Jim's Motorcycle, Inc.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
This letter is in regard to complaint ID [redacted] and the rebuttal of Mr. [redacted].  
Mr. [redacted] disagrees with my statement that I was not informed of the labor charges and parts for my ATV. I appreciate the fact that he is standing behind his employee. But, the truth remains that I was not told of any labor charge or parts either verbally or in a written estimate. Why would I even file a complaint if everything had been in the open.  If there had been written documentation or evidence of a phone call that all this had been handled in a professional manner, we would not be writing these letters
The issue of the age of the ATV or the years of experience of the service manager has absolutely nothing to do with the issue. The issue is, that the company did not contact me about making these repairs to my ATV.  If the repairs in question were needed I may have agreed to have them completed, but I was not afforded this courtesy.
Concerning the fact that I did not want to pay for my repair bill, Mr. [redacted] needs to remember that I paid my bill before I ever talked to him.  The more I thought about the charges the more it bothered me, so I sought him out to see if we could come to an understanding. I never once asked for any specific amount, not did I request that my bill be forgiven. I had hoped for some fair and reasonable resolution of this error.  I would have been happy with a reasonable deduction in the bill, not just a few dollars off for parts.  Since, I did not authorize these repairs is seems appropriate and professional to offer a reduction in charges so that everyone could be somewhat satisfied.
The fact that I made a mistake in not asking for and the service manager made a mistake in not providing me with a written service estimate makes this complaint that much more difficult to resolve.  I wish we could have come to some settlement, even if it was just an apology from the business itself for making this mistake.  Even though an apology for a mistake that cost me several hundred dollars is a little hollow.
There is no need for the business to respond.  It is abundantly clear that the manager is not going to try to be conciliatory in this matter.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
The issues addressed in my original complaint, concerning unauthorized repairs on a 2004 Kawasaki four
wheeler, were not resolved in the response from Atlas Honda of Bristol, Virginia.
Let me make it perfectly clear that the Service Manager, [redacted] never quoted a price for
cleaning the carburetor, nor did he mention parts or any other repairs. When I explained the symptoms,
Mr. [redacted] said he was pretty sure that the carburetor needed cleaning. We only discussed cleaning
the carburetor and no price was quoted. When I picked up the four wheeler and was charged $535.00 I
was stunned. That amount was a lot more than I expected to pay for a carburetor cleaning. When I
asked Mr. [redacted] why he didn't call me and let me know that it was going to be so expensive. His
response was," I didn't think about calling you, I didn't think it was that much." Mr. [redacted] stated that
the Parts Manager discounted the bill by 15%, when actually I was told by the Parts Manager that he
would reduce the parts to 10% over cost. Concerning the manager mentioning that the four wheeler is
ten years old, that has no relevance in this matter. The age of the four wheeler is not an issue. Mr.
[redacted]'s having worked for thirty-seven years does not mean he is infallible.
The Manager, Mr. [redacted] did state that he would remove the parts, but would not refund my $195.00
labor charge. I never asked for a refund. How could I agree to this? Where were my old parts?
Discarded I would assume. The four wheeler did run when I brought it to Atlas Honda, just not well.
The explanation of why the carburetor needed repair is also not germane to the issue of unauthorized
repairs.
When talking to the Manager I never asked for anything specific. I was hoping he was a standup guy and
would do what was right. But, he only stood up for his employee who may I reiterate, did not mention a
price for repairs or the need for any additional parts. I can only assume that the rendition in Mr. [redacted]'
letter was how it was reported to him, but it is not what was communicated to me.
There was no paper work on this service and unfortunately it is my word against the Service Manager.
The Service Manager, should remember what he told me after thirty-seven years of service. Also, after
all these years of service he should have gotten a written work order or should have called to have these
repairs authorized. Yet again, with thirty-seven years experience I would think his prognosis of the
problem should be quite accurate. Which as we know now, his ability to diagnose problems from
listening to a four wheeler run are suspect. I would like to apologize for any inconvenience this may
have placed on the Revdex.com. You can forward this to the business or not. But, as far as I am concerned this is
not resolved.
Sincerely,
[redacted] *. [redacted]

