I'm not much of a Yelper or reviewer of any sort but when someone goes to such great lengths to do something for me, I cannot withhold sharing my gratitude (with the public) any longer! Sorry 3B's, I owed you this review for a looong time now....like years ago!
I have been using Ian (figuratively speaking) almost exclusively for 10 years since he first worked at Automotive Engineering Kona (he had just left Orchid Isle Ford). Being a Ford guy my whole life, I was super stoked that there was a Ford "specialist" at A.E.K. that was going to work on my Ford car and truck (Mustang GT / and F150 ) going forward. I was always very satisfied with the work that had been done on my vehicles at that point at A.E.K.
It wasn't until Ian opened 3B's around the corner did I now start taking all my vehicles exclusively to 3 B's (including company vehicles). What I really want to emphasize about Ian (and his wife Denny) is that he really cares about his customers and that caring was evidenced so many times over the years. One time Ian had serviced my drag car- a supercharged mustang GT convertible, and when I got it home, I thought I had a serious problem with the supercharger that he had serviced earlier in the day. After calling Ian and describing the problem, he took no chances by having me drive the vehicle back to him at the shop....he brought tools and came to my house in the evening after work and worked on the car! A mechanic (with a brick and mortar store front) came to my house in the evening instead of making me pay for a tow truck to bring the car to him because he was genuinely concerned! Amazing, really! Turned out there was nothing wrong, I had just misread the fluid level in the supercharger thinking it was out of fluid (it was soo clear, was hard to see). For my error in reading the fluid level, Ian didn't charge me for the service call to my house even though it was my mistake.
From brake jobs to alternator replacements to pretty much any kind of repair that I've needed, Ian and team 3B's has done it for me. Even the really difficult repairs like changing 8 hopelessly "stuck" spark plugs (the original plugs had been in the Ford truck for 10 years and 120,000 miles), Ian was able to extract all of 8 of them, including 3-4 of the broken ones! Not any mechanic can do that, they were broken off in the heads. He has really put new life into that vehicle (2004 Ford 150 4x4)!
The final straw came last week which compelled me to finally write this review.....
I was on my way to Costco to have 4 tires installed on the 2004 Ford 150 when just as I pulled into their parking lot my battery light came on.... so I called Ian to see what it meant. He advised me my alternator was not charging and that I'm running off the battery. He could get me in on Monday to replace it (it was a Friday). Well, when my tires were done being mounted and it was time to drive away, the truck would not start up...the battery was completely drained and dead. The Costco tire center team could care less, they wanted my truck out of their bay so they could start their next job (how compassionate!). In a panic, I called Ian. He dropped what he was doing and left his shop with tools AND a battery to get me out of there but it didn't end there....Instead of replacing my alternator on Monday, he had me go straight to his shop, he gave me his truck so I could go home after the Costco fiasco and then he proceeded to install a new alternator in my truck! It was all pau at 4:30.....same day, Friday!
That was one of the most incredibly nice things ANYONE has done for me.....he rescued me from being completely stuck with a dead vehicle at Costco, dead alternator, dead battery (and braindead!!) AND gave me his own vehicle to use, then proceeded to fixed mine!!
Howz that!! To top it off, when I brought his truck back and picked mine up, I left Ian a cash gratuity in his vehicle. When he found it, he refused to take it stating that my business as a customer was gratuity enough. There's not many people on this Island with that kind of generosity and aloha!
Not only is Ian a top notch mechanic, his customer service skills are second to none! As far as I'm concerned, Ian and 3B's has my business for life!
Thank you very much Ian (and Denny) for all you do.
Sincerely,
Mark C.
(Former Owner Kona Jet Ski Rentals & Manta Ray Dives of Hawaii/Neptune Charlie's) read more