Beyond users beware** Lads autopro seems sketchy.

[AutodreamFrank]

Okay so about a month ago my friends 2001 Cavalier decided to die on deerfoot, she had it towed to a shop called Lad's autopro on 16th street off of Odgen. When she had it serviced there, they told her it was the battery, and loose terminals ect...ect... She ended up dishing out $420 bucks to them for a new battery and installment.

So anyway today, she calls me again saying that her car died on deerfoot again. She had it towed back to lad's to see if it was something they screwed up on the last time it was serviced. They call her back telling her it was her fuel pump. And that it would cost $1200 to replace. So I drove her from her work to lad's to talk with the service advisor named Blair. When I get there I ask him what is wrong with her car, and he says the fuel pump needs to be replaced. I asked him how much his shop rate was and he said $105/hr. I then asked him how long it takes for his technician to install an in-tank fuel pump, and he says three hours. So then I ask him if my friend here is paying $315 for labour, then that would mean she is paying $885 for the fuel pump. He then states that she would be paying $189 for labour, $775 for the fuel pump, $30 for the fuel filter, and $60 for the fuel filter install. I then told him that it only adds up to $1058 and why he told her it that her estimate was $1200 dollars. He couldn't answer that, I then asked him why he was putting a 500% mark up on a fuel pump that is worth $400 bucks max. and that he should check on the cost of his fuel pump cause that is highway robbery right there. He said he doesn't know what his cost is and he could not explain to me why his numbers were not adding up.

It didn't make sense to us.... Anyways we are putting a walbro 255 fuel pump from mopac for $160 just to throw in her car considering it is way cheaper than buying it from any other places. I called around today and most places charge $300-400 for one so yeah....

Anyways I'm just giving you beyond members a heads up if you go to that place and know what your dealing with.They seem like professional people with the customer service they give but his quote he gave to me is way off than the quote he gave to her and still paying $1000 for a fuel pump install is WAY too much.

[Grogador]

:thumbsdow sketchy, hard to find a good mechanic nowadays... especially if you're a woman! they get ripped off soooo bad, it is sad :barf:

[ladsauto]

To everyone on this thread:

I am a owner of LAD'S Auto Repair Ltd. and I usually handle complaints which I am proud to say are very few. As the service advisor in question is no longer working with us, it is hard for me to comment on the exact situation. I do want yourself and all our clients know that our mandate is to ensure everyone is COMPLETELY satisfied. I am dismayed to hear that you had an issue with your vehicle at our shop. Rest assured that if you would have contacted me about this last year, it would have been dealt with.

As you describe in this case, it sounds like the 2 problems were unrelated and diagnosed correctly. Proper battery voltage is necessary to run an electrical system. We test your electrical system with the most advanced equipment, so I am sure the battery diagnosis is correct. Fuel pumps can fail due to lack of fuel in the fuel tank. The fuel acts as a coolant for the pump, so if it is consistently run low, the pump module is no longer immersed in fuel and overheats. This problem can be intermittent, just like a hard drive on your computer. There is no diagnostic tool for this, we have to see the pump fail to confirm or make an "educated guess". We are reluctant to do that as we know the cost of a fuel pump service.

For your concern on the cost, I do apologize that the cost expectations were not clear. I agree that you can get a fuel pump over the counter cheaper, but then you have to install it yourself and warranty it yourself. Inherintly shop prices are going to be higher, but by comparing quality of service, quality of the part, and the warranty before making a decision is a smart move. I know that NAPA always backs us up with warranty issues.

I am not sending this out to justify what happened, but I want everyone to understand that the situation is not always as "straight forward" as it looks. I only ask that if you have future problems with service on your vehicle, please consult the shop owner before posting on a forum.

If you would like to discuss this issue, please contact myself through our contact section on our website **MOD EDIT The posting of non-sponsor contact info is prohibited**

Richard Dansereau
Co-Owner
LAD'S Auto Repair Ltd.

[snoop101]

I think this has been said many times. An employee is a face of the business. Your employee screw someone over it comes back to the business.

[dj_rice]

Why did you even bother bumping this thread up into the spotlight Lads Auto?I bet nobody even remembered about this til now so you have done worse for your company by doing that...

[FraserB]

Buddy, search for Feliks Autobody, Sean Banerjee, Jeremy Mani for enlightenment on what is coming.

I am eagerly awaiting the new meme that will be born courtesy of your business, we also know that there is always a markup on parts but 500% is highway robbery like the OP said. It seems that many places will take advantage of a womans perceived ignorance on a subject, shameful really.

