Hi Charlotte,
This is Larry Goodman, owner and operator of Pinnacle Motor Works. I understand that you’re upset, and I think it’s a result some misunderstandings around our procedure and policies that I’d like to clear up.
First, your car. As you mentioned, you brought it to us with several warning lights on: the alternator, check engine and anti-lock braking system. When the car was turned off and we went to restart it, we found the battery was dead. We had to replace the battery to complete the diagnosis, which led to our finding that the alternator had gone bad, explaining the several warning lights and dead battery. The alternator keeps the battery charged, and when it’s offline, the car will experience a cascading series of failures as the battery loses power, each system that relies on it also goes offline, and eventually the car lacks the power to start all together. We replaced the battery and the alternator for a total repair cost of about $1300 and the car was drivable again and returned. That’s the service you came for, and we provided it to a satisfactory conclusion.
Here’s where the misunderstanding comes in. With every service, we provide a complimentary inspection and give our recommendations for returning the car to peak condition in safety and performance. We present these findings to the customer as an estimate as we start work so they can consider which of the repairs, if any, they would like us to perform. We never categorize these recommendations as critical or immediately necessary (unless they are), only that they’ll return the car to peak condition. That was our process with your car, and before we started work we presented you and your father with the $1300 figure to replace the battery and alternator and our itemized estimate, which came to $2300. You agreed to the battery and alternator, declined the services in our estimate, paid for the $1300 repair and drove the car off. We always welcome second opinions and I can’t comment on what the other shop did or didn’t find, but I can say that we stand by our estimate and would be happy to explain our findings for you in detail free of charge.
It took reading this review to learn that you were dissatisfied with our service. Customer satisfaction is our top priority, and if you told us at the time of your repair that you were upset, we would have taken the steps to make it right. But where I take issue is being called a liar. I’ve been in business for 28 years, serving thousands of customers, men and women of all levels of auto expertise, many of whom have been taking their cars to Pinnacle for years if not decades. The shop that you describe, one who lies and preys on customer ignorance, would have been the target of a local news expose long ago and out of business shortly thereafter. Most customers don’t know much about how their cars work, and we rely on their recommendation to bring in new business. Good work and fastidious honesty are our only tools to make that happen, and they’ve kept the doors open for nearly three decades. Customers have had grievances, they’ve voiced them to us, and we’ve taken care of them to the satisfaction of all parties. I wish you had done the same before writing your review, and I hope there’s still an opportunity to address your concern. Feel free to call anytime.
Sincerely,
Larry Goodman
Owner
908-647-1799
