Vee Village Service

My relationship with this shop started when I took my 99 VW Jetta in for its 100,000 mile service. They charged me half what the dealership wanted. I have been taking my cars and trucks to Vee Village for over 10 years now. They don't just work on Volkswagens. They've taken good care of my Ford F150 and my Honda Civic. They're located in downtown Kansas City, right next to Hallmark, where I work. These guys are so kind, they drive me to work and pick me back up, even for an oil change, for free. Not many shops have this kind of service. They might not be able to fix a problem for me the first time I bring in my car, but they have the ability to work on the problem until they get it fixed without charging me an arm and a leg to do it. I'm very thankful for the guys at this shop and I highly recommend them to you.

I had my 1960 Bug in there. I can deal with businesses that simply want to overprice their products or services by not patronizing them. However, what particularly urks me is when a supposedly knowledgeable Service Writer repeatedly insults my intelligence and/or challenges the veracity of given facts.



First, I gave full authorization to repair malfunctioning turn signals and exterior lighting and asked for an estimate on further repairs. After a couple of days I called to see if the lights were fixed and what the damage was for any other problems. "I have not quite got that done, I'll call ya back".



On the call back I was told "Hey, your turn signals don't work, the left tail light is bright and the right tail light and the headlights are dim...what do you want to do about it?"



It took two days to call me back and read off what I had already told them when I dropped the car? "Umm, no kidding, it is there for you to fix that", I said.



"Well, we have all of this other stuff, front suspension, brakes, shocks, oil leaks, engine shroud pieces and etc." Then the guy gives me an overpriced individual estimate on each little item but refuses to give me a total. Doing rough math in my head I came up with approximately $2000.00 in repairs. I said "Hey, that is a more than a bit overpriced for what you are doing. I tell you what, fix the thing I'll pay $1500.00!" The response was a smirkish laugh and a ramping up of the condescension like I was a 12 year old girl or something.



I said, "Look man, I don't care how you do it, use quality pre-owned parts, whatever, just do it right and I will pay. I can get turnable brake drums for $10.00 each..."



Dude says "USED PARTS! I wouldn't put USED PARTS on MY car!". When I pointed out that the car was 52 years old and is made up ENTIRELY of USED PARTS and particularly explained that turning USED brake drums is perfectly safe and done every day, he ignored me and changed the subject.



I reiterated that $1500.00 was more than enough to cover the repairs he just shrugged me off. I said no thanks.



After a day pondering I decided to go ahead and let the Vee Village folks do the front end work. $560.00 for new King and Link Pins and shocks. The guy explained that most of that was Labor because it all had to be disassembled without damaging anything and then reassembled. "Okay", I tell him "Do the front end work but add 2.5" dropped spindles."



"Oh, I'll have to get back to you on that", he says. Three days later he finally calls back and says the front end will now be nearly $1000.00!



"You have got to be kidding me", I said. "How does adding brand new bolt in spindles that can be bought for $80 to $100 a set DOUBLE the price of the work? There is less labor involved now (though he tried to convince me there was more) and...



He interrupted me and basically called me an idiot saying that he didn't deal in low quality crappy parts. I said "These are brand new EMPI Forged Steel Spindles" which brought a chuckle and a "Sure they are..."



I had had enough. I told him he obviously didn't need my business.



When I came to pick up the car he again tried to convince me that I didn't know what I was talking about on the spindles and that there was no way I could buy FORGED STEEL Spindles for anywhere close to that because even Vee Village has to pay $160.00 for them. Which was pretty stupid considering he already told me he was going to charge me more than double that.



I do not care what they get other people to overpay for service work. Just don't be a self righteous condiscending prick when you are attempting to justify it. They could have gotten a fair price for fair work. Instead they have somebody who will NEVER step foot in their establishment again and will certainly recommend others against it as well.

I'm not entirely sure what to say about this place other than I know that I'll never go back! There is only one thing I EXPECT to receive when I give my hard earned money to any establishment. My expectations isn't above and beyond the call of duty, rather the call for due diligence and what I perceive to be fair business practices. I'm not sure whether or not I received either. However, what I believe is that I've received anything but what I paid for from Vee Village!



Before I took my car in for repair, I explained thoroughly the issues I was having with my VW and to find that issue and fix it. The car would just die out on "occasion." They ran my car through a series of computerized test, for which I was charged. However, this is not my complaint, but I figured that if you're going to be fixing the car, then why charge me to diagnose the problem, anyway that's other issue. I figured, I'd pay for the diagnosis and the repairs as long as the problem was fixed. After completely checking the car over, they presented to me their findings and it wasn't a pretty number. They found many things, some that dealt directly with the issue I was having and other items that was not associated with my issue, but needed to be fixed. Since, like the most of us, my funds are limited, I instructed them to fix only the items required to resolve my immediate problem and I would have to fix the other items at a later date.



OK, to keep a long story short, after spending $800 for the first go round, not only was my problem NOT fixed, but the car was literally not drivable. Immediately after picking it up, the car died out on me several times before I could even get it home! I had never experienced this before! Every time it died out, it would take a while to start up again, to the point I ran the battery down trying to start it and had to get a jump! So, I called and per their suggestion, there was another $200 fix that needed to be done to resolve that issue. Even after getting my car back in even worse condition than when I took it in, I was still willing to give them a chance to fix the problem they failed to fix the first time! So, I took the car back, to spend more of my hard earned money. I get a call from Bob at Vee Village and he's now telling me that I need to spend an additional $400 to maybe fix my issue, on top of the other $200 repair that was SUPPOSED to fix my issue! We're talking $600 for more work that may or may not resolve my issue!!! REALLY!?



I declined their offer to take up permanent residence in my pocket and you should too!



Sincerely,

Very Dissatisfied Consumer