WATSON’S AUTO REPAIR, St. Catharines, Ontario
This is the saga of my Jeep repairs with Watson’s Auto repair in St. Catharines Ontario. At the time of this writing it was located at 158 Cushman Road.
The saga begins in May of 2022 when the transmission let go in the vehicle, thankfully in my driveway. I had the vehicle towed to Watson’s Auto Repair in St. Catharines in early June 2022 with the intent on getting it repaired and back on the road to enjoy summer.
I called the garage when the tow truck departed my driveway, and the individual on the other end of the phone said they were expecting it.
A few days later I called the garage again and was advised they had not had chance to take a look at it yet. Understandable as garages get very busy during the summer months.
In July, I called the garage again and was advised that the vehicle appeared to have a seized engine and it would take some time to diagnose.
Later in July I was then advised they had no idea where my vehicle was and it was not dropped off at the garage. The individual I spoke to stated they had no recollection of any previous phone calls. A few days later I was advised they had “Found” the vehicle and it was at a garage next door and they had not had the chance to look at it, but they will.
Fast forward to the August the vehicle had some repairs done and I was able to get the vehicle back in my possession. But it had a dead battery. After asking the garage if they would give me a courtesy battery because it took three months to repair the vehicle, I was gaslit by the owner who said “This is all your fault. We didn’t know where the vehicle was because you had it dropped off at the wrong address”.
I then drove the vehicle to the battery shop to get a new battery, and the vehicle broke down again, in the parking lot of the battery shop.
The vehicle was then towed back to Watson’s Auto Repair again and sat until December 13th, 2022. When I went to pick it up I politely asked the owner “Why does it take six months to repair my vehicle?”
“Shut your yap! You brought me a broken car and it took time to fix”
I politely replied “You’re a garage. It’s your job to fix cars. Why did it take six months to repair my vehicle?”
The owner then angrily yelled “I’m not talking to you anymore. Pay your bill and take the vehicle” He also boldly advised me “Give your head a shake, pal. It did not take six months”
Thankfully the battery was replaced, and the vehicle was operational. This was a terrible experience. Sadly there is little in place in society to prevent business owners such as this from gaslighting customers, and taking months and months to repair. This causes undue stress on the vehicle owner, added expense in securing another vehicle, and myriad of other problems.
Although the owner claimed it did not take six months to repair my vehicle and the phone records were wrong, my vehicle sat at the garage so long, it appeared on the google maps of the building.
The sad part about this situation is that in the event there was a single mother with a child who entrusted her only way to generate income with this garage, she would lose her job, and potentially lose her child.
