Our First One-Star Review

They say in business that the customer is always right. Over the course of my career, this is has stood generally true, but every once in awhile, the customer does get it wrong. 

Today we received our first one-star Google review: 

My response is a lengthy one and I'm not sure if Google will approve it, so I'm posting it here because it is important that we be transparent to you, our customer: 

As owner of Almost Auto Service, I take reviews very seriously. I personally investigated this issue today and found the following:

Taquon/Wayne brought his vehicle to A.A.S. on January 10, 2018. The vehicle in question is a 9-year old Nissan and the odometer read 146,373 miles. 

Taquon/Wayne states that he 'received a diagnostic and paid to have the job completed'. This was not the case. He brought the car to us on 1/10/18 having already diagnosed it, convinced it was the power steering pump. We did not diagnose this problem. He even brought us the power steering pump that he had purchased from somewhere else for A.A.S to install. We told him we do not warranty parts we do not purchase - this is documented on his invoice.

After installing the power steering pump that he supplied, we put the drive belt back on the car and noticed the belt tensioner would not spring back. This is a common problem for belt tensioners. We informed Taquon/Wayne that the belt tensioner needed to be replaced. He then went out and purchased the belt tensioner - again, not from A.A.S. - and we installed it. Once we ran the car and tested the power steering pump, we noticed a small leak coming from the high-pressure power steering hose. We told him this when he picked up the car and noted it on his invoice.

Sixteen days later, on January 26, 2018, Taquon/Wayne brought his 2009 Nissan back to A.A.S. saying there was a power steering leak and the power steering was not working. The odometer read 146,865, which is 492 miles after the car was first brought to A.A.S on 1/10/18. We put the car on a lift and determined the leak was coming from the high-pressure power steering hose. This time, the leak was significant, not small, as we had originally noted on 1/10/18. We showed Taquon/Wayne this while it was on the lift. Taquon/Wayne approved us to buy and replace the high-pressure power steering hose. We performed the service and he picked up the car on January 27, 2018 (the next day).

We did not see Taquon/Wayne and his 2009 Nissan again until today, March 15, 2018. He came in stating that his power steering didn't work and he kept having to fill his power steering reservoir with power steering fluid. We put the car up on a lift and found the front of the power steering pump leaking and the rack and pinion leaking as well. We showed him the leaks and he aggressively accused one of my mechanics of sabotaging his car. He asked why his car continued to leak and my General Manager, Sonny, told him that the original parts (the rack and pinion) are wearing out and the power steering pump (that he purchased) was leaking. 

My GM did not like Taquon/Wayne's tone or demeanor during this interaction and told him that he would put his car back together and off the lift so he could take it somewhere else since he very clearly felt A.A.S. was cheating him. Taquon/Wayne demanded a refund for all the work we had done in the past, which we would not honor because the service we performed was not faulty or defective in any way. We gave him back the car, waiving our standard diagnostic fee.

Taquon/Wayne's timeline is not indicative of what happened and to insinuate we try to cheat our customers is wrong. We use these situations as learning opportunities and what we have learned is that we will not work with outside parts/parts we do not warranty. Thank you, Taquon/Wayne - we wish you the very best in finding a mechanic that meets your expectations. 

Carolina Beltran

Owner, Almost Auto Service