Heartland Speed Shop Terrible Service Omaha, Nebraska

First of all this review is not to bash anyone or put anyone out of business.

This is my personal honest experience with Heartland Speed Shop, Omaha NE 402.397.0375 or 402.510.3624 these past few weeks.

I called the shop about 2 weeks prior to scheduling my appointment for (9/17/2012) to repair what I deemed to be a bad oil pan gasket on my 91 Turbo Mustang from what I could see.  I was quoted 500.00 for labor which I thought was more than fair.

I dropped my car off at 8am on 9/17/2012 and left my keys in the car with doors unlocked for the Mechanic (Tom VanVugt) because the office door was locked.

So I called several times with no answer and then left to work, tried calling again at 1pm, no answer.  After many failed attempts to reach Tom to let him know where I hid the keys, I had to use my lunch break to drive down there because I didn't want anybody getting into my Mustang in case he didn't call.

I show up about 130pm and Tom is in the shop with another kid, I grab the keys and hand them over.  At this time they are working on a newer supercharged camaro.  I asked them when they expected to have my car back to me, and they said my car was next in line, so Weds 9/19/2012 was the date they said it would be ready.

Thursday rolls around and I get a call from Tom and he says "The camaro took longer than anticipated and that he would have my car repaired by end of day Friday 9/21/2012"
I said ok no problem, then I asked Tom if they were open on Saturdays, he said "No" but I will be here"  The reason I asked them if they were open on Saturdays is because at this point I'm starting to second guess whether or not he'd keep his word.

Saturday rolls around now 9/22/2012, no update call what so ever.  So I drive down to the shop and find Tom sitting in a GTO that I didn't notice was there before my car, he rolls down the window and rudely says "What"!

I asked him when he thought my car was going to be done?  He then says "I'm trying, I'm trying" and that he would have it done on Monday.

Hmmm, I thought to myself, wasn't my car next after the Camaro?

So here comes Monday, what do know nobody is answering the phones AGAIN, so I put in a word to a friend of mine to speak with the owner (Corey Lewis) for an update.

My friend gets a reply text message and the owner says they would have it done Tuesday night.  I was ok with that answer since it was coming from the owner this time.

Finally I get a call on Tuesday at 720pm.  It's Tom, he said that they oil pan wasn't leaking that it was my Valve Cover Gaskets and a couple of hoses from a Oil Filter relocation kit and they went ahead and replaced the VC Gaskets and put a couple of clamps on the hoses and that he also noticed my oil pan was resting on the cross member.

Ok...don't get me wrong I was happy to hear that it wasn't the oil pan gasket leaking, but just keep reading.

So my first thought was....how come Tom didn't call me first before he made a repair that we never discussed or agreed to?  You'll see why later, this get's better.

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it commonsense to let the customer decide if he wants something fixed before you fix it?

After biting my tongue about them not asking permission to perform the other repairs first, I say great!  When can I pick up the car?  Tom, says "Wednesday after 5pm"

So I show up on Wednesday (9/26/2012) evening to find my car on Jack stands, at this point I informed Tom of my dissatisfaction of how they have been conducting business with me in a calm manner.  Then he proceeded to respond in a very unprofessional way, such as outlining his personal life with me and blaming the owner for the disorganization within the shop.  I've been through this before with another shop and I wasn't about to let my car sit here for 5 months, so I played along with his excuses and personal stories and told myself give it one more day and that was it.

Ok, I when will the car be done then?  Tom says "Thursday"
Thursday afternoon rolls around and I didn't hear any word back from Tom, so I decided to call and OMG he actually answered the phone lol!  I asked Tom, if the car would be ready today as he mentioned the previous day, Tom then said "I call you back later" in a rude tone of voice and hung up.

At this point I made a decision that I HAD IT WITH THIS SHOP, went down over lunch and pulled my car out of their shop and informed the owner of the whole situation and he agreed that Tom should not be dealing directly with customers due to his personal life.
  
I went ahead and paid my bill of 231.00 since they said it wasn't leaky anymore and drove it home on Thursday 9/27/2012 and parked my car in the Garage.  The very next morning I decided to take a look under my car and guess what!  The car is leaking the same amount of oil it was when I brought it in!

After my discovery I sent the owner a picture text with the oil spot next to a measuring tape to show him how much oil had leaked and explained to him that the only reason I paid the bill was because Tom said that my oil pan was not leaking and that the leak was coming from the Valve Cover Gasket and a couple of loose hoses.

So I asked him to refund my money for the labor because if Tom would of called me in to look at the leaky Valve Covers I would of said, don't worry about the Valve Cover gasket, I'll fixed that myself.  Obviously because they weren't leaking that bad or else I wouldn't have the amount of oil on the floor as I did when I first brought it in to be fix.
 
Long story short is DON'T TAKE YOUR CAR TO HEARTLAND SPEED SHOP IF YOU WANT GOOD SERVICE!!

Summary:Tom VanVugt lets his personal life effect his work and has a very poor attitude with customers, and Corey Lewis is a poor business manager because he did nothing to prevent this from happening, and he had a chance to do the right thing and refund my money which he did not, I always give people a chance to do the right thing, after all we all make mistakes you wouldn't be human if you didn't.

If I were to recommend anyone I can say I've had success with Dan at DYNOSPORT out of Lincoln, NE.  Take it to him if you have a modified car, he's honest and always answers the phone.  The only reason I took it to Heartland Speed Shop is because it was closer and a friend referred me.
Oh well, this could of ended worse like my Sublime Speed Technology experience.  Funny thing is that Corey Lewis and Mike from Sublime are buddies lol!