I was employed as a service manager for Collinsworth Car Care for a period of 2 months. During my employment, I saw several dishonest work practes, not only condoned, but instructed to do so by the owner. A small business owner by the name of GAC Air Conditioning, brought his Ford F series desiel van to the shop. He was having problems with the van not being able to accelerate. The engine would run, but when you pushed the gas pedal, nothing happened. The master tech told the owner that it was either the vehicles computer, or the throttle control module. They kept the van for 2 days. Told the customer that the computer had caused the throttle control module to go out and that both needed to be replaced. The customer was told that it would cost 1400.00 to 1800.00 dollars to repair the vehicle. The customer, upset, agreed to the repair cost.
The parts were ordered and installed. This did not solve the problem. Rather than admitting to the customer that they did not know what was wrong with the vehicle, they continued to string him along by saying the parts had not yet arrived. The tech took the new parts off, re-installed the old parts and continued to search for the problem. It turns out, there is some type of limit switch attached to the underside of the dash. The tech reset the switch and the problem was fixed. He applied a black zip-tie around the accelerator pedal arm and smeared black silicon to cover it up. They told the customer that they replaced both the vehicles computer and the throttle control module and the customer was charged the 1400.00 to 1800.00 dollars for a zip-tie and silicon. The same shop had a service contract with all of SBC's service vehicles in the area.
The same tech, while writing up a repair order for one of SBC's trucks, stated that it needed new brakes on the front and rear. The owner was calling in the repair order for authorization to make the repairs, when he was informed that the truck had had new brakes installed on the front less that 6 weeks ago. He told the owner he was coming down to inspect them himself and would be there in an hour. The owner walked out and asked the tech about the brakes and if he had removed the wheel to inspect them. The tech responded by saying, No, I just looked through the wheel. The owner asked him to remove the wheel. The wheel was removed and sure enough, brand new brake pads on the front. The owner instructed the tech to remove the pads and grind them down. I had been wittness to several acts of dishonest deeds commited by Collinsworth Car Care. What really bothers me the most is that he is taking advantage of senior citizens who are on limited incomes.
For you folks in the Garland area, there are 2 shops in the area with the same name of Collinsworth. The one mentioned here is on Saturn Rd off off Miller. The owners name is Greg. The biggest joke of all... He proudly displays a plaque that states he is a member of the Better Business Bureau.
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