Hoffman Auto Costly Misdiagnosis Lake Placid New York

This is not a complaint about AAA, but it IS a complaint about one of AAA's member garages, Hoffman Auto (hoffmanautolp.com) of Lake Placid, New York.

My wife and I were on a motorcycle trip (9/28/18-9/30/18) when our motorcycle broke down in Lake Placid. We had Hoffman Auto take a look at the bike since they were AAA members and only a few miles away.

I mentioned multiple times that the issue may be a dead battery or loose battery cable. They looked at the bike and assured me it was something with the electrical system (a solenoid or relay issue), and that the battery wasn’t the issue. This sounded plausible because we trusted them to know what they were doing.  Turns out our trust was misplaced.

They told me I'd have to take it to another garage, so they towed it to Preferred Powersports in Brewerton, NY (.preferredpowersports.com). The Brewerton garage tested the battery, found it to be dead, replaced it, and the bike is working again. This mistake, or incompetence, on the part of Hoffman Auto cost us $375.84 because they couldn't tell the battery was dead. This is a very basic item for a mechanic to be able to check and get correct regardless of vehicle type (2014 Triumph Trophy SE). 

I'm very unhappy with Hoffman Auto and informed AAA of this. The AAA representative was great about following up. I provided him with bill receipts from both garages - Hoffman Auto and Preferred Powersports. The AAA representative spoke with Hoffman Auto multiple times but they were unapologetic and provided no reimbursement for their mistake.

In summary, my wife and I certainly feel like Hoffman Auto took us for a ride because we were stranded motorists. Being able to correctly diagnose a dead battery seems like something any garage or mechanic should be able to do.