Mike Smith Firestone

Customers no more. We had used this place several times before to get the oil changed on our Jeep, and my wife was happy with the treatment she received each time she took it there. The last time she was there, she asked them to recommend someone who could take care of a problem involving the catalytic converter, and they said they could do it themselves.

We dropped it off and they ran a diagnostic test that produced three codes, two pertaining to oxygen sensors and one for a catalytic converter. They called my wife and told her that the parts needed to fix the catalytic converter problem were "unavailable" to them, and we'd need to take it elsewhere. When a co-worker took her to pick it up, they charged her $50 for the diagnostic test.

We believe this to be nothing more than a waste of our time and money, as they brought us in under the pretense that they could do the work, without being up-front about their limitations. We don't believe we should've been charged for the diagnostics when they couldn't do the work they indicated to us they could do.

I went back the next day and spoke to the owner, arguing that because we'd have to go to a more capable establishment and pay yet again for diagnostics, they shouldn't have charged us. He seemed oblivious to my point, arguing with me as if I were just a guy who thought everyone should give me free service. "What kind of business are you in? Don't you think I should pay these guys for their work?" he said.

My point was that we'd have been happy to pay for the diagnostic test if they were able to continue on and do the work and fix the problem. But misleading us into believing they could fix our vehicle, and not being forward about their apparently severe limitations, was a breach of trust that was expensive for us.

May his interesting way of doing business serve him justly.…