In my car developed a leak in the coolant system due to the corrosive qualities of Dex-Cool antifreeze. The temperature gauge was spiking up and down. I brought my car to Surgical Auto in Mount Vernon, NY. I had known them for years, and was told that they were excellent mechanics, although far from cheap. Since I wanted any repairs to be done correctly, I gave them my car.
After paying them over $2,000 for repairs I later was told by another local mechanic should have been considerably less, I picked up my car. My daughter asked, "Daddy, what happened to the side of the car?" I looked, and saw a bad scratch on the left door that was not there before.
The owners of the shop, Donald and Sandy (husband and wife) told me three different stories over the next week. First, Donald said that they had neglected to inspect my car's body for damages before taking it in. Then, he told me to come in and they would take care of it. Then, they reversed this and Sandy told me that, lo and behold, one of their workers had examined the body of the car prior to taking it in, and that there had been no scratch.
I asked Sandy repeatedly to furnish the name of the worker so that I could talk to him/her. She has yet to respond.
The shop sends out hundreds of mailings each month. I told them that the reason they maintain such an extensive mailing campaign in a word-of-mouth business is that they rip off the customers they have, then are forced to go out and find more.
After all, if they would overcharge a friend, accept over $2,000 and then refuse to make good on a lousy scratch my car sustained while in their possession, what would they do to a stranger?!?
If you are in this area of New York, avoid Surgical Auto at all costs. There are reputable repair shops in New York. Unfortunately, Surgical Auto is not one of them.
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