[nich148_9]

Originally posted by dj_rice
Why did you even bother bumping this thread up into the spotlight Lads Auto?I bet nobody even remembered about this til now so you have done worse for your company by doing that...

There was this guy who did something similar. Gahh… I think his name was Steve. No, Sean. Sean Banerjee. :poosie:

[ladsauto]

I replied becuase I wanted that client to know that we actually do care and we are not your typical "stereotyped" shop. Our reputation is important to us. You can Google our name and this forum comes up even though it has been posted for a year. Our industry suffers a bad repuation from comments like the one that was posted. All conversations tend to be one sided. I wanted to spark a discussion on internet etiquette. "Bad-Mouthing" companies is bad form when they are not included in the thread. I hope this makes sense...

Richard

[Weapon_R]

Originally posted by ladsauto
To everyone on this thread:

I am a owner of LAD'S Auto Repair Ltd. and I usually handle complaints which I am proud to say are very few.

Richard Dansereau
Co-Owner
LAD'S Auto Repair Ltd.

Wait a minute - you charged the girl $420 to install a battery? That's pretty unethical in itself :rofl:

[FraserB]

Originally posted by Weapon_R


Wait a minute - you charged the girl $420 to install a battery? That's pretty unethical in itself :rofl:

Batteries take 2.5 hours to install, don't they?

[narou]

What is LADS AUTO? :dunno: I will never go there, that's for sure.. How the hell can a battery cost $420? Its not even close to a one hour repair on that.

[picmerollin]

Originally posted by ladsauto
I replied becuase I wanted that client to know that we actually do care and we are not your typical "stereotyped" shop. Our reputation is important to us. You can Google our name and this forum comes up even though it has been posted for a year. Our industry suffers a bad repuation from comments like the one that was posted. All conversations tend to be one sided. I wanted to spark a discussion on internet etiquette. "Bad-Mouthing" companies is bad form when they are not included in the thread. I hope this makes sense...

Richard

this is the chance you have been waiting for, you can redeem yourself. SHOW BEYOND HOW MUCH YOU CARE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON.

Give the girl back 220 of the 420 you charged her for a simple battery install, I am sure that covers your cost of both part and time. Then you can give her a fair price, or hell even a deal on the new problem.

It is stories like this that keep making my tool inventory and mechanical knowledge grow, rather than trust some **alleged**rip off artists with my car.

Also I love how you passed the buck.......that guy no longer works here- WHY DID YOU HAVE GUYS LIKE THIS IN THE FIRST PLACE???


terrible....but you may have the chance to redeem yourself to this one customer.....which in turn could turn into some good publicity.


who likes my idea?

[5G_celica]

Originally posted by ladsauto
I replied becuase I wanted that client to know that we actually do care and we are not your typical "stereotyped" shop. Our reputation is important to us. You can Google our name and this forum comes up even though it has been posted for a year. Our industry suffers a bad repuation from comments like the one that was posted. All conversations tend to be one sided. I wanted to spark a discussion on internet etiquette. "Bad-Mouthing" companies is bad form when they are not included in the thread. I hope this makes sense...

Richard

it takes more than words on a forum to fix you reputation.

just saying we care doesn't make it true.

right now all of us only see that the OP's friend got ripped off buy your shop. how about you trying to make it up to the girl that you charged $420 for a battery with with what ever you find fit. like a free oil changes for a start. doesn't cost you shop much but will help rebuild your rep.

or you can do nothing and see how badly beyond screws up your rep.

[narou]

Does Richard even have a reputation worth defending? I find it hard to believe his reputation can be hurt by this situation, as it is quite obvious he likes to rip people off.

[dirtsniffer]

if your willing to tow your car to a show for a dead battery then i guess you deserve what you get. i'm pretty sure most shops charge diagnostics, 105 bucks, getting the customer parts = profit, instal on the battery.. can run up to 4 bills pretty quick

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Originally posted by ladsauto
Our industry suffers a bad repuation from comments like the one that was posted.

Your industry has a bad reputation from charging $420 to install a battery.

Congrats on bumping a thread over a year old, though. Now that you've got everyone interested, I'm sure the word about Lad's Auto will spread much faster.

[snoop101]

Beyond should start charging bankruptcy lawyer's for there service since people on here seem to give them so much work. :D

But seriously though I feel sorry for her.

[bituerbo]

Original Post is more than a year old, so making amends is likely out of the question.

