Vernell’s Interstate Service

In town on business from 430 miles away and caught a screw in my tire. I called them and asked if they can fix it as I left my hotel to go buy a patch kit and they told be to bring it right in. They patched my tire and I was on my way within 20 minutes.

Zero stars
Don’t give this company your business. Owner is extremely rude and hostile. Waited 3 ½ hours to get a spare that was on a rim mounted.
Told them, they were killing my 14hr clock. They couldn’t have cared less.
If I had a flat in their parking lot that they share with pilot. I would call loves road service, before they get anymore money from me.

After an unfortunate break-​down at the start of a 10 day vacation, we turned to Vernell’s for help. We learned that there are 2 divisions: the towing side (aka the good guys) and the service shop (the bad guys). The towing guy was friendly, polite and drove a (relatively) clean tow truck. They helped us find a hotel room at a discount pre-​arranged by them. Price for the tow was $ 120.
And then there were the bad guys… or more specifically, The Bad Guy, Don Branson. After having our car TEN days, he did not even get around to taking a look at it! And the whole time, he acted like WHEN he eventually got around to it, he would be doing us a favor. We eventually sold it to a dealer «as-​is», not really knowing what was wrong but not having the time to put into fixing it as we were out-​of-​towners. Bottom line: if you can use their tow service to take your car somewhere else, I would advise it.

The majority of workers hrre are old school and good but service ma nager Donny has s poor rspport with customers. He is inappropriate and hardh and has an abusive nature. He was argumentative and threatening if i don’t comply to take my business elsewhere. He will never see me or anyone from my company use this service. Price is high. Psul in parts should be elevated to shop director and Don Brsnson rr moved for his argumentative altercations with pa ying professionsl customers.

On the drive to Chicago, had the alternator on my F-​250 Diesel die on my about 25 miles south of Marion near the I-​57 Anna Rest Stop just before midnight on a Tuesday night.
This is a 24 hour service location and the dispatcher had somebody to me within an hour. The driver WAS an off-​hours tow guy, so I can’t complain too much about his smoking and views on race relations while we were in his cab.
It was $ 75 an hour portal to portal towing. The overnight mechanic didn’t have the alternator in stock so I had to wait until the next morning so they could order it. They have a deal with the Quality Inn next door, so we received a pretty good discount for the night.
The total bill was a little high — $ 925 for alternator, pulley, belt, and tow — but they told me they’d have me on the road by noon and they did.
It’s definately an old-​school service center — guys smoking at desks, swearing, etc. so it’s not for the faint hearted. It’s a good place to keep in mind if you have an off-​hours problem. I’m keeping them in my phonebook — hopefully won’t have to use them again :-)