We work hard to satisfy our customers, but don’t take our word for it. Check out what our clients say about us! Providing repairs on heating and air, radiators, engines, brakes and more. Learn more about what makes us one of Mesa’s most trusted auto repair shops. This is the cleanest shop I have ever seen, very friendly staff. They are very honest and don’t try to up sell you anything. Their prices are reasonable, as well! “Ken Early and Green Light Garage are the absolute best. I won’t use anyone else. Ken and his employees treat each customer like they are the only customer they have. Their work is impeccable, they are honest, and their prices won’t break your bank. The work is always performed flawlessly and quickly. “By far Green Light Garage is the most professional, honest, and reasonable place we’ve taken our vehicles. Very personable, I will not take our vehicles elsewhere. We’ve had too many bad experiences with higher priced mechanics who lack integrity.
Green Light Garage is the only way to go.” 5% BACK ON EVERY DOLLAR Get rewarded with 5% back on every dollar you spend with our Loyalty Member rewards program. Call today or use the button below to schedule your appointment online!To see more 5-star reviews of Legends Garage Door, choose from the following options:Garage WorkshipInsulate Garage DoorInsulation GarageInstalling GarageGarage Door RepairGarage StudioWeather Stripping Garage DoorExterior Door RepairArea GarageForwardWeather stripping the garage doors. Don't let your garage get colder than it needs to be! Very important if you keep temperature sensitive items in the garage during the winter.Kate Morgan lasted all of three days in her new job this summer at Garage Door Services, called “the worst garage door company in the nation” by an industry trade magazine.Morgan’s hiring as a quality assurance officer shows the Carrollton-based company is trying to improve. But her resignation days later shows how far the company must go to overcome its nationwide reputation of overcharging customers by hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars for garage door repairs.
Her job was to listen in on phone calls from customer prospects across the country who call in to the Carrollton call center in the 2900 block of North Interstate 35E. Then she gave scores to the sales staff showing how well they performed.“They were trying to place controls on the process so that it wouldn’t be quite so wild,” she says. But the scoring seemed backward to her. She learned that a salesperson who is honest and displays good customer service skills gets a lower score. The goal is to make a sale and make it quickly, she says.Her supervisors were unhappy with her critique. She resigned because she didn’t like the company culture: “I was making too much of an issue of it.”Garage Door Services uses hundreds of company names, phone numbers and websites to advertise in 31 cities across the U.S. Many of the company names are similar to more established garage door repair companies. Dozens of other companies locally and across the nation complain that GDS uses names similar to more established companies purposely to confuse customers.
Customers are fooled into thinking they have contacted a local company, when actually they are bounced to the Carrollton call center, no matter where they’re calling from. The center dispatches techs throughout the nation.The techs work on commissions up to 20 percent of a job. Their goal is to charge a thousand dollars or more for most jobs, even if the repairs should cost only a few hundred dollars.GDS chief operating officer Lance Michael Willard said no one at the company was available to talk about its sales practices.“Thank you for your interest in hearing our side of the story,” he wrote to me. “At this time, we are not interested in being interviewed for your story. Thank you for reaching out.”GDS was founded under a different name almost 20 years ago by Peter J. Stephens Jr., a brash and flashy entrepreneur. For years, San Diego was the home base, but now corporate offices are joining the call center in Carrollton.The company’s first name was AA Able Overhead Door, an indicator of how important Yellow Pages phone book ads were to its early operations.
The company bought dozens of ads with different company names, all leading to the same call center, which for several years operated out of a Dallas garage.Around the time of a 2002 investigative piece on Dateline NBC — the first of many to expose sales practices — Stephens changed the name to America’s Choice Overhead Door.Since then, he’s burrowed through hundreds more names. Whatever the name, his company has been a reliable target for hidden-camera investigations on TV news stations. In May, three news stations in Florida, Texas and Ohio used hidden cameras to catch GDS salesmen ripping off customers with false claims about broken parts and then overcharging.As the Yellow Pages lost their importance, Stephens switched to Web advertising. One GDS employee claims in an online profile that GDS spends $850,000 a month on Internet advertising.Stephens pulled his name off corporate documents in the past several months. He has listed his mother, Marlene Stephens, as a top officer.
His wife, Kyoung Hwa Lee, is listed as a director and the company’s registered agent in Texas.I learned about GDS in 2006 when a Keller woman complained that she spent almost a thousand dollars on unneeded repairs.Almost a decade later, the company engages in the same aggressive tactics, says Tom Wadsworth, who wrote the magazine report for Door + Access Systems, a garage door industry magazine.Wadsworth sums up the company’s history by writing that GDS has endured “suspended licenses, lawsuits, bad publicity, F ratings from the BBB, charges of deceptive practices, hundreds of customer complaints, hidden-camera stings on TV and accusations of elder abuse.”Only two states have punished GDS — Georgia and California. Texas does not regulate garage door companies or techs.An official at the Federal Trade Commission tells me that it’s usually a state attorney general who would chase any company that draws so many complaints.The Texas attorney general’s office reports that it does have complaints on GDS.
When I asked — three times — why the AG has not looked into GDS operations, I never received an answer.The company brags in its training manual that sales are “well over $2M per week.” The company says it has 470 employees.GDS techs are hired off Craigslist ads. “No experience necessary,” the ad states.“Our average technician is making $1,500 per week, with many making over $2,000!” the ad promises. We will provide you with customers.”Staff writer Marina Trahan Martinez contributed to this report.Check out The Watchdog on NBC5 at 11:20 a.m. Mondays, talking about matters important to you.Garage Door Services answers calls at its Carrollton call center with a woman’s recorded voice announcing, “This call may be recorded.” That’s the biggest clue.The company changed its phone script after Friday’s Watchdog column revealed how employees answer the phone.Previously, employees got on the line and said: “It’s a great day at Garage Door. Can I get your ZIP code?”
On Friday, that changed to: “Thanks for calling your garage door experts. My name is [first name]. How may I help you?”Here’s what you should know about garage door repair companies:Garage door repairs should rarely cost more than a few hundred dollars. Check Better Business Bureau ratings.Be wary of a company that doesn’t have a listed physical address near you.Don’t mistake a great website for a great repair company.Say no if high-pressure sales tactics are used.Never pay in full up front. Never pay in cash.If possible, watch as repairs are done.Here are a few of the hundreds of names used by Garage Door Services. Many are similar to existing companies. Critics and competitors say this confuses consumers into believing they have called an established local company.AAAA All State Overhead GarageAmerica’s Choice Garage Door ServicesBest Garage Door & Gate RepairLow Price Garage Door RepairSOURCE: Dallas Morning News researchStaff writer Marina Trahan Martinez contributed to this report.