This is in regard to complait ID [redacted].
I disagree with Mr. [redacted] that he was not told there would be charges for labor and parts on his ATV repair..
The discount that was given to Mr. [redacted] was as a courtesy.
The fact the the ATV is ten years old is a big factor.  The older a unit is the more likley there are to be more parts needed to make repairs.
I also disagree with Mr. [redacted]s statment of unauthorized repairs because he was told at the time he brought his ATV in to our service dept. that thre would be a $!95.00 labor charge plus parts.
As for Mr. [redacted]s coments toward myself and [redacted] our service manager, I think this goes to the fact Mr. [redacted] did not want to pay his repair bill.
As far as I an concerned this matter is closed.
 [redacted], Atlas Honda

Review: I took a Kawasaki four wheeler in for a recall. I also mentioned to the service supervisor that it was not running correctly, backfiring, etc. He said it was probably a dirty carburetor. I told him it would be ok to clean the carburetor. When they called for me to pick up the four wheeler,I received a bill for $535.00. I was told that they had rebuilt the carburetor and had installed two vacuum tubes. I was not contacted concerning the repairs. I was so stunned that I paid for the repairs. I talked to the manager, but he was unsympathetic. He offered to remove the news parts (do not know where my old parts might have been), but he would still charge me $195 for labor. They did reduce the bill to $472, reflecting a reduction in parts costs. Am I legally responsible for paying for these unauthorized repairs?Desired Settlement: If the four wheeler needed the work required, that is one thing. But. to do it without authorization is another. Maybe, I wanted to get another opinion or take it to another repair center. I wasn't able to do this, as I was not notified. I feel that they made a mistake, but I am the one paying for it. I would be willing to pay for the labor, but no parts. The company should take some responsibility for making this error.

Business

Response:

This ATV is approximately 10 years old and was brought in to our

service department to have the carburetor cleaned. At the time the ATV was

brought in there was also an outstanding recall on the ATV which was

performed during the same visit. When the customer ask us to clean the

carburetor our Service Manager, [redacted] who has been with Atlas

over 37 years told Mr. [redacted] that the labor to clean the two carburetors on

his KVF700 would be $195.00 in addition to any parts needed to do the job.

The parts that we used were two carburetor kits and 2 vacuum diaphragm

valves. The vacuum valves are made of a rubber like material that were

reduced to a gummy mess that would not work. The vacuum valves are the

slide that open and close the throttle in the main body of the carburetor.

The carburetor kit contains the parts that are necessary to complete the proper

operation of the carburetor. Ethanol in the gas has caused many problems

for us and our customers. Ethanol causes clogged jets and build up in the

main body of the carburetor and destroys rubber parts.

In response to section 4: In order to try and help Mr. [redacted] the parts

manager, [redacted] discounted the parts 15%. Without the parts we could

not have made the repair. I told the customer we would remove the new

parts and would not charge him for the parts or the labor. Mr. [redacted] did not

agree to that. It seemed to me that he wanted us to give him the $195.00 of

labor in addition to the discount on the parts. I did not agree to do that. If we

had not performed the job the way that we did the ATV would not run.

Thank you,

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

The issues addressed in my original complaint, concerning unauthorized repairs on a 2004 Kawasaki four

wheeler, were not resolved in the response from Atlas Honda of Bristol, Virginia.

Let me make it perfectly clear that the Service Manager, [redacted] never quoted a price for

cleaning the carburetor, nor did he mention parts or any other repairs. When I explained the symptoms,

Mr. [redacted] said he was pretty sure that the carburetor needed cleaning. We only discussed cleaning

the carburetor and no price was quoted. When I picked up the four wheeler and was charged $535.00 I

was stunned. That amount was a lot more than I expected to pay for a carburetor cleaning. When I

asked Mr. [redacted] why he didn't call me and let me know that it was going to be so expensive. His

response was," I didn't think about calling you, I didn't think it was that much." Mr. [redacted] stated that

the Parts Manager discounted the bill by 15%, when actually I was told by the Parts Manager that he

would reduce the parts to 10% over cost. Concerning the manager mentioning that the four wheeler is

ten years old, that has no relevance in this matter. The age of the four wheeler is not an issue. Mr.

