Don't ignore the negative reviews - there's a pattern here...
Don't ignore the negative reviews - there's a pattern here...
While I've never posted a public review in my life, the unprofessionalism and poor treatment we experienced the last few days as customers of Rich's Auto has been astounding.
Typically when I see a company with mostly good reviews and a handful of negative ones, I give the them the benefit of the doubt and chalk it up to a customer misunderstanding, bad timing or some kind of unfortunate anomaly. Regretfully, that's not the case here and the proof is in the customer testimonials. See ours below:
Our car had front brake pads and rotors replaced on Friday. We took off of work early, picked up the car around 4:30 and headed out. Not even 10mi down the road we had to do an emergency stop and pull over with smoking, failing front brakes. Our family came to pick us up, but we had to leave our car stranded in a random parking lot and wait for Rich's to open on Monday.
We called Monday, explained what happened (we thought the calipers were locked up) and asked about next steps, assuming that they would at least want to do a second inspection. Upon hearing the word "caliper," the front desk worker immediately said that calipers are a "secondary part failure" and that Rich's wasn't responsible.
When we tried to describe the situation further, he asked "what are you seeking" as if we were trying to be difficult or take advantage of them. He explained we could bring the car back in, but we'd have to pay for everything - calipers and new pads/rotors (if damaged), because it wasn't their fault. When we explained that the brakes were so bad we were afraid we'd get into an accident, he replied with "that's quite the accusation." Frustrated, we ended the conversation, as it clearly wasn't going anywhere productive.
We called back this morning and were told there was no one else we could speak with other than the front desk worker we spoke to the previous day. We were told that his boss was on maternity leave and therefore no one else was available. We asked if our issue could be sent to the owner, they agreed, but said it would probably still be the front desk guy that would follow up.
At no point was there much acknowledgement or empathy for the frustration, wasted time/money or the scare it gave us. Their website says that auto repairs are backed by a guarantee, but when it came down to it, we had to look out for ourselves, only to be told that we can deal with the parts' manufacturers ourselves for warranty issues or pay for all new parts/service.
It's not that a part failed. It's the reluctance to even consider that the responsibility could be on them. If the idea is that our caliper failed on its own ~immediately~ after front brake service, then it's only fair to expect that the shop would take a second look to make sure there wasn't an oversite. Staff trained with an initial response of "it happens" and "it's not our fault" isn't right.
There are reviews on here very similar to ours - a huge red flag and one that the family owned company should view as a critical opportunity for development. You'll also notice that none of the negative google reviews have replies from Rich's, but the good ones have been sifted through and added to the company's site.
We still don't know what the cause of the brake issue is or who's responsible, but as customers, we expect the businesses we work with to do their due diligence when things go wrong. This may seem like an insignificant repair to care this much about, but $400 holds a lot of value, especially in today's market and it's unsettling to feel like you're only a credit card number away from being a sale and not a customer.
If you're doing right, you talk to your customers with respect and treat their time, money and concerns like you would your own. You explain risks, processes and potential issues ahead of time and you don't get defensive or inflammatory when faced with questions or uncertainty.
As a small, local business, please don't expect your community to support you if you don't support them.
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While I've never posted a public review in my life, the unprofessionalism and poor treatment we experienced the last few days as customers of Rich's Auto has been astounding.
Typically when I see a company with mostly good reviews and a handful of negative ones, I give the them the benefit of the doubt and chalk it up to a customer misunderstanding, bad timing or some kind of unfortunate anomaly. Regretfully, that's not the case here and the proof is in the customer testimonials. See ours below:
Our car had front brake pads and rotors replaced on Friday. We took off of work early, picked up the car around 4:30 and headed out. Not even 10mi down the road we had to do an emergency stop and pull over with smoking, failing front brakes. Our family came to pick us up, but we had to leave our car stranded in a random parking lot and wait for Rich's to open on Monday.
We called Monday, explained what happened (we thought the calipers were locked up) and asked about next steps, assuming that they would at least want to do a second inspection. Upon hearing the word "caliper," the front desk worker immediately said that calipers are a "secondary part failure" and that Rich's wasn't responsible.
When we tried to describe the situation further, he asked "what are you seeking" as if we were trying to be difficult or take advantage of them. He explained we could bring the car back in, but we'd have to pay for everything - calipers and new pads/rotors (if damaged), because it wasn't their fault. When we explained that the brakes were so bad we were afraid we'd get into an accident, he replied with "that's quite the accusation." Frustrated, we ended the conversation, as it clearly wasn't going anywhere productive.
We called back this morning and were told there was no one else we could speak with other than the front desk worker we spoke to the previous day. We were told that his boss was on maternity leave and therefore no one else was available. We asked if our issue could be sent to the owner, they agreed, but said it would probably still be the front desk guy that would follow up.
At no point was there much acknowledgement or empathy for the frustration, wasted time/money or the scare it gave us. Their website says that auto repairs are backed by a guarantee, but when it came down to it, we had to look out for ourselves, only to be told that we can deal with the parts' manufacturers ourselves for warranty issues or pay for all new parts/service.
It's not that a part failed. It's the reluctance to even consider that the responsibility could be on them. If the idea is that our caliper failed on its own ~immediately~ after front brake service, then it's only fair to expect that the shop would take a second look to make sure there wasn't an oversite. Staff trained with an initial response of "it happens" and "it's not our fault" isn't right.
There are reviews on here very similar to ours - a huge red flag and one that the family owned company should view as a critical opportunity for development. You'll also notice that none of the negative google reviews have replies from Rich's, but the good ones have been sifted through and added to the company's site.
We still don't know what the cause of the brake issue is or who's responsible, but as customers, we expect the businesses we work with to do their due diligence when things go wrong. This may seem like an insignificant repair to care this much about, but $400 holds a lot of value, especially in today's market and it's unsettling to feel like you're only a credit card number away from being a sale and not a customer.
If you're doing right, you talk to your customers with respect and treat their time, money and concerns like you would your own. You explain risks, processes and potential issues ahead of time and you don't get defensive or inflammatory when faced with questions or uncertainty.
As a small, local business, please don't expect your community to support you if you don't support them.
Do better.