On Friday 10/7 the battery warning light came on in my truck. I had this happen before in another vehicle and was nearly certain it meant my alternator had gone bad. I dropped the truck off at Foothill Car Care on Sunday 10/9, and in the drop envelope I included a note that the battery light had come on, and that I thought it was an alternator problem.
Come mid-morning on Monday 10/10, having heard nothing from Foothill, I swung by the shop to find out what was going on. I have used Foothill in the past and had always received a phone call with at least a verbal estimate before any work was done.
I interacted with the shop receptionist [ I believe her name is Tammy ] and to my surprise discovered the work was already completed, but the truck battery was still on charge. The bigger, unpleasant surprise, however, was when I was told the bill came to $548.05!!
I voiced my strong objection to the $343.20 charge for the alternator, but was told "that's what the alternator costs" [ it isn't, of course, it's just what Foothill charged ]. I use my truck for work, and as the repair was already done I felt I had no option but to pay, if I wanted my truck back.
Feeling entirely taken advantage of, and being certain that Foothill's parts supplier was Bart Industries [ Riebes ], I decided to do some sleuthing. I went to Riebes in GV and inquired as to alternators for my make, year, and model of truck. Although Foothill's invoice says they use only new parts unless arranged for otherwise, I obtained pricing for both new and rebuilt alternators.
On Tuesday, I went to Foothill once again to voice my continuing sticker shock, and my displeasure at the amount of the bill, and asked to know what make and model alternator they had installed. This time I dealt with Andrew Brocke, official title or position unknown, although Foothill Car Care is a family business and I believe he is a member of said family.
Mr. Brocke pulled up the service record in their computer, said he didn't know the answer to my question, but he would find out and call me. Getting the feeling that this was unlikely for some reason, I took the step of writing down the numbers on the label attached to my new alternator, and returned to Riebes. The parts clerk at Riebes immediately identified it as a new, 130 amp alternator retailing for $172.00, or one half of what Foothill had charged me. For a part that they did not modify or improve in any way, but simply installed, Foothill had hit me with a 100% mark up. My truck can take either a less expense, 95 amp alternator, or a more expensive, 130 amp one - unfortunately, as I hadn't requested the return of all replaced parts, I'll never know if Foothill upgraded my alternator in order to be able to charge me more.
I know that auto repair shops mark up their parts, but I was unwilling to settle for eating a 100% increase. I did some online research and found information that 20% to 40% of the retail price [ and Foothill certainly paid less ] is a reasonable mark up. I decided to split the difference, and calculated a 30% mark up on the retail price of the alternator, which would have resulted in a bill adjustment in my favor of $119 and change.
I returned to Foothill on Wednesday 10/12 and encountered Mr. Brocke once again, with the intent of appealing to his sense of fairness in adjusting my bill to a reasonable mark up on the alternator.
On seeing me, Mr. Brocke stated that he had not had time to get me the information I'd asked for. I replied that I had felt I would not be hearing from him, and knowing his parts supplier was Bart Industries, I had taken matters into my own hands and had already determined which alternator had been put in my truck, and knew that they'd doubled the cost to me.in the course of what unfortunately ended up being a heated exchange, Mr. Brocke verbally acknowledged to me that yes, he had never intended to call me with the information I'd requested of him the previous day, and that I was at fault for not doing my homework before bringing the truck to them. Never, at any time, did he deny that they had charged me a 100% mark up on the alternator.
I advised Mr. Brocke that the stance he was taking was a very bad public relations move, and did he really want to go this way? He respond "we're done", and walked away.
I left to purchase supplies, and returned to Foothill Car Care approximately an hour later with signs, and began picketing FCC. There are no sidewalks on Maltman Dr.in front of FCC, so I remained in the street and did not trespass. I wasn't there more than 5 minutes before an employee I had not dealt with previously came out to intimidate me, and "got in my face" in the street, getting virtually nose to nose with me and peppering me with personal questions completely irrelevant to the situation, such as did I work, where did I work, etc. I replied that his questions were irrelevant to the situation of them gouging me, and continued picketing.
The employee eventually left, but came back outside several minutes later and turned on the water sprinklers servicing the grass fronting the street, I can only assume as another form of intimidation, although I was off Foothill's property and unaffected by them. Mr. Brocke also came outside several times to yell at me and again peppered me with personal questions unrelated to the situation. Mr. Brocke stated on one of these occasions that if I ever came on their property again, he would call the police and have me arrested.
I have filed a complaint report with the California Bureau of Automotive Repair.
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