I took my car to one of those 1 hour Air Conditioner service places - it was blowing air, just not cold air. They told me it would take about an hour, including the time it takes to check for leaks in the system. An hour later, I drive by the place and see an employee arriving at the driver's door of that car where I had parked it. I called them for an update, he said 15-20 more minutes. At 2 hours, I show up again and they say they don't know what the issue is, but they think it is a bad compressor and it could take anywhere from 2-4+ hours more. I call again at 4 hours (6pm closing time), and they tell me they are still unsure of the problem and they want to keep it overnight. It is now the next day and they've been open for 2 hours - making it 6 hours total that they've had the car.

Maybe I should note that I did check the box that said call with estimates before they do any actual fixes, and I had asked them to call me with updates every time I talked to them. They have never called me, I have initiated every contact so far.

I usually take this car to a place that specializes in foreign cars, especially VW, but since I thought this would be a quick 1hr job, I took it to one of those in-and-out places. My question is, do these guys know what they're doing? How long do I wait for them to figure this out before I take it to my regular place instead? Do I owe them anything for the time they've spent working on it?

Thank you all so very much for being here, I just need some advice. Thank you!