Gateway Automotive Experts (Mount Vernon)
Like the recent negative posts by “s w,” “roach choker,” Lilsa Bowman, and Hanna Star, on Tuesday August 2nd my car appeared to ran out of gas at the completion of just driving up from Portland. The little VW Eurovan/Winnebago Rialta, I had just purchase had only 31,415 miles on it and it ran beautifully, though I wanted to have the brakes checked and a general examination. I called Gateway Transmission and told them the vehicle had died while acting exactly like it was out of gas but the gas gauge was not showing completely empty. I was told they were competent with Volkswagen and they would be glad to check it out. I had a tow truck deliver it to their facility. Unfortunately, my experience with Gateway has been anything but gratifying. First, I was told a relay was out and they would have to order it and it would take a day or two. I pressed that I wanted to be able to leave on Friday for a family reunion out-of-state. When the relay didn’t solve whatever they perceived the problem to be, they began to run diagnostic checks. After stating in my original call that I thought the booster might be out on the brakes, I’d asked them to check. On a subsequent visit, I saw the vehicle was up on their rack. They told me they were “working on the brakes” and checking other issues. I pressed for them to finish the car so we could leave. After continual delays I suggested it looked like they were using my vehicle for “fill-in work”. By Friday, they announced that the “work” was not complete and it would be “next week.” By Tuesday, the following week I was getting very frustrated and I repeatedly asked that they keep someone on it and finish it. They kept “finding things wrong.” Not once during the time it was there did they give me an estimate or any hint at what the cost was going to be. I was never presented with options or probable costs. Without my specific permission as to the extent of the work to be performed, and without showing me any of the parts being replaced, they replaced all of the brake pads, front and rear brake disks. I had growing issues with their administrative clerk, Mace. I was perceiving that I was being “strung along.” I could only get insincere, curt and evasive answers to my questions and denials that they were stringing this out. Finally, on Wednesday the 10th I stopped by the shop just as my vehicle was being returned aboard a tow truck from a test drive. I was told they didn’t know what it could be. I was told it had been running fine and they couldn’t understand it. They went on to tell me about all the extensive work they had done including removing the gas tank to install a new fuel pump. They then went into several more hours of additional diagnostics only to have the owner, Bill Orsborn, tell me “the gas gauge isn’t correct because it was found the problem to be that it was out of gas (Now tell me if that doesn’t smack highly of questionably competent workmanship). The following morning, I received a call from the owner, telling me the repairs were complete and the bill was $4,379.14 and I was instructed to bring Cash or a Cashier’s Check. To that point the only issue I had voiced was that they finish it up so we could go on our delayed trip. This was the first and only time ANY amount of money had been revealed. Since the cost had never been discussed, and in no way argued, the fact that he was demanding cash smacks of his anticipating a conflict — certainly an indication of impropriety. Though dramatically astounded at this surprise amount, I did not take issue to any of the charges. After nine days in the shop for at least some work that appeared to be entirely unwarranted. I just wanted to get out of there and get on with our vacation trip that would take us through Montana, Wyoming and return. ---- See my follow-on post.
Mr. Terry purchased a 1997 VW motor home in Oregon. On his way home, it broke down and was towed into our shop. He explained that he purchased it "sight unseen, does not know the condition" and wondered aloud whether "it was the original 31,000 miles" (it isn't). He claims that it "ran beautifully", yet before he could get it driven home, it had to be towed into our shop. His stated concerns were that it had died and wouldn't restart, and that there was a chatter in the brakes. He wondered if it might be out of gas and if the brake booster could be faulty (neither of those two conditions turned out to be faulty). He authorized diagnostic labor to begin getting to the bottom of his problems. We recommended a fuel relay and retest. Mr. Terry understood that the relay needed to be ordered, and that we would inspect the brakes while waiting for the relay. The brake booster itself could not be tested until the vehicle was running. The brake inspection revealed that the brake rotors and pads were badly pitted, and we called Mr. Terry to arrange for him to come in and look at our findings. He claimed he was too busy to come in, but wanted the necessary repairs performed. When the service advisor began to discuss the estimate that he had prepared for the brake work, Mr. Terry responded "I'm driving, I can't talk right now, just do the work." Once the relay had arrived and the brake work was finished, and upon confirming that we now has signal to the fuel injectors, we were able to test for fuel pressure and found that the fuel pump was faulty. We called Terry and informed him of our findings, as well as an estimate of price, and he reiterated that he wanted the work done, but was more concerned about getting it done quickly than he was about the price. Unfortunately for all, we did have some parts issues that caused delay in the production. Mr. Terry stopped by the shop multiple times, but he was always "too busy" to come into the office or have a civil conversation with the service advisor. He was not too busy, however, to enter the motor home and putter around while the technician was trying to work on it. We instructed the technician to work on a different vehicle while the customer was wandering in and out of the motor home in order to maximize productivity. This apparently angered Terry, who accused us of using the motor home as "fill-in work". Many times, Terry would "check progress" by racing through the parking lot, then calling on the phone to call the service advisor a liar, using some pretty rough language in the process. It was at that point that we determined to require cash or cashiers check for payment. It is company policy to require that form of payment from an abusive customer. All of Mr. Terry's old parts were available for him to inspect or take with him, had he chosen to do so. We have an organized process in place so that all parts are saved until a customer leaves with their vehicle. In short, Mr. Terry purchased a 19 year old VW motor home, which in its prime would have been a troublesome vehicle. He purchased it out of state, sight unseen, and believed the seller that there were only 31,000 original miles on it. When he found out that he had purchased a vehicle in very poor condition, that needed many major repairs, he lashed out at the repair shop who, at his own request, helped him get it running and reported on the true condition of the vehicle. He takes no personal responsibility for purchasing the vehicle only one week before a multi-state road trip was planned.
- Gateway Automotive Experts (Mount Vernon)