[redacted]'s having worked for thirty-seven years does not mean he is infallible.

The Manager, Mr. [redacted] did state that he would remove the parts, but would not refund my $195.00

labor charge. I never asked for a refund. How could I agree to this? Where were my old parts?

Discarded I would assume. The four wheeler did run when I brought it to Atlas Honda, just not well.

The explanation of why the carburetor needed repair is also not germane to the issue of unauthorized

repairs.

When talking to the Manager I never asked for anything specific. I was hoping he was a standup guy and

would do what was right. But, he only stood up for his employee who may I reiterate, did not mention a

price for repairs or the need for any additional parts. I can only assume that the rendition in Mr. [redacted]'

letter was how it was reported to him, but it is not what was communicated to me.

There was no paper work on this service and unfortunately it is my word against the Service Manager.

The Service Manager, should remember what he told me after thirty-seven years of service. Also, after

all these years of service he should have gotten a written work order or should have called to have these

repairs authorized. Yet again, with thirty-seven years experience I would think his prognosis of the

problem should be quite accurate. Which as we know now, his ability to diagnose problems from

listening to a four wheeler run are suspect. I would like to apologize for any inconvenience this may

have placed on the Revdex.com. You can forward this to the business or not. But, as far as I am concerned this is

not resolved.

Sincerely,

[redacted]

Business

Response:

This is in regard to complait ID [redacted].

I disagree with Mr. [redacted] that he was not told there would be charges for labor and parts on his ATV repair..

The discount that was given to Mr. [redacted] was as a courtesy.

The fact the the ATV is ten years old is a big factor. The older a unit is the more likley there are to be more parts needed to make repairs.

I also disagree with Mr. [redacted]s statment of unauthorized repairs because he was told at the time he brought his ATV in to our service dept. that thre would be a $!95.00 labor charge plus parts.

As for Mr. [redacted]s coments toward myself and [redacted] our service manager, I think this goes to the fact Mr. [redacted] did not want to pay his repair bill.

As far as I an concerned this matter is closed.

[redacted], Atlas Honda

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

This letter is in regard to complaint ID [redacted] and the rebuttal of Mr. [redacted].

Mr. [redacted] disagrees with my statement that I was not informed of the labor charges and parts for my ATV. I appreciate the fact that he is standing behind his employee. But, the truth remains that I was not told of any labor charge or parts either verbally or in a written estimate. Why would I even file a complaint if everything had been in the open. If there had been written documentation or evidence of a phone call that all this had been handled in a professional manner, we would not be writing these letters

The issue of the age of the ATV or the years of experience of the service manager has absolutely nothing to do with the issue. The issue is, that the company did not contact me about making these repairs to my ATV. If the repairs in question were needed I may have agreed to have them completed, but I was not afforded this courtesy.

Concerning the fact that I did not want to pay for my repair bill, Mr. [redacted] needs to remember that I paid my bill before I ever talked to him. The more I thought about the charges the more it bothered me, so I sought him out to see if we could come to an understanding. I never once asked for any specific amount, not did I request that my bill be forgiven. I had hoped for some fair and reasonable resolution of this error. I would have been happy with a reasonable deduction in the bill, not just a few dollars off for parts. Since, I did not authorize these repairs is seems appropriate and professional to offer a reduction in charges so that everyone could be somewhat satisfied.

The fact that I made a mistake in not asking for and the service manager made a mistake in not providing me with a written service estimate makes this complaint that much more difficult to resolve. I wish we could have come to some settlement, even if it was just an apology from the business itself for making this mistake. Even though an apology for a mistake that cost me several hundred dollars is a little hollow.

There is no need for the business to respond. It is abundantly clear that the manager is not going to try to be conciliatory in this matter.

Sincerely,

[redacted]