Okay, so I searched through some of the old threads here, and decided to take my car into Happy Jap's in Cary after some people had mentioned that Rex did good work, etc.

Well, I don't know what people are smoking, but this guy is an idiot. And I say that in the nicest way possible. I took my car in because I was having a headlight issue, and I needed him to properly diagnose it and get the car fixed. Just to give a basic rundown of the problem, the headlights don't work, but the running lights do. When I pull the high beam flash towards me, the high beams and low beams light up, but when I push it forward to lock for permanent high beams, no dice.

I had already checked the bulbs and the headlight assembly (I actually just replaced the headlight unit itself because it was a little yellowed), and the only two remaining options were a headlight relay switch and the multiswitch. I really didn't feel like going through all the hassle of figuring it out, testing everything and then pulling it apart to fix it (unless it was just a relay), so I decided to take it in. I told Rex pretty much everything I mentioned here and a little bit more about what I had done to help him diagnose the problem better.

Anyway, I drop the car off two weeks ago yesterday after talking to him on the phone. The car sits there for two days and he doesn't do anything. I call him up to find out if it's done, and he gives me some crap about how he "has a plan to look at things more in depth...." and that he doesn't know exactly what's wrong, but he's got some ideas and he has a plan to sit down and look at it more, which is clearly his way of saying, "I haven't done jack yet, but I may look at it later..."

Finally by Thursday he says he thinks he knows what's wrong, it's the......wait for it.....multiswitch. And when I look at the bill later I see he charged me 80 bucks for an hour's worth of work to figure this out, leaving two questions: first, if it only takes an hour, why the hell does it take you three days to spend ONE HOUR on my car, and second, does it really take an hour to diagnose this problem? I mean, I don't know much but I could figure out that it was one of two things in just a few minutes based on the symptoms alone.

Anyway, I'm like, fine, fix it. He also told me I had to get my valve cover gaskets replaced because I mentioned that I was seeing oil in two of my cylinders on my spark plug boots, but I won't even get into that. He says he doesn't have the part he needs, but for an extra twenty bucks he can get it shipped overnight. I say fine, just get it done. It's been long enough and I want my car back.

So I call him back on Friday morning to find out, and he says that he fixed the valve cover gaskets, but it cost a little more than he thought it would. I don't even argue then, I'm just like, whatever, get it done. He says that the part will be coming later in the day and he's gonna get one of his lackeys to take care of it, because he's closing up at 12 because he has to go to a race. He says that since I won't be able to pick it up til after they close, why doesn't he just leave the key in the car and I'm like, fine, I have the keyless entry, I'll go ahead and pay you over the phone. To replace the multiswitch and the valve cover gaskets is going to be 684 bucks.

I pay him, and then go to pick up my car, and voila!, it's not fixed. My receipt is in the front seat for the money I paid this guy, but the car's not fixed. No note explaining it, nothing. Apparently the part didn't come in and so he didn't fix it. He just put the car out there because I told him I was picking it up and didn't let me know. He doesn't call me, nothing. I called and left a message for him because I was pissed, naturally.

He acts like, oops, I told you the part might not come in, and I said, well then why in the hell did I pay 20 bucks for overnight shipping if the part wasn't coming in, and you know, maybe this wouldn't have been a problem if you didn't leave the car until Thursday to look at when you were leaving Friday at NOON. And can't you get your people to write a note or something explaining this? What kind of ccustomer service is this, and oh, by the way, WHEN CAN YOU FINISH DOING THE JOB I PAID YOU FOR?

This is like Tuesday or something, and he says he can't get me in until TODAY. Not only does he take forever and then NOT fix my car, but even then he doesn't make it a priority to get it fixed. Anyway, just thought I would mention that for those of you who have any experience with Rex.

11/13/2007 4:06:22 PM

Sounds like you got raped

11/13/2007 4:14:29 PM

Have you tried to come to some sort of satisfactory conclusion to all this? Did you tell him you came because a local website gave good recommendations, but after all that has happened you think it is BS and you'll be going back there with this report if something isn't done to resolve it?

