RED SIMON FORD RIPOFF !!! FRAUDULENT, INCOMPETANT AND DISHONEST SERVICE!!! San Marcos Texas

This week I took my $53,000 Ford F-350 Diesel 6.0L truck into Red Simons Ford for warranty service, and in my opinion my job was botched, misquoted, misdiagnosed, and I was lied to by Red Simons employees.

I would certainly avoid this ROGUE FORD DEALERSHIP for NEW or USED cars, but ESPECIALLY FOR AUTOMOTIVE SERVICE!

THESE PEOPLE ARE BALD-FACED LIARS. And if theres one thing I just cant abide, its someone lying to my face.

My service advisor was Felipe, who seemed friendly enough, but when I got the bill for service, it was over $740.00, while he had quoted me approximately $400. I say approximately because he explained that he couldnt quote an exact figure until they diagnosed the problems. Nobody ever quoted me $700+ dollars for repairs, nor did they notify me about that increase in repair price.

But the real problem wasnt the cost or the overcharge. It was the DISHONESTY.

I picked up the truck on a Saturday after the shop had closed, Felipe had gone home, and I had already turned in my rental car. I was shocked by the price, but had no choice. I paid the bill and started to drive away, then noticed that the returned parts didnt match the charges on my bill!

If I WERE A WOMAN OR SOMEONE WHO DIDNT KNOW BETTER, THESE PEOPLE WOULD HAVE ROBBED ME BLIND, WITHOUT SO MUCH AS SECOND THOUGHT ABOUT CHEATING ME.

I went back to the (then closed) shop and asked the technician Jason about excessive parts charges and he said he couldnt change the price, so that Id have to wait until Monday.

When Monday came, they refunded the nearly $300 in bogus parts charges, but kept the bill at around $480 even though the actual quoted repairs only justified about $200. (which is erring on the side of caution, since the warranty repair was SUPPOSED to cost NOTHING)

When I drove home, I saw steam coming out of the tailpipe again, and called back to talk to Jason the tech. He told me, just let it burn out for while and itll clear up to which I replied, you mean that YOU DIDNT EVEN CHANGE THE OIL AFTER A TOP END JOB WITH COOLANT LEAKAGE?

He said that, it wasnt necessary, but when I got home, I drained the engine oil and sure enough, it WAS FULL OF GLYCOL / COOLANT.ONE OF THE MOST DAMAGING CONTAMINANTS TO ENGINE LONGEVITY AND A DIRECT CAUSE OF CATASROPHIC ENGINE FAILURE AND/OR COLD SEIZURE. (The Ford diesel powerplant costs around $15,000 if you have to buy a new one, so its not a great idea to run contaminated oil.)

Now, as a former ASE tech, I can understand mistakes being made. And I can understand that some technicians dont take their job seriously.

But what I CANT UNDERSTAND IS, BEING LIED TO, DIRECTLY TO MY FACE AND OVER THE PHONE LATER. BOTH VICTOR, THE SHOP FOREMAN, AND FELIPE, THE SERVICE WRITER, LIED DIRECTLY TO ME ABOUT BOGUS LABOR CHARGES. I also asked JASON, the tech, about the changes in PCM updates related to the poor performance of my truck, and he simply replied, I dont know much about that stuff. (this is the Diesel Certified guy)

Red Simon has a lot of money tied up in an internet presence (website), TV advertising, and a large dealership next to the I-35 freeway.

What he has apparently forgotten, is that LYING TO HIS CUSTOMERS AND HAVING A BAD REPUTATION will make all the other investments WORTHLESS and that a complaint like this LASTS FOREVER ON THE INTERNET.

My truck runs WORSE NOW THAN WHEN I TOOK IT IN, the mileage dropped from over 15mpg to 10mpg and Im now saddled with AGAIN taking off work, renting another car, and finding some other Ford Warranty Dealership to repair the damage done by RED SIMON.

I wouldnt trust RED SIMONS FORD to repair my sons bicycle, and in my opinion, neither should anyone else until they clean up their act and prove themselves worthy of a customers trust. I have a busy schedule during the week, and Id like to be able to send my WIFE into a local car dealer service department once in while without getting RIPPED OFF. But when they take advantage of me, a former auto tech, CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW THEY WOULD HAVE CHEATED MY WIFE, if I hadn't gone myself?

I tried to contact the owner, Red Simon, but (big surprise) "he wasn't available" and he didnt return my call.

Richard
San Marcos, Texas
U.S.A.