White's auto replaced my timing belt and water pump with my own parts on 7/2/2014. I was charged $517 on labor for the work. I noticed that my car was noisier after the repair, but didn't realize it was not repaired correctly. I put another 6000 miles on the car afterwards and the car became noisier and noisier. I was in Boston when the noise became non-bearable, so I brought the car to a reputable auto shop there to diagnose the noise. To my surprise, the mechanic found that tensioner spacer was missing in my car and the timing belt was very loose, Once he put a new tensioner spacer back, my car is very quiet. I was charged $403.8 for the repair.
According to the mechanic, white's auto repair didn't put the spacer back when they replaced my timing belt. So I went to the shop to ask for a refund of $403.8 I paid for their mistake. Brandon from the store who handled my repair suggested that spacer was not required. But I double checked the Boston Mechanic, and confirmed that part is absolutely required!!!
Brandon said he can give me $100 store credit, but not the refund. Because I was not happy with that, he said he would have his father (store owner) call me, but his father never called even after I paid a second visit to the shop.
Here is owner Danny's response after I posted the above at yelp and my response:
DANNY's REPLY
As Owner of White's Auto Repair, we take great pride in standing behind all of our work. But Mr. Gu was made aware that there is NO WARRANTY for customer supplied parts as stated in writing on his invoice "White's Auto Repair is not responsible for damages or loss caused by any failed part not supplied by White's Auto Repair. Customer is responsible for any additional labor charges or replacement of any supplied part or product". I liken this to someone walking into a restaurant and asking the chef to cook their supplied food, then be upset with the meal. Point being, we have years of experience in the vast range of quality of parts. Therefore we will not install the "cheapest" part because of high failure rates. This is a perfect example of going against our better judgment of installing customer supplied parts. When something fails....It's our fault. If it were a "missing" part, vehicle would have not driven over 6,000 miles. And yes, we offered a $100 store credit as an act of good will.
MY RESPONSE:
This is not about the part I brought in. You didn't put the original tensioner spacer back!!! The mechanic in Boston confirmed that is required. This is like I bring you a brake pad for replacement, and you forget to put the wheel back. I'm dumb stupid and drive the car with three wheels for a year without realizing the problem. When I get back to you asking for my wheel, you say wheel is not required. After I confirm that wheel is really required, you say it's not covered by warranty, isn't that ridiculous? read more
