Athena Automatics
3 reviews
Sneaky, dishonest criminals – Sneaky con artists who will overcharge on jobs, use poor quality parts, misdiagnose, gaslight you, refuse to honour their stated warranties and blatantly lie to you and regulatory authorities to make an extra buck if they sense you are not mechanically savvy. So sad really. I wonder how many busy people get done by these guys and never realise it :(
[Name Removed] comes off as a nice guy initially and is capable of fixing a car. But from my experiences, those of friends and the stories that honest, reliable mechanics have heard about them (including some of their customers coming in after being done dodgy) - Athena Automatics are pros at vetting you out and squeezing you for money wherever possible.
Took me for $1,200 of poor quality, overcharged repairs a year ago which didn’t fix the main problem I was having and subsequently tried to sell me another $6k worth of repairs (new transmission and power steering pump) while convincing me my car has gone down the [Content Removed] and causing me months of stress over it.
Didn’t seem right and I went to a busier shop and stayed patient for a second opinion - they found and fixed the main problem (spark plugs so loose “almost falling out of engine”) for free within 5 mins and remember / will attest to this.
Other intermittent problem wasn’t the power steering pump quoted at $1k but only $4.90 in bolts at bunnings as two were missing from my exhaust… The power steering pump was done elsewhere for half the price and didn’t change anything with the car. Yet they claim it is the cause of current failure
They are now refusing to honour warranty on installed water pump which completely failed. Second (trusted) opinion says they have simply used a dodgy part and nothing else could have caused this (repco brand, there are multiple reports of people going through up to three of these in a year due to constant failure).
Yet they continue to waste my time, lying to regulatory bodies about past events I’ve outlined above, ignoring my number yet instantly picking up a friend’s, and stalling the refund they are now liable for (as per ACCC laws on warranted repairs and my car sitting there for 2 months of their [Content Removed]!) by requesting extensions to reply and then replying as vaguely as possible; continuing to do nothing!
Wouldn’t send an enemy here
Waste of money – Rude and unhelpful. Overcharged for labour and didn’t fix the problem.
Over Charged - Ignored my instructions. $1059.65 ---> $2800.00 – Athena quote: Sun 9/01/2022 12:33 PM QUOTATION FOR SERVICE AND REPAIRS FORD FOCUS 290XCA Thank you for your enquiry, Quotation for services as follow, 135,000 log book service Includes motor oil ,oil filter , 62 point safety check and report $394.75 Automatic service Replace external filter ,and drain and refill d.c.t oils $456.10 Diagnostic time , aprox $208.80 allowing 1.5hrs pending on the problem the transmission has, Suggest to check automatic first ,before servicing , (in case fault is internal)
I calculated in the worst case scenario $1059.65. Dropped the car off and clearly stated "if you find something that is going to cost a million dollars please call me"
2.50pm that Monday afternoon [Name Removed] calls and gives me a list of items ADDITONAL to the services and gearbox problem. I listen carefully and instruct him that "we will address the brakes; engine mount; and suspension issues in a separate visit" It's clear to me that [Name Removed] did NOT listen carefully to my instructions. [Name Removed] went ahead and completed ALL the work. Consequently he needed to keep the car overnight. Tuesday our next conversation: [Name Removed] calls to ask to to keep the car a while longer as the wrong brake pads arrived. This alerted me to re-visit our conversation on Monday afternoon and remind him that we will address the additional items in a separate service. [Name Removed] become confused and I become annoyed. [Name Removed] apologies for the confusion. Tony offered to take the new items off the car. Wednesday: 5pm [Name Removed] left a message on my phone asking me to call back. Thursday: 9.30am I called and was advised the car is ready for pick up. Upon picking up the car [Name Removed] gave me a summary of all the work that was done. I clarified our conversation & repeated my instruction and thanked him for being thorough. [Name Removed] stated that he had made notes on the job-sheet re our conversation. A conversation that he clearly DID NOT listen to. I explained that at worst case I expected $1059.65 not $2800.00. I also explained that we are a single income family - made no difference. I made a $1000.00 payment and advised the balance will be paid on Monday 7th Feb. [Name Removed] insisted on keeping our car in the meantime and retained the bill.
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