Reviews

Review Details

• Review fromMischa T

  Date: 16/08/2022

  1 star

  Mischa T

  Date: 16/08/2022

  Since 2018, we have been regular Instamek customers for all of our car needs, as well as Prime members of Instamek services. Due to situation we just experienced with Instamek, that has all now changed.-An Instamek mechanic damaged our starter by hitting it multiple times with a hammer -Instamek staff, all the way up to the president, denied that a dented and damaged starter needed to be replaced -Instamek refused to pay for the replacement of our damaged starter. Instead, they blamed us that we did not insist that Instamek replace it... even though Instamek had denied the obvious damage and the need for a new starter. Yet, we were still to blame, somehow.-Instamek seems to feel that it is okay to return a car to their customers in worse condition. Instamek seems to feel that a dented starter, considered damaged and unreliable by other mechanics, is no problem. Instamek seems to think its just fine to send customers on the road with components damaged by Instamek staff.-As we tried to deal with this situation with Instamek, all of the staff we spoke to, right up to the president of the company, denied their responsibility, blamed us as the customer, and did not attempt to empathize, understand, or work with us towards a resolution. We didnt even receive an apology until the very end, when we informed the president that we hadnt received one in the whole encounter.-There are so many things that were done wrong in this situation. Instamek demonstrated incompetence in dealing with our car and disinterest in doing right by their customer, whose car they had damaged. As such, they failed both in terms of mechanics ability and their customer service, and we will not be dealing with them any longer. We would recommend that others dont as well, in order to avoid a similar situation and end up paying for their mistakes. Other reviews here show this is not the first time Instamek has made mistakes and refused to help their customers. Terrible company.

  instaMek

  Date: 17/08/2022

  Hi Misha - we understand that you didn't have a good experience with us on your last job and we apologize for not living up to the standards we set ourselves. However - you've been unfair with us from the start which you have left out in your review.1) The starter didn't need to be replaced. It was functioning and it the other technician speculated it needed to be replaced. There was a scratch on it from the video that I saw which I will agree with. When we asked to see the starter in person you refused to show it. 2) When you bought up the starter was damaged to us - we asked for the technicians name at the other dealership where we could speak to their technician because we didn't think the starter needed to be replaced. You also started this conversation with us threatening to write negative reviews everywhere, as you've done in the past before unless we do exactly what you ask of. 3) You didn't want us talking to the technician and then proceeded with his recommendation to replace the starter. When you made that decision - you took full responsibility for it. You say the other mechanics called it damaged and unreliable - then why not let us talk to him to see what he means if we were expected to pay for it?4) Even though the starter functioned fine - we still gave you a reimbursement of *our cost* to replace the starter which you have left out in your review. 5) In a previous job with us, you selected All Season Tires to be put on your vehicle. Then in the winter when the all season tires didn't perform as well you blamed us and threatened us with negative reviews everywhere if we didn't replace your perfectly functioning all season tires for winter tires. We took the hit on the tires and replaced them to you for free but at this point we had to decide we could not bend over backwards for you by paying the dealership rate for the starter when you chose to go with them. When you say that we don't help others - that's not true. We have so many 5 star reviews and only a few 1 star reviews - the vast majority of who haven't used our services. In this case - we did help you but you left that out in your review because it wasn't the full amount at another shop where you accepted their recommendation and wouldn't let us speak to the other technician or even see the starter ourselves.

  Mischa T

  Date: 27/08/2022

  The response from Instamek to my earlier review only serves to reinforce my earlier review- In this response, from the company's president, they continue to not take responsibility and blame the customer. *****, the company president, told me that he is not a mechanic. I wonder then, how he is qualified to assess that the starter was only scratched? Again, this shows that Instamek will not take responsibility- the dealership mechanics, as well as other mechanics that we showed the videos to, identified it as 'dented and damaged'. Unqualified Instamek staff call it a scratch- this sounds like not taking responsibility for the damage caused. Further, it means that actual damage to a car is not taken seriously by Instamek- very, very concerning.The response from Instamek also demonstrates the ongoing blaming of the customer- although we gave ********************** access to the videos showing the damage to the starter and the dealership's report, they blame us for not giving them the starter itself as the reason why they did not pay for the damage Instamek caused to it. The videos were enough for other mechanics to clearly ***** the damage to the starter, but Instamek instead passes on the blame to the customer...The response from ********************** does not show their interest in making it right with the customer, and only further serves to demonstrate the way they do business- deflecting responsibility however they can. It only emphasizes more how problematic it is to do business with this company, and my recommendation to go elsewhere for your mechanic needs.