Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/29/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Went to Hilltop on October 17 to change the oil, on October 21 the oil filter fall off the car as I was driving it on my way to the hospital, we almost got in a bad car accident since the car stopped in the middle of the road, I called Hilltop and they said that they never do anything wrong, I went to their place to asked them to tow the vehicle to their place to fix it and they refused to do anything about it, I was having an adrenaline rush since we verily avoided a car accident and I missed my treatment. I did not use bad language; I did not scream at them I just raised my voice because ****** the secretary who happens to be the owners daughter keep saying that they never make mistakes. She called the cops on me because according to her the owner doesnt want to see upset customers. I took the vehicle to another mechanic, they found the oil filter in the oil pan, the engine is now dead because all the oil came out. The new mechanic said that the only way for the oil filter to fall is because it wasnt tight properly. I asked the owner via email to either replace the car engine since their neglect cause it to die, or to provide me with another similar car that is an AWD with the same original ****** miles, the daughter ****** called me, apologized about her behavior saying that she was stressed because her dad just had surgery, I asked her for the footage of the encounter since she was the one out of control and she stated that their cameras were broken but to send her the pictures of the oil filter taken by the new mechanic. My car is a VW Passat Wagon AWD, 2005 with ****** original miles, the transmission and engine were in perfect condition, but faily old being an a German car, is no cost efficient to replace the engine so I want a replacement car or a similar AWD SUV with the same original miles give or take a few but nothing over ******. I must have a car quicly to get to my chemo treatmnet.....

  Business Response

  Date: 11/11/2024

  good morning-

  this has been settled. wrote her a check for $1200.00. it was paid out the owner's pocket not business. there was a lot of discrepancy. the filter has been sent to the manufacture to see if threads are bad. out of good will we wrote her the check which she accepted. just wanted to make this short and sweet. any questions please reach out to **** or ******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/14/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I'm only able to find the receipt for one of the services. I've been going to this business for 15 plus years but I've been going there for 3 years that I've had my **** ***** Malibu. Around the 29th of March I went to hilltop Texaco to get a oil change because I had added too much oil to my car. And it was due for an oil change. I went in got the high mileage oil change it came out to $59 and some change. I spoke to them about my car not wanting to accelerate the owner **** told me to get a complete diagnosis which was $85 plus tax. He told me that it could be anything there's more than 400 sensors and different things on a vehicle so it's just best to get a full diagnosis. I made an appointment for April 5th at 11:00 on my day off. When I went in they had put me on the schedule for the wrong day so they just fit me in as they could I waited about 2 hours. When done they handed me a paper and told me that my catalytic converter and my transmission needed to be replaced and that they no longer made transmission for my car and that I might as well get a new vehicle. I then made an appointment with Gateway Automotive and transmission. That's when I found out that my transmission was fine. My car was actually a half quart of oil to full. They did not vacuum my car as they were supposed to as part of the oil change. They had not checked my air filter or my oil filter. They did not tell me about the oil leaking on the front of my engine. Upon going to Gateway transmission I found out several things that were wrong with my car that they should have told me all the times going there as well as paying for the full inspection. The manager named will. Called me yelling at me telling me it was my fault and I needed to take responsibility for the fact that I did not ask for a full inspection on my car. He blamed me for everything that was going on. Yelling at me until I was in tears and hung up.

  Business Response

  Date: 04/26/2023

  
  
  I have owned and operated hilltop for almost 50 years. if there is a complaint or issue i am here Monday thru Friday from 4am-5pm. ***** came in for star service oil change on 3/30/23. At that time the lube techs recommended transmission service and power steering service, both fluids burnt. just like gateway automotive said. Radiator was checked and filled along with the washer fluid. tires aired to 35psi. put 4.5 qts of oil with oil filter #pg111. the vehicle was vacuumed at that time. books, trash, paper and balloons in vehicles. did best to vacuum the dog hair on floor mats and seat.
  
  she returned on 4/5/23 concern of not accelerating, check engine light on, and running rough. customer requested diagnostic.-see attached diagnostic invoice. the service writer explained she needs a catalytic converter to fix runnablity problem. but the transmission is failing and transmission is no longer manufactured through our venders or dealer.  ***** stated she is just going to get rid of car. service writer asked if she wanted a price on catalytic converter, she declined. she called about a week later wanting money back for the diagnostic. she also stated we didn't vacuum her car and over filled her oil. tech went to gateway as they were backing her car out. the tech spoke with mechanic, service writer and owner. they said they never said such thing.
  then a few days later she only wanted refund for oil change not diagnostic. the shop manager will called to speak with her regarding issue. he could barley get a word in. he did not yell at her he was talking to her firmly and she wasn't wanting to listen.
  
