Hey dude, I am taking a break

Amy is getting some water and I am on her comp.

Give me a call in the morn dude we'll take care of your SC no prob.

Gotcha covered like a jimmy hat.....


Josh

 

See, right there...he said they did not call him until after it was broken. He also stated earlier in the thread that they knew it was frozen. Right then they should have called and said that in order to complete his job there is a chance that such and such piece may break and asked if he wanted to continue with the job. If they would have just told him they were taking it off and it broke then I would agree with the people who feel they are not at fault. But they told him they saw something wrong (it being frozen) and tried to fix it on their own. They took the gamble without his consent. How are they to know he doesnt have a spare caliper at his house or that he doesnt have family that works for toyota that can get him the part??? They first took upon themselves to try to get around something that they thought would break and then they took it about themselves to order him the part. They need to take responsibility for their mistake in judgement.

 

The same exact thing happened to me. A $120 brake hose job turned into a $300 mess.

 

Amen Brother!!!

Peace,

Jonny

 

What are they going to do, stop work and call every single owner and sit on the phone for 10 minutes every time they come across a stubborn bolt? "There's a chance this bolt could break! Oh no! Whatver shall we do?" Come on. Grow up and get with the program. It's not like they are being unreasonable on the breakage. By unreasonable I mean they didn't kick the mirror off and put a forklift through the door. They were fixing your brakes and a part of the brakes broke. It happens.

Now pick yourself up and phone around and find a used caliper for $squat and take it down there. That price for the pin is just plain BS. You could even call Carson and get them to next-day the pin out for a lot less than that. Next time, do your own brake pads too. It's fun.

 

That was meee! Speakin of which, could you PM (or email me) the tracking number for that...

ANd this is a tough call, but they definitely should not have ordered the caliper without your consent, thast for sure

 

First, I wouldn't take any car to Firestone but it's too late for that. Can you take a mechanic there to look at it for a second opinion? If not, maybe tow it somewhere else for the second opinion. Probably the best thing is just pay up and use this as a learning experience. From now on, take your car to places where they stand behind their work and own up to mistakes. Even if not a mistake a reputable shop should repair free because they didn't tell you everything possible....or at least call you before it happened. That's why I use the Lexus dealer as much as possible.
I remember years ago a technician broke something on my car. The manager said he wouldn't take care of it. I threw everything on his desk on the floor. He fixed my car free.
I don't advocate violence but I decided to try the "be crazy" method because I had nothing to lose. I wasn't really mad. I pretended. It worked. Don't try this at home folks, it's only for professionals.
Before everyone thinks I'm crazy let me explain. I felt so helpless. The technician admitted he broke the part. The manager is telling me he won't fix it and is using a very nasty tone. He was dissing me. I had to regain my props. I saw the guy years later at a restaurant and said hi to him. I reminded him I was that guy and his face turned red. I laughed to make him feel okay.

 

I think you're missing the point that, until proven otherwise, this isn't a mistake on their part. Parts on cars break. I can't count the number of times bolts have broken off, stripped or seized on me. It happens to everyone. Cars are like that. They didn't break the part, it just broke. It happens. That is, unless you can prove they screwed up. Should they have to cover the broken part? I don't think so - it's your car with a seized up part. Now the price is high, and this may be their policy - charge cost+1 on stuff like brake pad changes, but make good money off you when they find something else. Get the part yourself, forget trying to make them pay for something that was faulty on your car. If you don't work on cars much, it's to be expected that you wouldn't know that this is what happens. To get one job done, half the time you find 2 more that need doing on the way in.

 

Jonny,

If you have the time, you can do this job in about an hour tops. Given the nature of the vehicle you are driving, I understand that there could be a possibility that this is due to other issues (thats another story).


Anywho, I changed my brakes today and it took me all of an 30 minutes (rear). You can have fun with this as mentioned above. It takes about the same amount of time it does on the Legend.

Let me know if you need any help with that.

 

You are missing the point of every single person on heres arguement. I dont think anyone on here is ignorant enough to believe parts on cars do not break. The fine point you are missing is that he did not bring the car in with the knowledge of there being anything wrong with the bolt. It was already proven that it was a mistake on their part. They being mechanics saw a potential problem in doing the work and admitted this when they said it was his fualt because the pin was "frozen". Should the mechanics stop and make a whiney call to the customer every single time they come to a bump in the road, you be your *** they should...anytime that it could affect the price of the job absolutely and like I said in FL at least it is a law.

 

Fine, if you want everything to take 3 times as long, and cost 3 times as much in labor, and disturb you every 5 minutes with "hey this bolt is frozen, just thought I'd let you know before I do a routine part of my job by trying to unfreeze it", then good luck to you. Go do the timing belt and see how many "could possibly break" bolts you encounter along the way. Should the guy stop every 5 minutes through that job and ring with "yeah look another bolt is stuck - want me to stop and pack up and declare defeat?"

What would his reply have been if they had said "this thing is frozen, do you want us to just stop, put your car back together, and charge for the time we have spent without changing the brakes, because this pin might break, or, we can try our best for it not to break"? Would anyone here say "oh.. well, you better just put it back together and forget about changing the brakes - that pin is more important to me"? No. We'd all say "give it your best shot".

"Hey, it's Bob, your mechanic - I'm undoing a hose. Now I must warn you, there is a chance the hose could be stuck to the fitting and it may break. Should I stop? No? OK."

"Hey, Bob again. Yeah I am undoing your valve cap because your tyre is flat, and it's stuck on. Should I use the pliers on it? Cos, you know, I could mark it up with them and you'd need a new one.. Yes? OK."

"Hi, Bob here. We're out of TP in the john. Should I just use my hand? No? OK."



You say it has been established that the breakage was their fault. Please show me any evidence that they used negligent or improper technique in trying to loosen that part. Without that evidence, we assume they did the job the way anyone would have, in the manufacturer prescribed manner. If the part then breaks, it is because it was bad.

 

Its not use in arguing anymore. We obviously see things two different ways. And yes I would rather be called every 5 minutes if it meant my car coming back in great shape with no hidden costs.

 

Yep, no hidden costs, but double the labor costs for phone calls.

Arguing is no use. You see it your way, I see it how it is heh heh

 

I got an attorney in the family... And since you are in Oklahoma too..

He loves to be nasty. You know, the "eat ***** and die, strong letter to follow" kind.

 

If it was a bolt or something they could turn around and replace I would agree. If it is a part they don't have, and may take a week to get... You damn well better call me before you break it.