Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/06/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I brought my car, a BMW, to this business to have my bumper replaced. I had recently received a quote for brakes and rotors from the BMW dealership ($1300) & asked them to provide me a quote while it was there to see if it may save me some money. They provided me a quote of approx. $980 so I brought my car back to them for the service. Upon picking my car up, I discovered the brake fluid was over serviced & took about another hour. When i was driving home I noticed a lot of excess smoke for the next two days than new brakes/rotors should give you. There was a grinding/rubbing sound every time I braked. I brought my car back in. The mechanic agreed there was too much smoke & then “ran the h**l out of it” & said it was definitely not right &should not be making that sound. They told me they had issues with the aftermarket brake pads they used &ordered new ones under warranty. The second time I picked it up they said that the calipers were just dirty and that was the sound. Upon driving it the rubbing/grinding of the brakes was even worse this time. I did not want to bring my car back at this point but was $980 invested. The shop told me that if I wanted the correct brake pads for my car it would cost me an additional $800 for parts alone. When I called, Steph said that “they have issues with this brand but she better not say any more”. This put me at $1780 now, almost $500 over the dealership. I received a quote from BMW for these same parts plus labor &it was just over $500. This was just not adding up. I asked for a refund for the bad parts I paid for &they said they only guaranteed their work not the parts. I did not trust them to perform the work at the point or want to pay any more. I would like a refund as the job was not done correctly/I was not given the correct parts then they tried to charge me much more to fix their mistakes &they could not fix it or seemed to know how. I do not feel safe driving this car with children knowing the brakes are not correct.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/18/2023

  Thank you for reaching out to us concerning the report you received from **** with regard to the brake service performed at Hamlin's Automotive on her BMW. 
  The following background information provides context around the received report: 
  **** brought her vehicle to Hamlin's Automotive for brake service on (insert date here). After discussing the options available, **** elected to use aftermarket brake components on both the front and rear of her vehicle because they were most cost effective. 

  
  Brake components were ordered from PPi Automotive with whom we do business regularly. 
  The work was completed in a timely manner and the car was delivered on (insert date here). The total bill for the job was $935.84. 
  After several weeks, **** contacted Hamlin's Automotive to report the brakes were making noise. She was scheduled for a same day appointment to bring the car back in at 2:30pm on Friday, (insert date here). 

  
  **** did not arrive for the appointment until 4:30pm. Her late arrival did not provide enough time to diagnose and complete the job. She was scheduled for an appointment for the following week. 
  **** did not show up for her appointment scheduled for (insert date here). Her appointment was rescheduled for (insert date here). 
  **** brought her vehicle in on (insert date here). The brake components were replaced under warranty by PPI Automotive and Hamlin's Automotive performed the work at no additional cost to ****. 
  **** once again contacted Hamlin's Automotive stating she was not satisfied with the brakes. We suggested that she use OEM brakes from the dealer because she was not satisfied with the aftermarket brake components she originally selected. 

  
  **** was told she would need to pay an additional $799.98 for the OEM brake components which represented the difference in cost between the aftermarket components and OEM components. 
  
  The OEM brake components were ordered and delivered to Hamlin's Automotive, but **** did not respond. The OEM components were eventually returned to the dealership. In summary, **** only paid for the services performed and the original aftermarket brake components installed on her vehicle. Hamlin's Automotive agreed to install the OEM brake components on the car only charging for the difference in cost between the aftermarket components and OEM components which equalled $799.98. It is our professional opinion that Hamlin's Automotive is not obligated to provide a refund for any part of the job performed as the customer received what was paid for in the way of aftermarket brake components and 
  installation. 

  
  Thank you,

  Stephanie B**** 
  Hamlin's Automotive 
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/18/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  
  I was never made aware or agreed to aftermarket brake pads. I was given a verbal quote with no details or alternate options of brake pads (i.e. aftermarket parts will cost you x, or we can order the dealer brake pads for x). I initially asked if they could beat the dealer quote so I assumed it was utilizing the same parts. There was no mention of “we can only if we use aftermarket parts but if we use the same parts on your dealer quote it will be $300 over theirs”. Which ended up being the case in the end. The aftermarket parts were faulty/defective/or not compatible with my vehicle and multiple people at the shop stated this after the fact and said they had been having issues with that manufacturer. After having multiple issues besides the bad brake pads that caused me to wait for my car longer while they made on the site maintenance corrections that I caught and bringing it back in only to once again have grinding, rubbing brakes again, I obviously lost confidence in this repair shop. I especially was not going to agree to give them another $800 on top of what I already had paid whenever the BMW professional mechanics quoted me only $500 including the labor. This shop made it sound like they were doing me a favor charging me for parts only. It simply was not making sense or adding up. I told them at this point I was not comfortable bringing my car back for a third time especially when the specialist would replace the parts for much less. My biggest concern was now entrusting this mechanic with the safety of my car which serves as my only mode of transport for my children. I did not trust using the vehicle during this time knowing the brake pads were confirmed or even suspected to be faulty. I did ask for a refund for parts plus labor for the defective brake pads (which they agreed to be defective and/or not right for my vehicle). I do not feel I should have to pay for a job that was ultimately not done right or completed that I now have to pay to get redone. I also feel it is agreeable and fair to not want this shop to continue to waste my time or work on my car again when they do not seem to be fixing the problem and are price gouging in order to preform the job correctly now which was never part of the understanding or deal. I feel as if I was caught in a corner here. It was a simple and common service that should not have had all of these issues and complications, which has wasted my valuable time and money. 

  
  

  Concerning the claim that it took me “weeks to initially report this”, I did call about the smoke and then was away for 2 weeks for a business trip immediately after which I did tell them about. When I resumed to driving the car I did drive it a few times to see if it was just a new brake issue but it continued to get more evident and worse. I also was a little late picking the car up due to work, again something I confirmed with them, but this would not have changed the fact or made it any less time consuming that I noticed my brake fluid pressure was too high and that they needed to drain it and try to reset the system. 
  
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  **** *******