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Anybody know Tom Amato from Delaware?


Fubar231

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Was curious if anyone knew Tom Amato from Delaware. One of my friends had some work done by him on there car, and he said it would be XXX price, but ended up being $400 for a battery and a air filter. I feel like she got ripped off but she had to pay to get her car back, and not only that he said he would wait XX amount of days to cash her check which they both agreed on, then the next day she woke up and checked her bank acc. and he cashed it and now she has no money for 2 weeks until she goes back to work.

 

But does anybody happen to know this shady mechanic?

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Did your friend get anything in writing, and can i assume she wasnt smart enough to write the date on the check out 2 weeks?

 

Yeah she didn't get a written estimate, (Which I told her she should have), and i don't think she post-dated the check either. I didn't get a ton of information about it from her but this dude charged her an arm and a leg to replace the air filter and battery. I said at most this should have costed $150 maybe $200.

 

I told her lesson learned but hopefully people on here can learn from this to not use this guy or something.

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Most auto parts store do a battery change for free. Why didnt she just do that? $400 is crazy.

 

I know, i told her most advance auto / autozone / etc. places will change the battery and possibly the air filter for you. The only reason she went there is her mom told her that she uses this guy and always gives her good prices and is a good mechanic, then he pulls this shit on her.

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Sounds like a shady mechanic, as for the check even if she did post date the check it still doesnt mean anything. He can still go to the bank that day and deposit said check and get funds. Used to have to deal with people that did that all the time and I just simply laughed and said nope not getting any fees back. Is it a dick move by him sure but sadly not all are honest.
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It sounds like a rip-off based on the info you have.

 

I don't know Mr. Amato, but a friend of mine takes his cars to him and has had positive experiences.

 

I hate to hear when an unsuspecting customer gets taken to the cleaners, but it seems as though I've heard that story more and more in the last couple of years.

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I don't know Mr. Amato, but a friend of mine takes his cars to him and has had positive experiences.

 

Her mom said that she takes her car to him to have work done and he is always fair priced with her, i just don't understand why he would charge my friend SO much money for the little bit of work that was done.

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What kind of vehicle is it? That could be why it cost so much. It's not unheard of for a battery through a shop to run in the neighborhood of $150-$175. Add that to say an hour labor of around $75 an hour and you have $250 in the battery alone. Then there are vehicle like an Equinox that have more difficult air filter boxes (I think the Equinox is one of them) that require you to dismantle of bunch of stuff to access the box and then the cost of the filter which could be easily $20-$30 through a shop. Does $400 sound high for just those two items? Yes, but it doesn't sound like the guy is being shady. Now if her car is a 1990 Cavalier, then yes she got taken.
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Sad to hear. Story like this make me glad that I'm somewhat mechanical incline and a member on here. A guy work for me took his 110k mile 4runner in to get timing chain done, the dealer replaced the serpentine belt and charged him $200. $200 for a job that take no more than 15 minute (of course minus the cost of the belt). And on top of doing the wrong job.
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You sure you know both sides of the story?

 

This.

 

I don't know the mechanic or the customer, but anytime a story includes a bad check (even where it was "agreed upon") it seems there's likely more to it. Either way, if they were charged that much for a simple battery/filter swap they definitely got boned. Maybe part of it was shop time spent to diagnose a problem that turned out to be simple?

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You sure you know both sides of the story? I've known Tom for years and he is a very stand up guy who is a VERY good mechanic.

 

This.

 

I don't know the mechanic or the customer, but anytime a story includes a bad check (even where it was "agreed upon") it seems there's likely more to it. Either way, if they were charged that much for a simple battery/filter swap they definitely got boned. Maybe part of it was shop time spent to diagnose a problem that turned out to be simple?

 

Im just going off of what i was told, and that was she was charged $400 for a simple battery replacement and air filter, and that he would wait XX amount of days for the check to be cashed and he cashed it way earlier than what was agreed upon. I asked her to find her reciept and shoot me a picture of it so i could see how much she was charged for each thing and if there was any diagnostics time.

 

Im gonna shoot her a text and she if she had any luck finding the reciept.

 

And the check wasn't bad, but she is off work temp for 2 weeks and he agree'd to wait that time to cash it so she could have money to live for the next 2 weeks, and then she woke up and it was cashed and now shes over-drafted or has no money left.

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You sure you know both sides of the story? I've known Tom for years and he is a very stand up guy who is a VERY good mechanic.

 

I know Tom and he is a straight up guy and a great mechanic. He has done work for me and i will continue to do business with him. I agree there is two sides of the story.

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Im still awaiting on the pic of the reciept too. I just thought it was super shady from what i was told and wanted to forewarn people on here.

 

Well, don't go around bashing someone that is obviously respected in their profession, just because some dumbass girl that knows jack and shit about automotive mechanics whined to you about something she can't even quantify. The proof is in the pudding.

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Well, don't go around bashing someone that is obviously respected in their profession, just because some dumbass girl that knows jack and shit about automotive mechanics whined to you about something she can't even quantify. The proof is in the pudding.

 

I wasnt so much bashing him as to seeing if anyone knew who he was and if he was a good guy or not.

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sounds like the guy my brother in law and his fiance go to up there. charges them rediculous money for simple jobs that are on the side and supposed to be priced good since their family has been friends for years. they however, are to ignorant to listen when people tell them they are getting ripped off. will have to check on the name
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