Be cautious when entering into business with Bob Wilson's. I am a Conshy local, living and working in Conshy, and took my car to Gulf for a state inspection, emissions inspection, and an oil change to satisfy state transfer requirements. This first interaction was fine, I picked up my car on a Thursday afternoon and thought I was done.
Friday, not even 24 hours later, my car was stuttering and lerching when accelerating. I've owned my car for 6 years and have NEVER had this issue. The next day, my emissions light came on and I took my car back to Bob Wilson's because I felt like the emissions issue was directly related to the work they did during the state & emissions inspection. Make sense, right? I received a call a few hours after dropping my car off, saying there was a problem with the spark plugs and they needed to be replaced. The total would be somewhere around $220---$95 for the diagnosis/labor, $98 for the parts plus tax. (Keep in mind that I wouldn't have even gone back a second time if I knew they were going to charge me for what I felt was a problem caused by them.) Apparently the spark plug damage was so bad my car couldn't be driven off their property.
At this point, I was dissatisfied and left like it was too much of a coincidence for a service light to come on 24 hours after their work, AND that they were not willing to acknowledge the coincidence and waive the diagnosis charge...I knew there was an issue, that's why the light was on, I argued that I didn't need to pay $95 for them to tell me that when the dealer agreed to do that at no cost (which I confirmed with the dealer.) Again, the only reason I took my car back here was because I believed they were going to fix what they missed/caused during the inspection. I tell Bob over the phone I am coming to get my car to take it to the Mini dealer, where I trust the work. He says he has to "put the car back together" so I can take it somewhere else, but it will be $95. I never agreed to have them start work, and no one ever called to receive permission from me on the charges and to start the work. I only wanted them to fix the damage I believed they caused, and if they wouldn't do that at no charge, I would take it to a trusted dealer for the work instead.
I went to the gas station in person to make it an easier conversation to have, took a witness with me, and after some discussion, Bob agreed to not charge me the $95 diagnosis fee, but only for the parts---around $120 or so when tax was done. I agreed to leave the car, which was my only choice I was told, because they "took it apart" and needed to charge me to put it back together. (My car has a smart key that runs the diagnosis by plugging in the key to a scanner...they didn't need to take my car apart.)
At a few points during this in-person conversation, Bob couldn't keep his story straight: they had to take my car apart and it wasn't drive-able so I had to leave it there to get the work done; they plugged my key into a scanner and really didn't take it apart; the labor cost was for taking my car apart (but was it taken apart?!)...the initial quote of $220 didn't include labor, it did include labor; the labor & plugging my key into a scanner were the same thing, they weren't the same thing; Mini gave me wrong information...you get the point.)
The next day, I went to pick up my car after work, Bob wasn't there, and I am shocked to find a bill waiting for me for $212, after we had a conversation and agreed the labor/diagnosis fee would be waived. I have the worker call Bob, who relays to me there's nothing to be done. I pay, because I don't want to leave my car there any longer than necessary with an unreliable and shady business, and plan to call Bob the next day.
I just got off the phone with Bob, who tells me that both me and my witness misunderstood, he never agreed to waive the labor/diagnosis fee, and the total is what we agreed to. He "can't do anything," the light coming on the day after their work was all a coincidence, what I paid is the price we agreed to (not true, because they would have to ask me to start work and never did), and now the diagnosis and labor are two separate things. Basically, he quoted me $220 and that didn't include the labor, but when I questioned the charge he said he took the labor cost off and the $220 was the rate we agreed to.
Needless to say, I will NEVER be going back here. They do shady business, they took advantage of a mid-20's female, and at this point, I thoroughly believe there was an existing issue with the spark plugs they failed to fix during the inspection, only to have it act up the VERY NEXT DAY. Too much of a coincidence and they can't be trusted.
I want to support small, local businesses but not at this cost. Trust the other negative reviews. They may do good work for some, but not when it too tempting to make an extra buck off people they think don't know better.
