Comment of the Month
Henry B. offered this month’s Comment via Google, where he gave us a 1-star review. Our response is below, but you can always find it and all our other bad reviews at OUR BAD REVIEWS)
Henry Brentlinger, Google review, 1 star out of 5-
TOM DWYER WILL NOT WORK ON CARS THAT HAVE A BRANDED TITLE. I learned this after waiting in line for two weeks to get my started replaced. Once they received my car (not yet aware that my title is branded) they quoted me $850 to change out my starter. This quote sounded incredibly high so I shopped around and found multiple mechanics in town who quoted $450–$500. On top of this they then tried to sell me on a laundry list of fixes including the classic “Your cabin air filter is dirty”. When I called to have Tom Dwyer explain their pricing I mentioned that my title was salvaged in which case they explained to me that they will not even touch my car. I have never had another mechanic say this is an issue and nowhere on their site does it mention that this non-starter. After two weeks of waiting and accumulating 2 rounds of tow fees, I still have a car that will not start.
Our Response- We hate to say it, but Henry’s major point is right on target… we don’t work on branded title (salvaged, reconstructed, re-titled) vehicles and we should have told him so when he called. We don’t apologize for the policy, but we certainly apologize for Henry’s bad experience because it was clearly our fault. The salvage-title policy IS on our website, but buried too deeply for anyone to see and our Webmaster should have made it much more obvious. Our Service Advisor should have asked about the vehicle’s title status when Henry scheduled and referred him to a shop that could have met his needs, but he didn’t. Those minor errors combined into a major waste of two weeks’ time, and Henry, we apologize.
We sympathize with Henry’s point about pricing, but for every review we have that mentions our high prices, another mentions how much lower we were than some other shop. We may be higher or lower than any particular shop on any particular repair, but in the long run we think we offer the best balance of price and quality anywhere.
Part of that quality is the assurance you won’t be up-sold, pressure-sold, or sold services you don’t need, and we didn’t in Henry’s case. We had already checked out Henry’s car and told him we weren’t going to work on it, but Kyle put together an estimate for the work it needed so Henry would have it when he found a new shop. Dirty cabin air filters are ‘classics’ because they get dirty… that’s how they work. We told him it was dirty because that’s what we found when we physically examined it, and let him decide whether or not to replace it. When we start with any new client we examine their vehicle, tell them EVERY issue we found, then prioritize the repairs. It’s up to the client to decide what work to do based on their schedule and budget. Since we didn’t plan to do any work at all for Henry, we certainly didn’t try to ‘sell him on a laundry list of fixes’.
Every business has its own restrictions, but it’s on the business to tell potential clients about them and we didn’t. Henry, thank you for pointing out our failure on this. Our Service Advisors have been reminded to ask about title status so the next person won’t have the same inconvenience you did. More obviously, our Webmaster added a salvage-title notice to our website right up front where it belongs. We apologize again, and hope you found a shop that is more helpful than we could be. If you get a non-branded vehicle in the future, we invite you to give us a call again. We promise you a very different experience!
We also have a couple ongoing offers you might find valuable…
Carbon Neutral Program–
Our company’s commitment to the environment led us to partner with Bonneville Environmental Foundation to create our Carbon Neutral Program in 2007. Client members offset the carbon production of their vehicles for one year AND save 10% on Labor Charges here at the shop! It’s a win for you AND our environment and it’s been very successful… since we instituted the program our members have prevented over 1.9 MILLION POUNDS of carbon from being dumped into our air!
Referral Reward Program–
Year after year, referrals from our existing clients are our greatest source of new clients, so we’ve tried hard to think of some way to appropriately reward people for their referrals. Our solution is our Referral Reward Program, where we make donations to the non-profit group of your choice to say ‘thanks’ for your generous referrals. Here’s how it works…
Your reviews and referrals matter
We are constantly grateful for the supportive and loyal clients we have developed over the years. Your comments and appreciation keep us on the right road to providing the superior automotive service you deserve. Your reviews and referrals are not only the highest compliments we can receive, but they’re the lifeblood of our new business. If you like what you’ve found at Tom Dwyer Automotive Services, please tell a friend or take a minute to write a review on Yelp, Angieslist, Google, or the review site of your choice. Thank you!
Latest Automotive Recalls
Automobiles are just like any other product; occasional flaws in manufacture or design can cause problems once they leave the factory. When an issue is identified the manufacturers and government work hard to bring the vehicles back in for refit or repair, but not all recalls make the front pages. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration maintains a constantly updated list of recalls from every manufacturer. The last month’s recalls are below, but clicking the button at right will take you to the full list at the NHTSA website.
