Yesterday I brought in my car to the Canadian Tire in Ajax to fix my car. I had indicated to them that my car had some smoke coming from underneath the roof the day before. My husband indicated it coming from a fan under the roof, in the passenger side, and on the inside of the car by the grill. We also informed CT that immediately after, the air conditioning stopped working and then the day after I noticed that the temperature guage increased to the RED line. CT informed me that they would take a look at my car and because Volkswagen was closed at the time, that they would like to keep my car overnight and talk to volkswagen and get a price on the fan. This morning, I called Canadian Tire and unfortunately they were not ready with the quote on the car repair so they asked if they can call me back. I eventually got a call back from Canadian Tire and they informed me that the problem I had was due to the fan, serpentine belt, and thermostat needed to be changed. CT informed me that the after market fan that they have in stock only had 2 wires (or something) whereas the VW fan had 3 wires and this is what I needed for my car. Although it was $150.00 more to get the VW part, I went ahead and agreed that it was ok to get the VW fan. CT quoted me a total of $1011.00 for the following repairs: new fan, coolant system flush, serpentine belt replaced, new thermostat, labour, and tax. I picked up my car this afternoon and paid approx $1000.00 in cash for my car. I drove my car and within an hour or less, I saw that my temperature gauge was increasing again and that it was hitting the red line. THEY DIDN'T FIX THE PROBLEM! I WAS DEVASTATED as the money that I had given to CT was the last of my savings and they had indicated that my car had been fixed. I called CT and informed them that my car and informed them that my car was still having the same problem as before. They infomred me that I should take my car back to Canadian Tire which I did. Unfortunately I had to leave my car there overnight again as all the mechanics had left for the night. I was devastated as I need my car for tomorrow to get to work and see my patients (I am a research nurse working at Sunnybrook Hospital) A couple of months ago I went to the same Canadian Tire to have my husbands car balanced. I paid over $100.00 for the balancing but after looking at the read out on the 'before' and 'after' balancing of the wheels, there was hardly any difference. I complained that time as well about them taking my money and not having any actual work done on the car. They offered to repeat the balancing at no charge which I accepted. But this is still unacceptable. How could they hand over the car to me, accepting payment, and not have done their part????????
- Approximate cost of services:
- $1,100.00
- What could this company do to improve their services?
- Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?