11/13/2007 4:17:55 PM

Yeah, I know Rex personally, and I have known him for over 10 years. And that doesn't sound characteristic of him. He usually does everything by the book, right down to all of his billing and customer practices...including getting you into the lineup where he can. It's a small shop, and he's got two people there besides himself, and he stays backlogged on a lot of stuff. I've never known him to not stay in contact with his customers or inform them of issues or problems. He's usually better at it than just about anybody else I've worked with.

Did you tell him what your time frame is/was? When you needed the car by? Did he tell you when you could expect to have your car back?

Here's another one: just because you perform your own diagnosis, do you think he's just going to not check behind you? When a part costs that much money, you don't just buy it and plug it in and hope it fixes the problem. Auto parts suppliers are not Walmart; they don't take parts back for any old reason, and they do NOT take electrical parts back, period. I've wasted a lot of time moving on to other things in my diagnoses because the customer told me they'd checked something...only to come back and find that whatever the customer had checked and verified as okay WASN'T okay. The minute you take the customer's word for granted is the minute you get owned.

And just how in the hell do valve cover gaskets fit into this whole thing? I absolutely know that Rex doesn't go looking for other shit to replace just to pad the bill.

What kind of car is this, by the way? I'll entertain your gripe, and even offer you support, but you've gotta give me some qualifying information first. So, for the usual garage blanket response:

YEAR, MAKE, MODEL?

Oh, and furthermore, how in the blue fuck does replacing valve cover gaskets and a combo switch come to 685 bux? Never mind...some of these switches themselves are way over 300...

[Edited on November 13, 2007 at 4:27 PM. Reason : uhh...]

11/13/2007 4:25:02 PM

Everyone takes it personally when they know someone... personally. Sounds like the guy got fucked over to me, plain & simple and regardless of his past reputation.

11/13/2007 5:01:50 PM

Well, sure. There's a lot of truth to what you said in the beginning.

But I'd wager a dozen Krispy Kremes we're not getting the whole story. Shit on that. I'll wager 50 bucks.

11/13/2007 5:11:04 PM

you should be on your way to raleigh now, not posting on tww

11/13/2007 5:19:19 PM

1996 Mazda MX-6.

I'll start with your questions which can be answered the shortest first.

I'm not saying he went looking for the valve cover gaskets to replace to pad the bill. I told him everything that was wrong with my car so that he would have as much info as possible for diagnostic purposes, and that included the oil in the cylinders. He told me as soon as I mentioned that symptom that it was the valve cover gaskets, and I said fine, if that's it, fix that, too, but only if you have time. My main concern is the headlights, because I can't drive at night without blinding people and I can't pass inspection.

I told him on Monday that I wanted my car back by Wednesday if possible, because I have to drive to Burlington each day for work, and I didn't know how long I could arrange a ride. Every day he kept stringing me along I was polite but let him know that I really needed my car back. When he finally told me Friday I was very pissed, but at that point I just needed it done and over with.

As for the switch itself, I was astonished, I had talked to someone else who said the part was pretty expensive, but it turns out that it was only about 50 bucks (I can't remember the exact price, it may even be cheaper, but I remember that I was shocked).

Now, as for the whole self diagnosis thing, I don't expect him to take my word for it. I told him I wasn't sure what the problem was, just that I had a few ideas, and I thought that any piece of information I could give him would cut down on the time it would take. I wouldn't really be that ticked off if he had just FIXED IT!!! Any one of the things that happened individually wouldn't be a problem, I understand that things happen, it's just that when you add everything up, it is really annoying. The one hour diagnosis gets me for the two reasons I mentioned. First, if it only takes an hour to figure out, why do you have to "formulate a plan" to take a look at it, and how can you not squeeze an hour of time out of two days when I said I needed it by Wednesday? Secondly, if it is just the multiswitch, how does that take an hour to figure out? I mean, if I had the right equipment I could have tested the relay and the wires leading to everything in thirty minutes, and I don't work on cars for a living. Oh, also, he told me that he could replace the part, but that he couldn't guarantee that was the problem. Now, if you can't guarantee that's the problem, then what exactly am I paying your diagnosis for?

