1 /5 Jesse Rednour: I had an unpleasant experience with this service department. I do not like leaving negative reviews, but feel compelled to do so if I think it will save someone else from having their time or money wasted like mine was. I was having an electrical issue with my car and decided to have it towed in to Sullivan Parkhill in Champaign for repair. I spoke with Charles "Chuck" Norris, who claimed to be the service manager. I explained what the car was doing, that it had a brand new battery, and that I believed the issue to be the body control module that got wet. I also explained a simple procedure on how to start the car as it would only intermittently start. He said they would take a look at it and get back to me. A couple days later I get a service writeup. One of the line items was "Battery - $769.81". I assumed that was a general description for fixing the electrical issue in its entirety. I called to get clarification and this is where it all went downhill. That charge was in fact just the cost to replace my brand new battery. A battery for my car is $140 at most parts stores and they will install it for free. I then proceeded to offer several ideas to Charles on how I could prove the battery was fine or workarounds to continue diagnosis, but he was having none of it. He kept saying they could not do any additional diagnosis until I agreed to the charge. He claimed they did three different tests on the battery, all showing it was completely shot. I later got the test results showing values of 6% life, 0 amp hours, and 0.6 amp hours. I asked if they put the new battery in and the car still did the same thing would I be charged for it. He resorted to saying they would not proceed without it. At this point I reluctantly gave up as now I was going to eat the towing charges both ways with nothing to show for it along with burning some of my vacation time.
I rented a Uhaul trailer the next morning to avoid the more expensive tow charge. When I got there I popped the hood and checked the battery voltage with my multimeter. It was a little low, but not surprising given the testing they did and the fact they left it hooked up with a slow drain on the battery. The drain likely being caused by the aforementioned electrical issue. I unhooked the battery, waited a few minutes, hooked the battery back up, and the car fired right up. I then proceeded into the service department and informed Charles they were incompetent and I thought I had brought the car to professionals. Charles did not like that, and pointed at the door and told me I could leave. I told him sure, just as soon as you give the key back I dropped the car off with. At one point in the exchange Charles falsely accused me of jumpstarting the car, implying that was the only reason it started. I told him no, I did the above procedure, the same one mentioned when dropping the car off. I attempted to talk to the general manager or one of the Parkhills, but unfortunately they were not in yet. The only positive part of the experience was they were gracious enough not to charge me for the opportunity to waste my time and money. I read another one of their reviews with a customer stating a similar experience with a misdiagnosed bad battery. There seems to be a potential trend of misdiagnosed batteries, supported with questionable test data, resulting in a recommendation to replace the battery at extraordinary expense to the customer. Seriously, $769.81 for a battery! I have referred the matter to the Attorney General, if nothing else to establish a paper trail should others come forward.
