September 2021 by Jim A.
Let me start by saying I highly doubt Ed will ever see this review, and I don't think he spends his days worrying about what people on Yelp are saying, but I just wanted to share a story about my interaction with him. I drive a fairly new car, only 4 years old, and low mileage. My son and I were driving to Cooperstown, NY to see our favorite baseball player inducted into the Hall of Fame. We got about 15 miles from Cooperstown when the back, passenger side wheel area started making a horrific noise- and I mean horrific. Steel on steel, such a loud pitch that every dog within 50 miles probably heard it. I'm fairly handy, so I look in the trunk of my BMW for a jack and there isn't one. Great. I crawl under the car and feel around and everything feels right and tight, the disc doesn't have grooves and the pads are tight and they have plenty of pad left. I inch the car forward- same noise. I knew I had to call for some help. I called AAA, the first time since I became a member that I have to use the service and I'm thinking "This is now worth it!". Then I get put on hold for 40 minutes and finally told to go to the website for help. I go to the website and after 20 minutes of going in circles (the questions the site asks did not pertain to my needs, so I was stuck in a loop), I call back and wait. I finally get someone and they tell me it will be at least a 4 hour wait. Now, I'm sitting in the middle of nowhere, 15 miles from my hotel and literally nothing within 5 miles. I call around to local shops and two of them tell me they are too busy and don't want to mess with it. One of them gives me the name of Ed's Repair Shop, so I call and I get Ed's lovely wife. She says "I bet AAA told you it would be 3 hours"- and she was almost right. I told her my story, stuck on the road, no place to go, 500 miles from home, etc. She says let me see if Ed can take you, and warns me that parts will be hard to come by, which I understand. Ed agrees to take a look at the car and they are sending a truck. About 30 minutes later, a tow truck shows up, much to my great relief, and I ask the driver's name and he says "I'm Ed"- cool, I think- I have the man himself here to help. We let Ed listen to the noise himself and he agrees, something has to be really wrong, so we get the car on the truck and he asks if we need a ride. Sure enough, this incredibly nice man took us all the way to our hotel AND helped my son carry our bags in while I was checking in. I wanted to strangle my kid for letting Ed, at least in his sixties, carry our bags, but my son said he insisted. Ed drives off and says he will be in touch- this is around noon on Sep. 7th. My son and I finally found a ride to downtown Cooperstown (five miles from our hotel) and hang around there for the day. At 4 pm, Ed's wife calls and says something had been stuck in the wheel and when he took it off the truck it fell out and the car is fine. I'm so relieved I could kiss her! The last thing I wanted to do was have to wait for parts or have the car towed far away, etc. She tells us that Ed will come and get us (!!!!- this does NOT happen in Ashburn, VA I can promise you that) and sure enough, 30 minutes later, Ed rolls up in my car (test drive) and takes me back to his shop to settle up. Let's just say he didn't charge me much and I hope to be reimbursed by AAA for the towing portion of the bill, but I have to say this is one of the best experiences I have had with people in a long time. Sometimes we start to lose faith in people- but people like Ed and his wife absolutely restore your faith. You won't meet a nicer, more honest, and delightful couple than these two. They just want to help people. I told Ed he was my new hero and I meant it- the man lives life the way he wants, and it's clear he likes helping people. People like Ed and his wife are the kind of people I strive to be, and I have some work to do in that area, but I also want to live in an America full of people like t
