Complaint Review: MCcullough Towing & Repair - Gary Indiana

Mc McCullough’s Towing & Repair 530 S. Lake Street, Gary / Miller Beach IN. 46403 Phone 219 427-1006 Fax: 219 427-1004 Full Complaint against McCullough Towing & Repair On 7-30-18, I brought my vehicle in to Mc McCullough’s Towing & Repair; auto shop located on 530 S. Lake Street, Miller Beach IN. 46403 - for service of a shattered coil of my suspension system which also punctured and blew out my tire, on the expressway exit.

Arrived at the shop around 1:35pm where I was contacted by John a mechanic, also the brother to the owner, Lewis. Determined the issue and told me that they had a used part they could pull from the same make model and year of my ford Taurus, the vehicle was on site. They gave me a price of $90.00 just for the one strut part, which I frowned about…them I asked them for a break, a lower price…the son said he had to ask his father, the owner…He came back and said.

He would throw the left suspension in for an extra 20.00. So, looking at $110.00 for both shock & strut…$10.00 to change the flat/ putting it on the rim. 1 really had no choice, I felt so... I went on with it… I went across the street to the library to wait …window was about a couple hours before ready. Went back a few hours later, around 3.00pm and, John was still working on it ..., I returned to the library. Went back and the car was supposedly ready.

I asked did they check why all the fluid had sprayed inside the hood. And was the brake line okay? To me they were too evasive for my comfort; Lewis was standing outside and heard my question, He immediately became defensive…said, I don’t know anything about that…but John jumped in and said it was from the cap of the steering fluid busting off from the accident. …I’m thinking ..well what else was affected from this accident that may be pending danger…they could care less.

I asked the son, about my brakes. He asked, does the brakes hit the floor when you push ..I said no but they squeal…he said nothing and went on looking at his phone. I went in the office ready to pay them…Lewis would not give me a break on the price but said he would be okay with me owing $17.50 balance. I had asked if I could pay the balance in a few days. I asked about a warranty…. Lewis again acted defensively again…I never seen him behave so harshly, I assumed it was because his wife was there.

Lewis remarked - no to the warranty, because it was used parts…I said right, but sometimes there is a week warranty, so if something happens with in a day or two…Lewis snapped, Well, if something happens don’t we always take care of you …I just looked at him, I never came back for a problem before, so I don’t know what he was talking about. I just said …okay. He said as I was leaving that I could go to Auto zone and $4.00 get that cap for the steering fluid container… I thanked him and left.

I drove slowly up to lake station library and notice a sound coming from the right wheel…on my way back I went back to them, but they were closed… Next morning, I went back and saw John and there was another mechanic,( BTW, I did pay balance of $17.50 to Lewis son on this day) Told him about the sound. He took a crow bar and push it against something on the wheel. Then ask me to drive forward and see if it stopped. I said okay, it had, he said it was just the plate on the brake wall or something …didn’t resonate well for me…but I know nothing about cars… so I could not argue. I just was not comfortable…I felt things were not right…I cannot explain why.

I would not get on the express way at all but stayed on the local streets, the following days. 8-13-18, I needed to go to Calumet City on this day to pick up my mail at my Post Office box. The brakes were squealing bad for some reason, I had gotten gas and Guys Garage located at 2220 Ripley ST. Lake Station IN. 46405 (219) 963-1404; - was near…so I decided before jumping on the expressway, to ask them when they would have a day when slow, to check out the brakes and just things in general to ease my mind about the car.

I really thought they would say another day and, I would drive on. Heather the girl at the counter. Said that they could check it out now, they were slow due to school time. So, I pulled it in, briefly told them about the brakes and mentioned the accident recently and the suspension system just installed. Steve, the mechanic, told Guys son apprentice to lift it and take off tire etc.…. I was talking to Steve nearby, when the apprentice called Steve over told him to look at this…. Long story short, Steve said that this car is too dangerous to drive ...showed me the shoddy job that was done to the spindle/ ball joint.

looked as though it was sawed and forced to fit, hammered and cracked. This had to have been done and known before sending me on my way after charging me $277.70 I was horrified by this…I have taken my vehicle to Lewis a few times in the past and he always personally did the job or checked it out. I called the shop right then… 219 427-1006 ...No one answering ...voice service stated that the mail box was full… Open for business and the phone can’t take calls?

Humm I called his cell number, 219 290-8616 from my cell ...same response, so I thought to text him…. after several minutes later, he called me back. Pausing a moment to keep my composure, I even said Hello Lewis, how are you doing. I went on to tell him where I was, and what the mechanic is telling me about the work done to my shock & strut assembly …what I had expected from Lewis, was to ask me to allow him to look at it…but to my total disappointment he got defensive, asking me if I thought something was wrong with the car why didn’t I bring it back in to then instead of to Guys Garage…

I attempted to tell him that I did return to his shop the next day, although he was not there his brother John , who did the job was there. I told him I heard a noise on that side of the wheel he repaired. He didn’t take the tire off, instead took a crow bar and went to pushing something in the wheel. Then ask for me to move the car forward then back to see If I still heard the noise. I did not, so he stated It was me, I forgot to tighten something around or at the brake, something about a Plate on or around the brakes? I thought…, REALLY? I mean how are you going to forget something like that. So, accepting that the issue was resolved, although in my gut I was still not satisfied., I drove on off.

Anyway, getting back to the conversation-Lewis started speaking over me, as if he chose to not have heard what I just said about returning the next day but went on to suggest It was my fault. I asked Lewis to please hold on a minute so that Steve the mechanic, could tell him more precisely than I , as to what the issue was…Steve was with another client and would not come to the phone so I went to the apprentice, guys son, He got on the phone and explain, rather passively and matter-of-factly, in my opinion- what he saw.

I could hear Lewis saying that he told me that there was no warranty on a used part…I shouted out, this is not about the warranty, it’s about a bad job which could have cost me my life. The conversation escalated, and Lewis actually hung the phone up on me…. I could not believe it, I realized I had been screwed, I thought he and his mechanic were super nice people I even referred him to others… Steve and the rest of the staff has stated that they would write or give testimony of what they witnessed Steve at my request took photos of the part, and confirm that, in their opinion, would not recommend me to chance going anywhere even off the lot in the condition that the vehicle was in.

It was an extremely dangerous situation. Of course, I believed them since I saw for myself the cracked busted spindle of the ball joint (Hopefully, I am saying that correctly) I again had to come up with another $195.00 for Guys Garage to fix the issue. I have the actual part which was very bad, in my trunk for evidence. UPDATE: 8-16-18 Thursday, I with a neighbor transporting me to Guys Garage to pick up my car, passed McCullough towing and it appeared to be closed. The neighbor implied that he too needed to return to them to fix a repair gone bad. Update to complaint against McCullough Towing 8-18-18 Today, I passed by the auto shop and every car on lot is gone and place closed.