  if she would have wanted the estimate on converter we could have saved her $500.00+ from gateway. if she would have had converter replaced here we would not have charged diagnostic and/or would credit her the diagnostic at time of converter replacement. on scan tool could not access live data on transmission which means its on pending failure. its not if transmission goes out its when. 
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/26/2023

   
  Complaint: 19934325
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  As I've attached the documents. Pictures showing my car is not dirty they just didn't vacuum it. They actually threw my  math books that were in the front seat and everything that was in the front seat in the back they didn't put it nicely they just threw it back there . As the paperwork shows they told me my transmission was no good and that they do not make transmission for my car anymore. At that point when they told me that I told them I didn't know what to do. I left there and made an appointment with ********************  because they said it was my transmission. Come to find out it was not my transmission. It was my catalytic converter. Along with nine other things as shown on list from Gateway. One of those on the list was my oil still being a half quart too full. Needing an oil change again. As well as the air filter and oil filter that should have been done at that oil change at hilltop. And also I had paid hilltop for a full diagnosis. Which they did not tell me all the other things that were wrong with my car nor diagnose it. I've attached also another document for the service that I just got done Tuesday the 25th of April 2023. That's more work that hilltop never told me about my car needing. I would just like to be reimbursed for the money I paid and did not get adequate service. The oil change was not done properly if at all. Also I paid for a full diagnosis which was misdiagnosed. As well as not fully done because there are other things wrong with my car that they never even told me about. My feelings are also very hurt for the way that I was treated and talk to. I also am a manager and I would never leave a customer crying or feeling the way that I did. I would always try to figure out a circumstance in which would work best for the customer and The Business. And this just was not one of those.
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/17/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My complaint is on July 22, I brought in a 2007 ***** Fit to get a rear power window repaired. I already paid the estimated labor fees, parts, and labor fees. It all came to $367.79. I found out later, from their work, more power windows are NOT working. They told me I had to get on order a master switch which will amount to $200 more. This cannot keep going on like this.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/02/2022

  CUSTOMER was CONCERN DRIVER WINDOW NOT WORKING
  
  REMOVED DRIVER DOOR PANEL. POWER PROBED SWITCH AND MOTOR. FOUND SWITCH TO HAVE POWER WHEN UP/DOWN ON SWITCH. GAVE DIRECT POWER TO MOTOR AND NO CHANGE. RECOMENED REGULATOR AND MOTOR, CUSTOMER WAS IN VEHICLE WHILE TECH WAS DIAGOING AND SAW EVERYTHING WE DID TO FIND PROBLEM, CUSTOMER ALSO HAD STATED WHEN HE CAME IN THAT HE WAS SURE IT WAS THE REGULATOR AND MOTOR. CUSTOMER CAME IN AND GOT WORK DONE. AFTER COMPLETION ALSO FOUND INTERMITENT GROUND FROM MASTER CONTROL SWITCH. GAVE CUSTOMER ESTIMATE AND HE DECLINED.  WE CANNOT PUT PARTS IN FOR FREE WE DID EVERYTHING HE ASKED. 
  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/04/2022

   
  Complaint: 17705796
  
  I am rejecting this response because: 

  Initially the drivers side rear window of my car suddenly stopped working. All of the other windows were working at that time.

  I took the car into Hilltop Tire to diagnose the problem.
  The garage charged $99.81 and told me the problem was the windows motor. They ordered a replacement motor and installed it for an additional $267.98.
  When I got the car back, the original problem wasnt fixed, and now 2 other windows will not raise (3 total windows).
  I brought the car in for an original problem, paid a bunch of money, and now the problem is worse.
  Hilltop now says they think there is a problem with the master switch. If that was the original problem, the other windows wouldnt have worked from the start.
  I did not watch the technician take the door panel off or ever saw what they did.Both visits I spent in the waiting room. The diagnostic visit I was in the waiting room the entire time with my daughter-in-law. I do not know if they replaced the rear drivers side window, or what was done. I do not trust Hilltop to fix the problem and now must take the car somewhere else with a bigger problem.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************