Complaint Review: Polly's Service Center - Nashville Tennessee

On 5-23-16 I had my 1996 Jeep Cherokee repaired by Mr. Polly.  His company towed my car approximately 6 blocks from my home to his shop.  It turns out the starter was the problem.  My starter is as easy to get to as reaching up and unscrewing it.  It is held in by 2-3 screws or bolts, it could not be any easier, it's almost as easy as changing a windshield wiper blade. I was charged $127.50 for labor to take those screws out and change that starter, a 15 minute job, or 30 minutes with donuts and coffee break, but yet Mr. Polly charged me for 1 1/2 hours of labor.  

Now on to the starter itself, a re-manufactured Denso starter, part #280-4114.  Once they have your car, and it was towed to their shop, they have you.  What was I to do, have it towed somewhere else?  Mr. Polly charged me $204.85 for the starter itself.  When I knew something was very wrong, I called at least 8 other parts stores and got prices on the starter ranging from $59.99 to $64.99, giving them the exact name and part number, Denso, part #280-4114, and that was a standard retail price.  I wrote Mr. Polly a letter challenging his total charge to me $412.26 to put on a starter, including tax.  His first response, he does not deal with Auto Zone at all, and most of the others I mentioned, said he might buy a few products from OReilly's but nothing electrical.  Where does he get his Denso starter, he would not say, other than "a special wholesaler", what wholesaler, no information on that, he said "they" won't sell to you, the general public, hey, what a great answer to prevent further investigation of the cost of said starter.    I will find out who his supplier is, I can assure you.  He then said he paid $160.00 for the starter he charged me $204.85 for.  Let me be clear, a bronze plated starter for a 1996 2 wheel drive Jeep Cherokee would not cost $204.85.  Let there be no misunderstanding, Mr. Polly and his crew will "stick it to you on marked up car parts and labor, 1 1/2 hours to change that part is just so wrong, and $204.5 for that starter is just price gouging.  

Mr. Polly will go to the ends of the earth to justify his invoices and he probably does not have to do it much, as he is the only service station that works on cars in the area, so he can really stick it to who he wants to, as this is a very affluent neighborhood.  

So, please let me give you some friendly advice, if you do not want to loose your butt on any repair work done there, the second they quote you a price, STOP RIGHT THERE AND DO SOME INVESTIGATING.  Find out what is wrong and you make a few calls for the part and buy it yourself, and take it to him and let him put it on.  You will still get bent over on labor, but you will probably at least save $100-$500 on parts!  It should be mentioned, I called several Jeep dealerships and every single one of them was less than the $412.25 that I paid, and everyone knows you are going to be killed by a dealer.  I really bought the farm on this one, DON'T LET IT HAPPEN TO YOU.  When you really find out what he is doing to you on these marked up parts, you will be blown away, in a very bad way!