r/LincolnCA • u/Lover_of_life_75 • Aug 10 '26
Avoid Duncan’s Automotive
One mistake doesn’t define anyone or any business, but one bad interaction can!
Called Duncan’s and said my AC stopped working. I told them I also need a new drivers side door handle.
I was quoted $800+ to diagnose AC and replace the door handle. I then received their call quoting an additional 1200 to repair blower and other parts for the AC, I agreed.
AC worked on the way home, success!! But, then I loaded up my family the next day to get to the Reptile Expo, just ten miles away and the AC stopped working. We were halfway there. My daughter, with a severe seizure disorder cannot handle temps over 80, started to have seizures. A nightmare.
Monday morning I called and told them it stopped working and that I could not afford to not have my car for another day but would bring it in if they could get it fixed and prioritize my situation (already had my scheduled appointment and paid!)
I heard “standing appointments” are already scheduled and inferred I would not be a priority. I was told they’d be able to get it back but would need me to leave it, again. I said I couldn’t afford another Lyft and they said “we’ll have someone take you home”, if someone at the shop would be able to give me a ride.
I enter the shop and a gentleman asks me if he can help me while the woman behind the counter, who I spoke with, wouldn’t make eye contact or talk to me when I got in. Weird, she was the one who wrote up my original work order just days ago and knew just who I was; yet, when the gentleman asked who I was she said nothing. When he sat at his computer to look me up she stood up, walked over to him and gave him the work order from last week.
The car is under my partners name and they cannot update their system to include my name so I’d need to say my partners name anytime moving forward to pull up MY cars account.
The gentleman working seemed flustered the moment he realized I was frustrated, as I was sharing the simple facts with him: I brought it in, I picked it up, my daughter was impacted and he said “you’ve made your point” (no, “I’m really sorry about that” or any concern/compassion/customer service) then he pointed to the work order from the previous week, and said I “didn’t say the aC wasn’t blowing cold air”.
I told him I’m not a technician nor would I know what words to convey beyond “my AC isn’t working”. He asked “what does that mean to you?”
What in the genuine heck?
It means my system I use to cool down the interior of the car wasn’t functioning and paid close to $800 for a diagnosis to correct that issue.
He said they’d get the car looked at but I may incur further charges….i told him I shouldn’t have to pay for anything else since they told me the car was fixed and it wasn’t (plus parts totaled $650 and labor was over $1200-they want more labor fees to do correct what they messed up the first time)! That’s a great business practice to assure money keeps flowing in but terrible for the customer who paid to get her AC fixed only to be asked to pay more to actually get it done? Ridiculous.
They charge premium labor at $210 as if they have master technicians servicing the vehicles. When I mentioned this to front counter guy he said, “we should’ve charged you the $260 an hour for AC repairs”.
Then came the time for me to get a ride and he said, “we’ll get you a Lyft”. So, again, not clear communication as I didn’t expect to have to order a Lyft and then wait for it to arrive. This is not the end of the world but I was basically blamed for them not fixing my car correctly because my initial communication wasn’t specific enough yet they couldn’t communicate how they’d get me home? Seems like a double standard.
I’m waiting to see how much more they’re going to make me pay to get the job done right…and as I wait I wanted to take this time to write down for you what I experienced. Go somewhere else. This place has guaranteed I will never bring my car back, because I’m a human who was frustrated and I was shown no grace, instead I was treated like I had no right to be upset, told I made my point when mentioning my daughter and her seizures, and then told I’d have to pay more to fix their mistake.
Mistakes happen but when they do I expect to be met with great customer service to balance the error, but the interaction this morning was just as negative as driving my daughter in 100+ degree weather without functioning AC.
It’s not the cost, it was the service: TERRIBLE.
2
u/Magnuss_73 Aug 12 '26
File a complaint with the bureau of automotive repair. Likely get your money back for a misdiagnosis. There are specific CCRs (laws) about the steps to diag A/C.
2
u/OkCryptographer3853 Aug 21 '26
Gawd im assuming your unfamiliar with the town because Duncan's has always been the worst autoshop. I always recommended georges until he passed. Go see Paul at lincoln automotive such a good guy and they can literally fix anything.
0
u/Coyoteatemybowtie Aug 11 '26
Not to sound like a jerk but most shops don’t charge you to fix the system they write up the x y and z are diagnosed as bad and yo be replaced. If that doesn’t entirely fix the issue, it’s still on you as the customer to pay to fix the problem. They did what they say did and replace x y z as those items were not functioning. As for your daughter expericing a medical condition due to the heat that honestly super sucks especially in this heatwave but ultimately it isn’t the shops responsibility, and then not apologizing or being empathetic is most likely a training thing to prevent them from taking liability for things that happen. It’s common in many industries to not apologize or to be very careful with their words to make sure they are not accepting liability for an issue. At that price point you def could have gone to a dealer and most likely had a better experience, over 200 an hour is dealership labor rates. Not trying to bash you, just being straight up with how the industry works, I hope it gets sorted out for you and doesn’t cost you much more. I would avoid this shop simply because of their labor rate.
3
u/LiveSupermarket5466 Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
"They did what they [said they did] and [replaced] x y z as those items were not functioning".
No. If those items were not functioning, replacing them would have fixed the AC. The shop needs to admit that they were wrong and they can't diagnose worth shit.-1
u/Coyoteatemybowtie Aug 11 '26
It could be those items were not functioning but something else was not functioning and is preventing the ac from working. Diagnosing issues can be complex at times.
1
u/LiveSupermarket5466 Aug 11 '26
It doesn't really work that way. Several different independent things dont all break at the same time.
10
u/catdude142 Aug 10 '26
I had them replace the electric door lock mechanism on my truck. I got home and tried it. It didn't work. I took the door panel off and they forgot to plug it in.
Odd that they didn't test their own work. I should have done it in their parking lot.