TL;DR: Dropped my truck off for an oil change, picked it up with a broken door that won't stay shut.
FULL REVIEW: I took my Explorer into Rizzoli's Automotive on Grand Ave in Grover for a routine oil change, and their tech BROKE THE HANDLE ON MY DOOR and Rizzoli's refused to repair it.
For context, the driver's door in my SUV opened and closed correctly and the door handle worked properly this morning before I dropped it off. I know this because I used the driver's door to get in and out of the vehicle multiple times, including when I arrived at the shop. The door *worked fine*.
When I came for pickup, the service advisor told me they noticed the driver's side door wouldn't close, and then she immediately implied that it was obviously something that was already an issue before I dropped it off. I told her that it wasn't and went out to look at the door. When I walked up to check it, I could see that it wasn't latching to the bracket on the vehicle frame - the door was sticking out a couple inches. I checked inside and the door handle was fully extended in an abnormal position - something was blocking it from returning to its resting position. I went back inside and explained that the door was working properly when I dropped it off and she and the senior mechanic who was sitting nearby implied that it wasn't the shop's responsibility. "Do you expect us to be on the hook for that?" The senior mechanic actually said that. He then told me if I left it overnight they would diagnose the problem but said they would have to charge me to fix it.
The first red flag was when they sent me an "inspection overview" via text a couple hours after I dropped the Explorer off, with a checklist of everything they had inspected. They lied about what they inspected.
On their list of "good" they listed several things as being working or in good shape on my vehicle that definitely weren't.
1. They said the AC/heater was good and yet my AC hasn't worked in over a year and the heater only works on full fan.
2. They said the windshield was good and yet there's a rock crack in the very center of it.
3. They said the headlights were fine and yet one of them is taped into place and aimed in the wrong direction.
4. They said the door locks worked and yet none of the door locks work in my vehicle (and haven't for YEARS).
And several others.
I get that it's a free inspection done in addition to the oil change, but the point is that this faked list shows a willingness to lie and a carelessness when it comes to customer safety - if they're willing to cut corners like that and lie about it, how can you trust them to repair your vehicle in a safe way?
Honestly, why not just fix it? It makes no sense that they would risk their reputation by refusing to fix a low-cost labor repair that their tech caused. Yes, it's an older truck and the door handle could have broken any time (believe it or not, the senior tech actually implied that: "it's just the nature of these things, things just break sometimes"), but it doesn't matter. In California, when you entrust your vehicle to a mechanic shop, they have a legal responsibility to take reasonable care of it, and if they break something while it's in their care, they should repair it, at their cost.
And here's the pièce de résistance: you remember how they tried to claim that the driver's side door was already broken when I dropped it off? The photos they sent me *after* the inspection showed that my door was working properly and closed all the way when I dropped the vehicle off to them. And it shows that in two different photos, no less!
I came to Rizzoli's because I was impressed by what I had read online about them - it seemed like, in spite of some negative reviews, they had a solid reputation for quality work and a care for their customers. But my experience was the opposite: I came for an oil change, but I left with a broken door and a sour taste in my mouth.
I won't be back. read more