Kost Tire/Auto Care

Kost Tire/Auto Care BAD Experience w/ Kost Rochester, New York

28th of Dec, 2010 by User991446

I just had a very unpleasant experience with a local Kost shop. So unpleasant that I feel the need to follow up with it. I took my vehicle in for a yearly inspection on Monday November 1, 2010 and was informed that the following repairs, at a cost of $974, were required. 1. Replacement of lower ball joints (parts under warranty, labor not, and ?extensive'), 2. Brake release lever needed (incl. ?extensive labor' because they had to get up under my dashboard), and 3. Driver side mirror. I questioned the need for new lower balls joints since they were replaced at the same Kost shop one year ago. I was told my warranty only covered parts not labor. After speaking with a few people I work with it was suggested I take it to another shop to get a second opinion. I called Kost and told them NOT to do the work, and that I wanted to get a second opinion. When I went to pick my car up, Kost had scraped the inspection sticker off my car. Fortunately, I was able to take my vehicle to another repair shop for a second opinion the following morning. This shop fixed by emergency brake with a little lubrication (the manager of the auto shop told me that Kost was just trying to sell me a part I didn't need), and informed me that my ball joints failed because they were improperly installed. It was the opinion of the 2nd repair shop that I take the vehicle back to the Kost shop because the lower ball joints were under warranty and was told Kost should do the warranty work and should not charge me to do it. I did take it back to Kost on Wednesday, along with a letter from the shop I got the 2nd opinion from, and spoke with Drew, the manager. He asked if he could take my vehicle back in and look at it personally. He came and got my vehicle from the lot where I work. A couple of hours later Drew called me and told me that the emergency brake did indeed work. However, they still would not replace my ball joints under warranty, even though they were installed improperly. They cut me a deal by replacing the hardware in them, instead of replacement. Drew, the manager, said he saved me 1.5 hours of labor by doing the ball joints that way. Basically I was told that he could have my car inspected for $313.00 THAT DAY. I obviously needed the sticker so I told him to go ahead with that work, in order to have my vehicle inspected and legal. I later realized that the only parts that WERE under warranty weren't going to be replaced, just fixed up. They also put some cut out mylar (like the shiny mylar balloons) on my driver side mirror, at a cost of $41.00. I looked up the cost of replacing the side mirror and the part would have only been $16.00. It looked like shit. I've been a very loyal customer over many years, finding the 6 month 0% interest credit card helpful when hit with an unexpected repair bill. This time I really feel I was taken advantage of. I've talked with three other repair shops and they all tell me that ball joints should not wear out after one year and less than 13,000 miles. I also question the fact that they wanted to replace the emergency brake release lever, even though I did not need it done. I've attached backup information for your review. As much as I do love to have six months to pay off a high repair bill, I'm not sure if I will take my vehicle back after this, as the trust that was built is teetering. I really think I should be refunded my money. ---- The above letter (with the backup) has been sent to the NY Operations Manager, Dan Getter in November 2010, and then after hearing nothing back I sent it the President and Vice President of Kost at the beginning of December 2010. It is now almost the new year and I have heard NOTHING back from anyone from Kost. They used to have a great customer, now I, along with everyone I work with and know, will not be getting any new business in the future.

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