Bob Wilson's Gulf Services Reviews
Be cautious when entering into business with Bob Wilson's. I am a Conshy local, living and working in Conshy, and took my car to Gulf for a state inspection, emissions inspection, and an oil change to satisfy state transfer requirements. This first interaction was fine, I picked up my car on a Thursday afternoon and thought I was done.
Friday, not even 24 hours later, my car was stuttering and lerching when accelerating. I've owned my car for 6 years and have NEVER had this issue. The next day, my emissions light came on and I took my car back to Bob Wilson's because I felt like the emissions issue was directly related to the work they did during the state & emissions inspection. Make sense, right? I received a call a few hours after dropping my car off, saying there was a problem with the spark plugs and they needed to be replaced. The total would be somewhere around $220---$95 for the diagnosis/labor, $98 for the parts plus tax. (Keep in mind that I wouldn't have even gone back a second time if I knew they were going to charge me for what I felt was a problem caused by them.) Apparently the spark plug damage was so bad my car couldn't be driven off their property.
At this point, I was dissatisfied and left like it was too much of a coincidence for a service light to come on 24 hours after their work, AND that they were not willing to acknowledge the coincidence and waive the diagnosis charge...I knew there was an issue, that's why the light was on, I argued that I didn't need to pay $95 for them to tell me that when the dealer agreed to do that at no cost (which I confirmed with the dealer.) Again, the only reason I took my car back here was because I believed they were going to fix what they missed/caused during the inspection. I tell Bob over the phone I am coming to get my car to take it to the Mini dealer, where I trust the work. He says he has to "put the car back together" so I can take it somewhere else, but it will be $95. I never agreed to have them start work, and no one ever called to receive permission from me on the charges and to start the work. I only wanted them to fix the damage I believed they caused, and if they wouldn't do that at no charge, I would take it to a trusted dealer for the work instead.
I went to the gas station in person to make it an easier conversation to have, took a witness with me, and after some discussion, Bob agreed to not charge me the $95 diagnosis fee, but only for the parts---around $120 or so when tax was done. I agreed to leave the car, which was my only choice I was told, because they "took it apart" and needed to charge me to put it back together. (My car has a smart key that runs the diagnosis by plugging in the key to a scanner...they didn't need to take my car apart.)
At a few points during this in-person conversation, Bob couldn't keep his story straight: they had to take my car apart and it wasn't drive-able so I had to leave it there to get the work done; they plugged my key into a scanner and really didn't take it apart; the labor cost was for taking my car apart (but was it taken apart?!)...the initial quote of $220 didn't include labor, it did include labor; the labor & plugging my key into a scanner were the same thing, they weren't the same thing; Mini gave me wrong information...you get the point.)
The next day, I went to pick up my car after work, Bob wasn't there, and I am shocked to find a bill waiting for me for $212, after we had a conversation and agreed the labor/diagnosis fee would be waived. I have the worker call Bob, who relays to me there's nothing to be done. I pay, because I don't want to leave my car there any longer than necessary with an unreliable and shady business, and plan to call Bob the next day.
I just got off the phone with Bob, who tells me that both me and my witness misunderstood, he never agreed to waive the labor/diagnosis fee, and the total is what we agreed to. He "can't do anything," the light coming on the day after their work was all a coincidence, what I paid is the price we agreed to (not true, because they would have to ask me to start work and never did), and now the diagnosis and labor are two separate things. Basically, he quoted me $220 and that didn't include the labor, but when I questioned the charge he said he took the labor cost off and the $220 was the rate we agreed to.
Needless to say, I will NEVER be going back here. They do shady business, they took advantage of a mid-20's female, and at this point, I thoroughly believe there was an existing issue with the spark plugs they failed to fix during the inspection, only to have it act up the VERY NEXT DAY. Too much of a coincidence and they can't be trusted.
I want to support small, local businesses but not at this cost. Trust the other negative reviews. They may do good work for some, but not when it too tempting to make an extra buck off people they think don't know better.