So a few months ago the horn in our car stopped working. Then a few months after that the battery died. After we replaced the battery the radio never came back on. This is because of our anti-theft device. When the radio was disconnected from the battery it automatically shut down until it could be reset.
So 3 weeks ago Andy called and made an appointment with a VW place. They were all booked until today. At 7:30 in the morning he took the car in. He said he just wanted an estimate to fix the horn and radio. They told him if they looked at it and then he refused service they would charge us $90!!! So he almost left right then, but then he decided that the radio should be so easy to fix that it shouldn't be a problem. He came home thinking it would be an hour or two wait. 3 hours later I asked him to call them and find out how much longer it would be since I needed our car back. When he called he got transferred around 3 or 4 different times without a single person being able to tell him what was going on with our car. They then put him through to some random voice mail. So he called back and asked to talk to a manager. Again they only gave him a voice mail. He left a message asking from someone to call him back and give him a status update on our car.
An hour later we still hadn't heard anything. So I called and asked for a manager, and I specifically said I wanted to talk to someone and not to transfer me to a voice mail. But sure enough I was put right through to a voice mail. I left a very nasty message saying this was very poor service that we made an appointment weeks ago and it shouldn't take them 4 hours to do a simple check and then refuse to even keep us informed.
About 40 minutes later we finally got a call back. They told us both the horn and the radio were "defective" and needed to be replaced and it would cost around $500. So of course we said no thanks. Even if it was only going to cost $10 I'd say no because they obviously have crappy customer service.
So Andy went down to pick up the car. They wanted him to pay $96 before they would release it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He fought and fought with them for over an hour and talked to 3 different managers. But they all said they wouldn't give us our car without us paying for them to do nothing to it. He finally had to pay and leave because I needed the car so I could watch Heather's kids.
When he got home he looked at the radio... and they broke it!!!!!!! One of the buttons is missing and the face is all scratched up now. I'm so mad, we had to pay almost 100 bucks for someone to break our radio!!!
I'm writing them a nasty letter tonight, but I don't know what else I can do besides that. I'm going to threaten to make a complaint with the better business bureau and/or legal action. But I really don't think my threats will do anything. Does anyone else have any ideas??? Or are we just out of 100 bucks?
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6 comments:
Sarah!!!! I feel a song coming on!! :) Oh how I miss singing your name. Ok so I am still a nerd. Anyway I wish I knew that you lived by the zoo that is CRAZY!! My husband is from Ogden so we go to Utah when we can. I am so glad you left me a comment. E-mail me so I can e-mail back instead of leaving you a 10 page comment. mybragbook@hotmail.com
Hope to catch up soon!!
P.S I hate getting ripped off!!!
Grrrrrr!
Sarah,
Sorry to hear that. It is so hard to find an honest mechanic. I live downtown and have a great mechanic but he is very busy so you usually have to make an appt a few days in advance. His name is John Kruger and his shop is on 300 W and about 1600 S.
As for what to do, I would first write them a letter and explain the situation and tell them that you will report to the BBB if is isn't resolved in X days. I would also tell them you will attempt to "Get Gephart" on channel 2 news. Explain what you would need to see happen to have the situation resolved. If you paid by credit card you may be able to dispute the charge as well, depends on the card and their terms and conditions.
I also think you should post the name and address of the mechanic on your blog so that I don't ever go there or buy a car from them.
Hope all goes well.
My mechanics phone number in case your car still needs fixing is 801-403-3040.
Definately leave a note with the better business bureau, and contact the company with a letter.
U understanad how you feel, but in my businessm you have to pay a diagnosis (not that much though) because it covers our time to look and figure out the problem, so I can understand that part, but BREAKING your radio, definately talk to the BBB about it. When you write to the conpany, tell them you will leave bad reviews, and tell al your friends if they odn't mnake it right. then go to local search pages (like local pages.com) and write a review.
Credit card companies usually side with consumers, so you could certainly attempt to dispute the charge.
A letter to the owner, rather than a manager, is probably better. Sounds like you already spoke to all the managers.
Don't be belligerent though, because the recipient will probably just be defensive.
Yikes what a mess. I would definitely threaten to sue. They can't break your radio and get away with it!
And if you still need to get your car fixed, you should take it into Dan's work. At least you know they would be honest :). Let me know if you're interested and I'll get you the info.
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