If I could give a -1 review I would! Buckle up, this review will be lengthy. I promise I'm not a Karen, and only complain when it's absolutely necessary to help others avoid the horrible experience we had with Joe, the business owner.
I had initially communicated with Joe via messenger as I had found him on FB. He was wonderful, communicated well and seemed trustworthy. I was trying to get a car starter installed for my son as an early Christmas gift as a surprise. I made this very clear to Joe right away. I live in Ramsey, which is 1 hour and 8 minutes away from his residence. My plan was to have my husband and I secretly pick up my son's car from high school, drop it off in Lakeville, have the starter installed and pick it up in time to drive it back up to school to surprise him. We had to drive back up north to Rogers for my husband's doctors appointment right after drop off. Also, please note, I had made arrangements for my ex-husband and his wife to meet us at the high school to surprise our son as we were going in on the cost. I was told the instal would take 2-3 hours. We made the appointment and he had said that he'd text me the night before to confirm. That should have been my first red flag, I texted him instead, no response. I gave him the benefit of doubt that we were still on as I received an official scheduling text with the address and all of the information. During our conversations days prior, I told him I'd drop off at 8:45 and needed it by 12:45 at the latest to get back up north in time. He said, no problem. I was very clear about the timeframe and our plans and communicated this several times, he continued to assure me that it would be no problem. We were giving him 4 hours even though he said it would take 2-3 hours.
Fast forward to 1220ish. I had texted Joe first asking the status as we were in the area early just in case it was ready. No response. I then called him, no response. We were circling the neighborhood and drove by seeing that the truck was where we had left it (started getting worried). Within a couple of minutes, Joe called back. He proceeded to tell me that he had "not even touched my truck yet". I was in disbelief and said hold on I'm almost there. As we rounded the corner, we saw him leave the garage. I walked up to him and said "are you kidding me!?" Trying to hold back my tears. I also said "you couldn't have just called me to tell me?!" My husband was standing next to me by then and he was not happy. Joe put his head down and said "do you want to know the truth?!" To be honest, I didn't care what excuse I'd hear coming out of his mouth at that point. He proceeded to tell us that he's "an alcoholic ". I'll be honest, my husband didn't take his excuse well and made it very clear to him yelling out that his personal problems were not our problems and that he's running a business. I admit, swear words were used, he was not called any, but the F bomb was used in general. Joe proceeded to ask my husband why he had to be so "harsh". Here's the deal, sorry that you're struggling with an addiction, but like my husband said, that's not your customers' problem. We LITERALLY wasted over 4 hours of driving and gas! And 2 of those hours were gas for 2 vehicles! Not to mention our time and my husband's day off. Oh, and time off for my ex to meet us at the school at a certain time for the surprise. We were/are livid! Perhaps get some help before you run your business. Clearly if you're admitting and advertising that you're an alcoholic, not many people will want to do business with you as it may indicate a lack of reliability (case in point). To make matters worse, he couldn't find the key to his lockbox that we had dropped the keys into. So we had to wait and then watch him pry his lockbox open to give us the keys.
I see now he has several 5 star reviews from a year plus ago. I'm sure he does a good job, when he actually decides to do the job. I also see the 2 star that the young lady left. I feel her pain, very similar experience. I'd like to add, Joe called out when we were leaving whether there was anything he could do to make things right. My husband said (angerly) "yeah, you can Venmo my wife money for wasting out gas and time). An hour or so later, he did text asking my Venmo info. I sent it to him. Nothing... I'm not holding my breath.
So, if you're still reading this. I'm sure Joe can be a good guy and does a good job. But please be ware of what you may encounter considering the admittance of his condition and our horrible experience. read more
