Cunningham Automotive

Had a premature alternator failure on my 2012 Town&Country. Had a mechanic I had worked with and trusted who moved over to Cunningham's and spoke positively about the business. I had my van towed over there and called to check on what the expected estimate for the repair would be. I would normally have required the estimate first but took for granted that a little shop like this would be fair given the good report I had received from my mechanic. The lady I spoke with lacked any form of tact or professionalism in our exchange. She gave an estimate of $580. I immediately knew I was screwed - check mate! I had the van towed over there at my expense and at the very least, if I wanted to move it now, I was going to pay Cunningham's for diagnostics and another tow bill - silly me for trusting. Just so you all know, this is a $230 alternator so you can do the math on labor. When I pushed back with the lady, she fired back some BS line everyone has heard before about needing to pay for overhead and expensive computers, etc. Understanding my investment to this point, I told her if her business considered this an ethical estimate than proceed at which time she cheerfully replied. "OK, Call you when it's done!" I could have threw up. Anyway, Chrysler would have charged me $20 more for a 3 year, 36,000 mile labor and parts warrantied alternator. The lady at Cunningham's cheerfully told me the labor on this Performance Automotive Gem was 90 days. The alternator had not been delivered at the time of my conversation with this company rep. I received a call 90 minutes later to let me know it was done. Obviously not intense labor. We all know that changing an alternator isn't rocket science, and it's not hard to get to in this vehicle. Dear Cunningham's, It's gonna cost you more than it cost me.