Midas Auto Repair Milford

Our vehicle was towed to Midas of Milford, from Saturday to Wednesday services were inappropriate for the problem, misleading information was given. On Saturday July 20th, 2013 our [redacted] broke down on an off ramp to 495, smoke coming out of the engine while towing our camper. Our vehicle was towed to Midas of Milford. We waited the 7 hours to be told that it was a hose and gasket we needed in our cooling system and it was dealer specific and they could not get the part until Monday. They assured me they will call on Monday and let me know when I can pick up the car. I get no phone call, so I call them and the owner [redacted] has me speak to the mechanic [redacted] who informs me that I need a new radiator because someone has put to much stop leak in our radiator and the coolant can't pass through. (We have owned this vehicle since 2007 and have never had stop leak put in it and we informed him of that fact). [redacted] says they have a radiator available and can install it but he will try to clean out our old one first. Monday comes to a close and I hear nothing further on the vehicle. Tuesday the 23rd I call again and they say the job is labor intensive but they will get the radiator in "this morning". I say ok and call again at about 2 in the afternoon and they inform me the job is not done because they are missing a part and can't find this particular part even though they had called all of their local vendors. No one notifies me of this situation. I tell them they need to complete this job we need this vehicle badly. [redacted] assures me they are doing everything they can to locate the needed part but the job can't be done without it. I call at 4:30 and they have located a part and they are going to pick it up. They have had my car now for 3 days and nothing has been completed. They tell me the car will be done in the morning and to pick it up at noon. Wednesday, July 24th I call at noon to be sure the car is finished as we were driving an hour and a half to pick it up. [redacted] says to be on the safe side plan on coming at 1. I say ok and reiterate how important it is that the vehicle has been test driven and repaired properly to [redacted]. He says absolutely, my mechanic has driven it and you are all set. I respond, "so I can tow my camper home form the [redacted] MA to [redacted] and I will be all set?", [redacted] says "yes absolutely it is ready to go." I thank him and he says, "no problem that is what we do here at Midas." My mother brings my husband from [redacted] to Milford and pays $1100.00 for the repairs. My husband pulls out onto the road and the car is bucking and the check engine light is on. He returns to Midas and speaks to the manager on duty, [redacted] (because now the owner [redacted] has left for his family vacation) to pick up the vehicle. [redacted] says " Oh the technician did not tell you, you need new plugs." This was not mentioned at all. I spoke with the manager by phone and informed him of how grossly negligent the employees have been and how misleading they had been. I informed him of [redacted]'s words to me, that the car had been test driven and it was all set to tow a camper 4 hours home. [redacted] seemed generally annoyed with the situation and tried to say, well I just came on duty and this was left for me. He informed us that his computer was not working and he could not hook it up to the car and that our vehicle would be towed to a dealership the next day because he no longer could help us. The dealership confirmed that we had blown two head gaskets in our engine and that it clearly was not a radiator problem and that anyone using any level of diagnostic procedures would have known that. They also confirmed that the substance that we were told by Midas was stop leak in our radiator was the result of coolant and engine oil mixing and that should have been identifiable by even the most novice mechanic. We were misinformed, charged for services that were not appropriate for the problem and outright lied to by the owner of this franchise. This ruined our vacation and cost us money we should not have had to invest in an unsalvageable vehicle. Desired SettlementWe wish to be credited $1103.74, that we were charged for the inappropriate and unnecessary repairs done to our vehicle. We also wish to be compensated at the rate of 55 cents per mile for the trip from [redacted] to Milford to pick up the vehicle we had been promised only to find it was not in drivable condition. That meant we were told to travel 104 miles there and then had to turn around and go back without the vehicle, another 104 miles. Totaling 208 miles in the car for nothing in one day, at 55 cents a mile, which is the average rate of reimbursement for mileage, for an additional amount of $114.40. Besides the monetary compensation, I would like this business to hire a skilled team of mechanics, work on their functional communication skills among the employees, so everyone knows what is happening with the vehicles they service and their honest communication skills with customers. they need to learn and know when they have found a job that they are not equipped to handle and be honest about that with their customers. I request that this company never guarantee that a car is prepared and has been adequately test driven when it has not been, thusly putting a human life at risk. Business Response Saturday