ComplaintsforMcGovern Honda of Boston

• Initial Complaint

  03/17/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I went in on March 14, 2023 to get brakes done. *************** was the "advisor" and ************************* was the technician. **** called and informed me that I needed new calipers for the front and back. New brake pads and rotors for the front and back. Basically I needed a complete brake job. $3827.54 I called **** back and told him NOT to do the calipers. This cut my estimate by $1913.77. About an hour later **** calls me and informs me that the back caliper is seized, and they HAVE to change it, so I gave authorization for them to replace the rear calipers. After the dust settled, my total was $2958.29. None of the parts they put on were actual Honda parts. They were "aftermarket" The BACK brakes started grinding before I even made it home. New pads, rotors, AND calipers. There was absolutely NO reason my back brakes should be grinding. I drove to work the next day on March 15, 2023. On my way home I stopped at a meineke shop and asked them to take a look at the back brakes to see why they were grinding not even 24 hours after I paid $3000 to McGovern Honda. They found that the **brake had NOT been adjusted and it was scraping on the inside of the wheel drum. ALSO, if they had test driven it, or even just spun the wheel while it was on the lift after they were finished, they most certainly would have heard the grinding. The technicians at Meineke fixed it in less than 20 minutes, and informed me that the front caliper only needed grease. I feel like I was taken advantage of because I'm a single woman who doesn't know **** about cars. I feel like **** knew what he was doing , and he intentionally used language that was very unclear. I'm sure this is a tactic that they teach these guys, but come ON!!! This is terrible terrible business model. I believe the term is "parts pusher" Times are rough man . I work hard for the little bit of money I do have and to have someone intentionally try to steal from me is just so.... disheartening. This form of sales shouldn't be legal.

  Business response

  03/28/2023

  Customer came in and requested a diagnosis of her check engine light and requested a brake inspection and was helped by Service Advisor ***************. The technician found the front and rear brake pads were at their replacement point, the front and rear rotors were too rusted / damaged to resurface or save (photos of front and rear rotors attached) all 4 caliper pistons were binding, slide pins seized and it was recommended to replace front and rear brake pads, all 4 rotors, and all 4 calipers. In an effort to save the customer money due to the age and mileage of the car, a non Honda part option was offered for the calipers and rotors, but Honda original brake pads were quoted. The customer believed that she did not actually require replacement of the calipers and requested that we move forward with replacing only the front and rear pads and rotors, but to skip the calipers,something that we should have never agreed to do as we were not performing the repair appropriately and problems could arise. The technician had to forcefully hammer the front calipers to get the pistons back into the caliper in order to fit the new brake pads (not a common practice), but was unable to do the same in the rear. The advisor had to call and inform the customer that as we originally suggested, the rear calipers needed to be replaced and she agreed.There were no tactics or intentional language used, rather we informed the customer of what the vehicle required, she doubted our recommendations, and then was upset when we could not reuse the old rear calipers. We dont need to stealfrom anyone but rather our job is to inform customers the best ways to maintain and repair their vehicles and help guide them to the best decision for them. The vehicle was road tested 3 miles after repairs (see invoice attached with in and out mileage) to ensure there were no further issues and none were presented and the car was picked up. The customer did experience an issue shortly after taking her vehicle and was offered to have it looked at / repaired at no charge but declined our offer. Our customers and their satisfaction are our utmost priority,and we always seek to retain our customers as we would like for them to return for future service and vehicle purchases.

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