Chet's Car Care - Illegal behavior, scummy work practices.
Want to detail my recent experience with Chet's car care and explain why I would not recommend them to anyone.
We've been using Chet's for a couple of years now due to their proximity to where we live, however we will NEVER be returning our vehicles for service here after our experiences during the last few visits.
Last Tuesday, my wife's car went into limp mode. We had it towed here just to get the diagnostic work done to see if it was something worth fixing. It had a failed coil pack a few months ago that she drove with to get it home. This caused premature failure of the upstream catalytic converter, which is exactly what the mechanic (Matt) found wrong with it.
On Thursday, they called upon finding this out and asked if they wanted us to proceed with further diagnostics (to check if the second cat had failed as well) and repairs. They quoted us $1500 additional parts/labor for an upstream catalytic converter replacement. I told them yes to the diagnostics, but to call me before they proceeded with any further work, as I thought the price was ridiculous.
I had a feeling that what I said wasn't received properly, so exactly 5 minutes later I called back and was explicitly clear that we ONLY wanted them to perform additional diagnostic labor to check if the downstream cat had failed. I know I spoke to the same person both times because the number they called from and I called back to is different from their regular office number. They said they would be sure to tell the mechanic not to proceed with the repairs.
Assuming that this would be a 10 minute job (dropping a scope into the downstream cat), I went in Friday to check if we could coordinate payment for the diagnostic efforts and arrange a tow for the car. The front desk employee (Roman) tells me the total was $1700 ($200 diag, $1500 parts/labor for parts replacement). After I explained the situation, he went into the back, apologized for the miscommunication issue, and said they would get the parts removed ASAP and make us whole in terms of payment. I figured this was reasonable, mistakes happen, and they were owning up to it. Roman seems to be one of few who has his head screwed on at this place.
Come Monday afternoon, we called to see if the vehicle was ready to go. I spoke with Jeff on the phone initially who put the mechanic Matt on the line. He explained that since the parts were installed and the car had been driven (50 feet to the parking lot, lol), the catalytic converter wasn't returnable and we would be on the hook for the full parts/labor as quoted. I told him that wasn't happening, to take the parts off and give us our vehicle back as left. Making a customer pay for unauthorized repairs is EXPLICITLY ILLEGAL behavior, under Wisconsin consumer protection law.
My wife went in Tuesday morning to check on the vehicle (1 week since drop off) and they told her it would be a couple more hours before they got the part off. I called them back Tuesday afternoon, and they are now trying to get us on the hook for just the parts and they would comp the labor. They were charging $700 for the part. The vehicle is 11 years old and worth $3,000 at most, we are just trying to get another year out of it and do not need pricey OEM parts.
I told Matt this was unacceptable, explained the Wisconsin state law that protects consumers in this exact scenario, and let him know we would be taking them to small claims court if they would not honor our request. He blew me off and tried denying responsibility again.
We called back one more time, asking to speak to only the owner, at which point we were finally told that they would only be charging us for the diagnostic labor as authorized.
When we went to pick up the vehicle Wednesday morning, and they only charged us for the diagnostic work as agreed. However, I took a glance under the hood and noticed the original catalytic converter was missing. I had to go back into the shop and ask for the part back, which is worth $50-100+ of scrap value. This is ALSO ILLEGAL. Come on.
They have also charged us for snapping wheel studs that they overtightened in the first place. Tread carefully, these guys (or at least Jeff and Matt) will nickel and dime you for everything they can get away with.
Additionally, they are incredibly patronizing when speaking with my wife ("You DO KNOW the vehicle isn't driveable if put the old part on right?"). She isn't a gearhead by any means, but it's not like the exhaust system on a vehicle is particularly complicated, and we had both explained multiple times our plan was to tow it to fix it at home. The old owner (Chet himself) also often has his truck parked out front, plastered with political bumper stickers - it's just a bad look and is frankly unprofessional.
I would avoid this shop at all costs. The shuttle service is nice, and if you talk to Roman you will be well taken care of. Everyone else at the shop seems to either not care and/or will try to squeeze you for every penny they can.
TL;DR: attempted illegal behavior from mechanic twice, dishonest work practices, patronizing staff members.