I'm an Automotive Tech & this situation gives us a bad rep like previously stated.I have seen radiators go bad that were less than a year old.I would of called you,had you come down to the shop,& showed you the location of the leak.At the shop I work at(finally got this job after being laid off for 7 months),we are ALWAYS honest.Thats why we are always busy.If you didn't authorize the work,you wouldn't have to pay.They probley just assumed you had money & was going to authorize the work anyway but I never did a job without authorization first,otherwise the customer wouldn't have to pay for it.Even if we did the job.Sometimes customers will say go ahead & fix it & if its over a certain amount call me first.Our customers trust us & have been coming to this shop for years.If your waterpump is leaking after the work was just done,bring it back & demand that it be fixedHopefully they pressure checked it after the repair & made sure that there is no leaks.But if the waterpump was leaking & the radiator was leaking too,the waterpump will leak even more as all the cooling system pressure will leak out the next weak link in the cooling system,especially if theres still a leak(waterpump weephole?).Use a mirror to verify that there still is a leak & if there is,contact them right-away.Otherwise they will say its not something they missed or the next weakest thing in the cooling system will leak as the pressure has been restored.And demand to see the old radiator,take it with you as you have the right to & get it tested to verify that it was leaking & if it wasn't,then you have a good case against them.Without the smoking gun all you have is their word against yours.If they don't have the radiator that will benefit you too in your case.But if its been a couple days,I'm sure the radiator is gone as the old radiator nomally gets sold as scrap

 

Well complaining DID help. I left the car there overnight as he said he had to pressure test it again to be sure. Guess what he found? The water pump was leaking all along! Imagine that! The radiator was in perfect shape to begin with! Imagine that also! He did not charge me for the radiator replacement and only charged me to put in the new waterpump. He then adjusted the bill down to cover the cost for the new aux. booster fan I bought to replace the one they now admit they broke. All is well with my baby now. No more leaks. Do you think I'll ever go back there? Did I mention how polite and well mannered I was to them about it all?

 

Stay away from them,even though they eventually did the right thing.Maybe they had a new guy fresh outta Tech College(inexperienced) work on your car & didn't diagnose it correctly & now they just lost a customerHave them or someone else look over everything that was done to verify the job was done correctly & no bolts are missing

 

Hats off to you, glad to hear it. And you're a better man than I if you were able to stay well mannered and polite about it.

 

This is why I do my own work.
If I was in your position, I would have said:
I only authorized the water pump. that's all I'm paying for.
You can remove the new radiator, and install my old one. I would then ask for about $50 for a new fan.
Then I would have waited for it, and driven it home, and looked for a new place.

 

Congratulations!Very happy to hear they did the right thing, but like you I would be very nervous about trusting them again after an experience like that.
Always ask to be called if the estimate changes and always ask for your old parts back even if you just toss them out, helps keep them honest.

 

When three years goes by, and they cannot figure out why their customer base has dwindled or never reached the potential......none of them will ever think....

you remember that guy with the Vette????

They'll blame Bush or something other than themselves for their business being in poor shape.

 

To OP: Gald to see it all worked oiut well for you. I'll bet you had braced yourself for a fight that, now, won't be necessary.

I only detected my W/P weep hole leak by a intermittent spray of coolant in my face as the engine idled hood open and a periodic low level in the over-flow tank.

Jake