do note though that these folks have no connection with the Valero station and convenience store in the adjoining building, from which I'll continue to get fuel.
