First of all, I hate writing negative reviews, especially for businesses that have high ratings. I later find their one star reviews here on Yelp, and they sound a lot like what I went through with Bristows.
On 8/25/25, after talking to Bob at Bristow's, we arranged to have our 2001 Dodge Caravan towed from our island to have our electrical system fixed, which had gone dead. On 8/27/25, the lady at the front desk called and said that it needed a new battery, alternator, and serpentine belt, and the charges were to be $1020.00, which we thought was pretty high. We told her that we only had $1800.00 to spend for the total electrical repair (which was all we could afford). 8/28/25, Bob called and said the van was ready.
On 8/29/25, we arrived to get the van and reviewed the invoice, which was a surprise. It was for $1885.72. We noticed the following:
1. Labor was $400.00 for a diagnostic (this is twice what most garages charge).
2. They charged $321.36 for a new battery and charged $136.00 for labor to remove the old battery and put in a new one (which usually only takes about 15 minutes).
3. They said they needed to replace the serpentine belt (which was replaced in 2023), and charged us $81.83 for the new belt. We requested to have the old belt (which, subsequently, after showing the belt to two other garages, we were told that the belt didn't need to be replaced).
4. We wanted to take the old battery with us and were charged $83.40 for not leaving the old battery core. We checked with both Interstate Battery Co. and Costco (where we bought the battery from), and they said they only charge $5.00 to $20.00 for a core. Showing what Bristow's charged us brought looks of disbelief and eye rolls from them.
5. We were charged $72.02 for 'shop supplies, and the lady at the counter explained that this was for things like 'using shop towels,' etc. That's a lot of towels...
6. But here's the clincher...After picking up my van (I had to pay and sign for the van before I had this repair bill worked out, or they would charge me $100 a day if I left it on their lot after they said it was ready). After driving a half a block down the street, we noticed that all of the instrument panel lights were off, the heater didn't work, and the electric windows didn't work. I called Bob and told him, and he said they could look at it, but it would cost us $200 for the diagnostic test only, which didn't include repairs! After telling him that the reason we brought the van to them was to fix the electrical problem, and it wasn't fixed. His response was that at least the van was starting, as if that was the only thing they needed to fix...for $1885.72.
Solution: We found a well rated auto electrical place about two miles down the street, and they fixed the problem for $320.00. We showed him the Bristow's invoice, and his comment was, "Boy...that's just wrong. All they needed to do after getting the van started was to check the fuses under the hood to see that a few of them were blown." But they didn't check. I don't think they took it for a test drive.
If Bristow's had driven the van after getting it started, they would have noticed that the instrument panel wasn't working, checked the fuses, and fixed the problem.
But their excuse was they got it started again...and charged us $1885.72 for a battery, belt, and a rebuilt alternator plus labor.
These folks might do well with exotic car folks, but we think we, regular folks, were taken to the cleaners.
Resolution? I would like to see them man up and refund the $834.00 in labor they charged, or some reasonable refund. read more