Very unfortunate about the $420 battery. Canadian Tire will diagnose a battery for free, and sell you one for about $120.
Diagnosing/installing a battery isn't 3hrs of labour. Hell a bad battery wouldn't cause a car to die on the side of the road either, it was probably a bad connection/loose terminal connector, meaning 30 seconds of wrenching would have fixed the problem. The shorting of the battery could have decreased it's life, but I highly doubt that was properly communicated to the customer.

As for the fuel pump, I wouldn't question the $189 in labour, that's actually quite a deal, but the $800 purchase price on the fuel pump is quite ridiculous. The fact that you can walk into a retail store like Mopac and buy a unit of equal (or in this case, better) quality for 1/5 of the price of what you're selling it at is also very unfortunate.

[Kloubek]

Hi Richard,

I think it is wonderful that you signed up so you could apologize to this customer. But let's face it - it was also to save face for your company. Otherwise, you could have just pm'd the customer. I'm not faulting you for this; I would have done the same in your position. Let's just not candy coat the whole thing ok? For the record, as someone else suggested, it would have been in your best interests just to let the thread die.

I agree that the two incidents are unrelated, and diagnosed correctly. And the fact that the employee in charge at the time is no longer with your company is great.

I don't think humans strive to screw people over, but some will sometimes do so if there is a benefit to themselves. In this case, I can only imagine the benefit would have been to a) pocket the extra cash himself, or b) he was expected to charge as much as possible for the work he did... as a company directive. As the owner, I suppose that would make it *your* directive.

I am not sure if the OP had the same receipt as you would have been given for your own records, but I'm going to venture to guess the latter is the more likely of the two scenarios. I think everyone here would agree that the cost of a battery plus install should never be even remotely close to that amount. Unless the OP was lying... which I find quite unlikely. Or, of course, his girlfriend purchased a top-of-the-line gel battery to use in her stereo competitions. A detail I also find unlikely... though remotely plausible.

The fuel pump is a little more difficult to figure out. It is pretty damning that the service tech couldn't explain the cost breakdown unless he was indeed overcharging. Still, it is possible that your shop just happened to purchase the part at a place which was the most expensive, rather than trying to save the customer money by checking alternate sources. Not the best way to do business, but at least not an outright scam.

Any way you look at these two individual instances, it does indeed appear that your shop dropped the ball in both cases.... to which you've already apologized. Unfortunately, the apology is not going to put a half grand back into the pocket of your customer who was quite obviously taken for a ride here. I am also one of the voices who believes your garage should do more than (in short), say... "oops. Sorry 'bout that" as an attempted rectification.

[ladsauto]

Hey everyone,

Thank you for your replies, the interent and Beyond definately works! As it was so long ago, I was not quite sure who the client was that we were dealing with. Just for everyone's information, our battery installations have never totalled $420.00 - there are other items on this bill. Depending on the quality of the battery, battery installations start around the $150.00 mark.

Having said this, I have probed our database to try to find out who it was. I have since contacted that client to discuss and resolve the situation. They will be well taken care of. If at all possible, I will ask them to post a reply to say the situation has been resolved. I hope that if any of you have an issue with a shop, be it dealership or independent, please bring it right to the owner's attention and it will get resolved quickly, most are sympathetic to this type of situation. Again, we appreciate all your comments.

Richard

[adidas]

Well there is another shop for me to avoid that i had no clue about before.

[Kloubek]

Originally posted by adidas
Well there is another shop for me to avoid that i had no clue about before.

Personally, I'm waiting to see how it plays out for the customer before condemning the shop.

[spike98]

Originally posted by adidas
Well there is another shop for me to avoid that i had no clue about before.

Judging by his last post i will be reserving my judgment untill after the customer post here.

If he indeed do something for the woman a year later i would label this shop to be reputable.

[snoop101]

Originally posted by spike98


Judging by his last post i will be reserving my judgment untill after the customer post here.

If he indeed do something for the woman a year later i would label this shop to be reputable.

He probably spent some time reading other threads and didnt want to end up like them. He should have brought this up a year ago when it happened and fixed it then, not after the shit hits the fan.

[KyleTA]

Originally posted by snoop101

He should have brought this up a year ago when it happened and fixed it then, not after the shit hits the fan.

Read the thread... he obviously didn't see the thread until now which is why he responded and is attempting to reslove it...

[adidas]

Originally posted by Kloubek


Personally, I'm waiting to see how it plays out for the customer before condemning the shop.

