Herman’s Service Station

Disclaimer — this happened two years ago. Someone just reminded me about it so I thought I would write a review for everyone to be aware of.
I had been driving around with a nail in my tire for a while and I finally decided to go take it in to get fixed. My husband was very insistent about me asking for a patch, not a plug. I got recommendations from people I knew and then I called around and got estimates. I decided on Herman’s in Cedarburg because it was the most convenient and I’d gotten some great recommendations about them, even though they weren’t the cheapest. So I called and made an appointment and specified that I wanted a patch, and the lady said it would be $ 25.
I got there was surprised by how quick it was. The mechanic was very friendly and I was happy with the experience. I got home and my husband said ‘Wow, that was fast. They took off your tire and patched it and everything?’. I said no, he didn’t take the tire off, he just had me roll forward until he found the nail and then he fixed it. By the stunned-​turned-​angry look on his face, I knew something was wrong. Suffice it to say, they didn’t patch it, they plugged it. I had specified that I wanted it patched when I went in and he said okay, but obviously he figured I wouldn’t know the difference. (And he was right). My husband could have plugged it himself at home for about fifty cents, but he wanted it patched since it’s better quality.
So I called to complain and the lady tried to feed me a line of BS saying that you can’t patch a tire in the tread, a plug is standard and $ 25 is the going rate, blah blah blah, and a whole bunch of other lies. Finally I got the owner on the phone and he acted like it was a huge mistake, said they guy definitely should have done a patch, and told me to bring it in Monday so they could fix it. What a pain! Maybe it was an honest mistake, but I highly doubt it. I’m sure the guy knew the difference between a plug and a patch, he just figured I’d be gullible and he could rip me off.
So in summary — buyer beware, and make sure you’re knowledgeable about what you want the mechanic to do. He easily could have gotten away with it if my husband hadn’t caught on.