[Edited on November 13, 2007 at 5:21 PM. Reason : I'm still at work....I can't exactly leave whenever I want, unfortunately.]

11/13/2007 5:20:53 PM

aha, not you. dan.

11/13/2007 5:30:47 PM

Oh, and after I get the car back, I will update y'all on everything. It's entirely possible that Rex engaged his flux capacitor and went back and fixed my car last week and things will work out wonderfully, or somehow makes everything good, and I'll let you know.

11/13/2007 5:37:38 PM

Post a breakdown of the costs for parts/labor for the valve cover gaskets and the headlight switch.

11/13/2007 5:44:55 PM

I'm fixing to head out here very very shortly!


About the only thing I'm willing to argue with you on this here is this: You walk into any shop I've ever worked at (and that's only three, I'll concede, though I've also done weekend work for others), and we spend time on diagnostics...You will be charged a MINIMUM of one hour. That's the smallest base diagnostic time. After that, it's usually in tenths, though some charge by the half hour after the initial hour. Deal with it; it's industry standard, and helps offset the time cost of getting your car in the shop, tools cost, administrative costs, etc.

The rest...just sounds like 1.)Communication breakdown. 2.) Shop owner with way more stuff going on than he needs. 3.) Some funky shit if he actually billed you for the full amount of the repair and didn't perform it. That should never have happened. You should, however, have to pay for services rendered before the car's released to you. What did get done and what didn't? The man has never taken somebody's money wrongly. Not since I've ever dealt with him...and I've dealt with him as a customer, an employee, and a pit crew member ever since somewhere between '96 and '97. I'm interested in knowing just what the hell's going on here. If he truly fucked you, I'd love to know the circumstances surrounding the whole deal.

11/13/2007 5:45:13 PM

ill say it again, FUCK kenny hawkins

11/13/2007 7:42:56 PM

lol ..whats you beef with Kenny?

11/13/2007 10:57:15 PM

I was running through the garage tonight for the first time in ages and realized I hadn't brought back any update on this. Since the 90 day window on threads is almost up, I figured I'd get a little something down about the resolution. I never reposted when it originally happened because I was so tired of dealing with things, I was just done.

The short version (if there is one) of what happened after is that after spending so long diagnosing things and me spending extra to have a part overnighted that didn't arrive overnight, the wrong part arrived. (This was not what caused the original delay, but what caused further delays). Supposedly, he had told them what he wanted and they misunderstood and sent the wrong one. So I had to wait even longer to get the right part, and I also had to pay the amount for the price differential. It finally came in and got replaced. The work was fine, but the customer service just totally turned me off. I spoke with him about it and told him my issues, not in a bitchy way or an "I want something from you" way, just so he could know how one customer felt.

All along the way I got the impression that he didn't care at all about getting my car done with any sort of urgency. It must be just a communication breakdown, because when we spoke he said that he was very focused on getting the work done, but I just didn't see it. I guess that's not a problem for some people, but I mentioned at the beginning a rough timetable and it ended up taking about three weeks. Unfortunately, when I do have to end up and take my car to a mechanic, time is a factor, and I can't afford to just drop my car off for something like a headlight switch and it take three weeks.

2/10/2008 6:57:16 PM

I think my workplace culture has given me the ability to avoid problems like this. I've never had a customer service issue (garages or otherwise) because as the thread's creator said, it's about communication.

2/11/2008 7:24:42 AM

I'd say that Perrin got ripped off. A simple repair (headlight switch) should never take 3 weeks.

[Edited on February 11, 2008 at 10:00 PM. Reason : That makes me sad that Happy Jap's did that.]

2/11/2008 9:59:47 PM

2/11/2008 10:30:32 PM