After my interaction at Ticks, I felt as if I was beng ripped off, or taken advantage of....
He wanted to charge $275 (after my review he is now claiming it was $212) to install a $50 tail light plastic housing on my 2006 Hyundai Sonata. Also, wanted to charge $375 to install a front flex exhaust pipe that costs $100. Don't trust anyone that cannot give you a rough estimate on pricing over the phone without leaving your car there. $150 worth of parts with $150 worth of labor, so obviously he would want to charge more than twice that.
Also, I would like to add that two weeks after writing my review of my experience at Ticks Auto he called me to discuss taking it down, or at modifying my review to make it "more accurate" which I now have done. I don't have enough proof to call him a "rip off artist," but I can say "I felt as if I was being ripped off...."
When I returned to collect my car and his obscene estimate, he was not present in the shop. The young man running the shop in his absence pulled up my account and couldn't locate my estimate. Now over the phone he's trying to change the prices due to my review. I remember he told me the tail light repair would be $275, because in my head $300 is what I thought the total of the repairs would cost, and he was already up to that amount without even discussing the exhaust. After that he said the exhaust would be an additional $375. I said, "Yeah....that's not happening..." and hung up on him.
On the phone when discussing my review yesterday he informed me that he has been in business for 25 years and doesn't have any negative reviews. That is probably because he tries to "strong arm" anyone leaving a negative review and get them to take it down to pad his rating. He just had Facebook remove my review today....I have no idea how or on what grounds, but doing so is more proof of how dishonest his practices are.
If he was indeed a good mechanic with "fair" prices and in business for 25 years, one would think my negative review would be anomaly in a vast sea of positive reviews. He seems to have 5 positive reviews in 25 years of business....so there's that too...
Also, since he just had Facebook remove my review, it can also be found on Yelp and Sure Critic. Luckily at reputable review sites people can't have negative reviews removed because he doesn't like the review. If he wishes to keep having Facebook remove my accurate account of what has transpired thus far simply because he doesn't like it, I will repost my review here and elsewhere.
Lastly I got my vehicle repaired with Cousins Autos also in Ipswich MA. The total cost for both items being repaired was $220, which included parts and labor....and he came to MY house to get my car and do the repairs. I gave him $240 because I was so happy with the price and service, since I am disabled and just wanted my car to pass inspection in the first place.... read more