Hes only trying to make it better as he knows his shop can burn down in a matter of minutes with beyond.

Anyone that charges someone 420 dollars for battery and terminal replacement and 1200 for a fuel pump has tried and succeeded ripping someone off already before. Him making it "right" this time around doesn't add up for all those other ppl that left with a smaller wallet.

[Weapon_R]

I don't think anyone should jump the gun. He wasn't told about the issue when it happened, as per the OP. We also don't know exactly what the $420 was for, although the OP told us it was terminals and a battery (and maybe an hour of diagnosis).

Either way, it's rare for an owner to come on and actually address the problem once he became aware of it. For that, I'm reluctant to say anything bad about the shop. Sure beats the others who hide and ignore, hoping the issue will go away.

For the record, my dad ended up spending about that much one time for a fuel pump in his Blazer. Some pumps are just really expensive and some cars take a while to fix. Shops don't have the time to order their parts off ebay or drive around looking for cheaper aftermarket parts.

[adidas]

Originally posted by Weapon_R
I don't think anyone should jump the gun. He wasn't told about the issue when it happened, as per the OP. We also don't know exactly what the $420 was for, although the OP told us it was terminals and a battery (and maybe an hour of diagnosis).

Either way, it's rare for an owner to come on and actually address the problem once he became aware of it. For that, I'm reluctant to say anything bad about the shop. Sure beats the others who hide and ignore, hoping the issue will go away.

For the record, my dad ended up spending about that much one time for a fuel pump in his Blazer. Some pumps are just really expensive and some cars take a while to fix. Shops don't have the time to order their parts off ebay or drive around looking for cheaper aftermarket parts.

Shops have connections to parts...there is plenty of sites that cater to all types of vehicles that store parts in a warehouse. If needed it can be delivered in a few hours or you could also go pick it up. A part that would cost you 100 costs them 40 bux approx.

So sure maybe a sunflower needs a expensive fuel pump which i highly doubt but for it to be 800 isnt right, although the shops do throw in their own markup on the parts.

[snoop101]

Originally posted by KyleTA


Read the thread... he obviously didn't see the thread until now which is why he responded and is attempting to reslove it...

No im sorry, but if im a business owner and at the end of the day or even month when I do my paper work and see that one of my employees ripped someone off I would do something right away.

[Mr_ET]

Originally posted by adidas


Hes only trying to make it better as he knows his shop can burn down in a matter of minutes with beyond.

Anyone that charges someone 420 dollars for battery and terminal replacement and 1200 for a fuel pump has tried and succeeded ripping someone off already before. Him making it "right" this time around doesn't add up for all those other ppl that left with a smaller wallet.

I would agree with this.

Even $150 which the business owner quoted is a total rippoff to install a battery unless it includes the price of the battery.

[CUG]

Richard, I have ball joints I need installed.. and an alignment...

[jljhlhl]

While I can't comment for what has gone on in this situation, I will say that my father and I have used Lad's in the past several times for fairly small jobs, since our work is just a block or two away and have always been pleased with them. :dunno:

[Kloubek]

Originally posted by Mr_ET


I would agree with this.

Even $150 which the business owner quoted is a total rippoff to install a battery unless it includes the price of the battery.

I believe that is what he meant; that the install included the battery. We all know it takes all of 2 minutes to install a battery... so I'd say something like $110 for the battery, $40 for the install. Not unreasonable at all.


I'm sure he does want to save his business reputation. But wouldn't you all too? He obviously didn't see the thread until now - and (granted, after the urging of our members) he is doing something to rectify the situation. Being that it was so long ago, I think that is a very good gesture.

Now, if he refused to do anything about it (as we've seen some businesses/people "fighting" Beyond), then there would be reason to make an incident out of it. But the fact is, we don't know what other charges might possibly have been on the bill. We don't know jack except what the OP has told us, and we're also assuming he's not embelishing at all. There are too many unanswered questions for any reasonable person to pass judgment at this point, in my opinion.

Hey, I'm the first one to get FULL enjoyment over Beyond ripping people and businesses apart. When it is warranted. We really don't know either way at this point. Did the shop make mistakes? Almost certainly. But that is ALL we know for sure, and I'm also sure we don't live in a perfect world where businesses are mistake-free.

Richard, please inform us what you have done to rectify the situation. I realize it is ultimately none of our business, but since you have bumped this thread and made many people aware of the situation, it is now in the public eye and will be scrutinized accordingly.