On Sunday the 8th, my car a 2013 Dodge Durango stopped working as I drove from Erie to my home in…read morePittsburgh, so I had it towed to Griffin Motors. Being a Sunday, the place was closed.
On Monday morning, one of the service guys called me and told me it was the water pump and it would be ~$600. I asked him if they accepted the secondary warranty company that I had purchased, and they said no. I told him that I would get back to him.
I called around and it seemed like it would cost me ~$150 to get it towed to the nearest place that accepted the warranty. I called the dealership back and asked how long it would take to get the pump fixed; they said I'd have the back the next day, so I okayed the work and told them I'd pay out of pocket if I'd have it back in 48 hours.
They called me back and told me that they had fixed the pump, but the actual issue was the engine, and that I was looking at about $5500 to get it repaired. I told them I'd be finding a place that accepted my warranty to get that work done.
I called the dealership I had originally bought it from (Rick Weaver in Erie), and they told me that they'd call the garage. RW called back and told me that they had spoken with griffin motors and they had agreed to sub-let the work, including the engine work, and RW would run the claim through the warranty company. This was on Wednesday
I called the garage on Thursday to make sure there was no issues and that they were able to start working on the car and was told they were waiting on paperwork from RW. Didn't really think much of it. Called again Friday, said they were still waiting. I called RW and they said they were waiting on paperwork from the the garage. Ok, miscommunication somewhere. I called back to the garage, and they told me theyd get back in touch with the OD.
Monday rolls around, and I call RW since they seemed more on top of things. They told me the garage was now refusing to do the engine work because I didn't buy the car from them. RW was going to tow the vehicle the 45 minutes to their place on Tuesday, and then we would bill everything, including the pump, through the warranty. Ok, perfect, now I just have to deal with one place, and the pump is paid for.
I call back on Tuesday to make sure there weren't any hangups, and-shocker-there was. The garage refused to release my car without me paying the bill, even though they had told RW the day before that they would.
I called the garage and left a message with the garage manager. He called me back today (11 days after orgininally diagnosing the issue as a water pump), and was salty and arrogant from the word "hello". I asked him multiple times why I kept getting information that was clearly incorrect, and he kept trying to explain to me that they couldn't have known about the engine until the pump was fixed. I told him I grasped that, but that I shouldn't have been told I'd have my car back in two days if I agreed to fix just the pump. I asked why I was told that they would sub contract the work on the engine, and then almost a week later told they wouldn't-without even a call to me, and me having to find out from RW. He refused to answer and went back to the pump. I asked why I wasn't originally told they didn't do engine work, and why it's sat there for a week. At this point, he told me that he was going to start charging me a daily storage fee until I paid the bill. I said that was bull**** and got hung up on.
I called back and asked for the manager/owner of the store. I explained the situation and asked why I kept getting wrong information, and he, like the service manager, focused on the water pump issue, ignoring anything else, including the fact that I had yet to be told the amount of money that I owed but was going to be charge a storage fee. He said that he would contact RW and get back to me, and we ended the conversation. I don't expect that to go anywhere at this point but needed to get off the phone before I went off.
The owner ("Tommy") called back and tried to talk me in circles. He told me that the problem was fixed and I owed them money before they'd released the car. I asked if the car was driveable, and, like every other point I brought up, was ignored. He then told me he was done talking to me and that he was going to put a mechanics lien on my car.
Awful, awful service, communication, and ability all around. I can't decide if they are just that incompetent or if this is them just being crooks and trying to get work I wouldn't have otherwise authorized. Probably a combination.