July 20 1148 am[redacted] towed to our shop By [redacted] of Milford MA. Claiming to have waited 7 hours to be told "hose and gasket", simply untrue. We close at 4 on Saturdays, typically one of our busiest days.Monday arrives and I have [redacted] speak with the customer and I get involved in the repair process. First order of repair is to diagnose the coolant system. It was determined that the thermostat assembly was plugged with grey viscous goop. Involving the radiator is still a day away. Until the thermostat assembly was replaced we had never seen the car running On Tuesday, late morning car was started and in ten minutes time the car had overheated again running at idle speed. Air continually bubbled out of the reservoir and it was determined that no coolant was flowing through the top radiator hose. It was Tuesday before there was any discussing of radiator repair.. The radiator needed to be replaced.At this point the car had been run for a total of ten minutes in front of us. It is now Tuesday afternoon and we ordered a radiator and began removing the old one. In the process we learn that a specialty coolant hose separator was needed to fully remove and reattach a radiator to this vehicle. I went to 2 different suppliers ** and [redacted] and called 2 others. No one had this part. One was finally located In a mobile tool truck. It was delivered Wednesday morning. By the end of Wednesday the thermostat assembly and the radiator had been replaced. This is the exact protocol needed to address car that had been towed to your shop for overheating. All coolant had been flushed and replaced and now the car did not overheat.Everyone was hopeful that this car had been repaired. It has now been stated 2 times. Now that is not overheating we noticed that it did have some significant misfiring and was running rough. We do not have the Merc/Ford specific diagnostic module so we recommended that the car now be serviced at [redacted]. We paid to have the car towed there.I do sympathize with the predicament here but would follow the same exact same process that any trained mechanic would with a car that had over heated. There is no way to determine that the head gasket had been blow until the car can be started and run under normal driving conditions with a functional cooling system.The following estimates were cross checked through the [redacted] website.Engine overheat diagnose $103-131Thermostat replace $107-$182Coolant replace flush $98-$130Radiator replace $ 577-$830 They were charged a fair price; unfortunately their car needed additional work after the cooling system was repaired..[redacted]Final Consumer Response (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)On July 20th our vehicle was towed to Midas of Milford. We arrived around 11am and we were told they were busy but that someone would take a look at it. Although, the sign on the door says they close at 4 they had customers past 4 and the manager did not pull off the lot until shortly after 5 on this day. He informed us at 4:30 that there was nothing that could be done to fix the car until Monday. At that point we contacted our nearest family member for a ride and waited in the empty parking lot for another hour. We were on Midas property for five and a half hours before we were even informed of our vehicles status. We were told they would call us on Monday morning and the job would be completed first thing. We got no phone call, I followed up with them late morning and was told the job was not done yet. They said they would call when it was completed and we heard noting more from them, after being told they would do the job first thing in the morning. Tuesday the technician [redacted] called me and said that they replaced the thermostat but someone has put too much stop leak in the radiator at some point in time and it is not allowing the coolant to flow through. I explained that we had owned the car since 2007 and no one had used stop leak in our vehicle. I inquired at this point as to why we would not have had a problem in six years with the cooling system during regular use, multiple trips towing a camper including one to Florida from Massachusetts. He said "Yeah, I don't know why" but had not further explanation and informed me that we needed a new radiator. I gave permission to put in the radiator and he tells me it will be ready on Tuesday, they will call in the morning. I get no phone call and call them mid afternoon only to be told that they are missing a part. Mr. [redacted] is the one who informed me of this situation. He informed he that the parts store does not have it. He said he would try to find it and finally around 5 pm calls to say he has the hose separator and the radiator will be installed and the car will be ready by noon time on Wednesday the 23rd of July. Wednesday, late morning I call them and they say I better come at 1 not 12, just to be sure it is done. I call around 2 and speak with Mr. [redacted], he informs me that the vehicle is ready for pick up. I point blank ask him, " is the car is all set?" He says "yes", I respond, "so my vehicle will be fine to tow my camper and my three children home to [redacted] from [redacted]?" He says "Yes". I then ask, "has the vehicle been test driven?" He says "yes my mechanic took it out, your vehicle is all set." I say "thanks" and he says "your welcome, that's what we do here at MIDAS." I tell him we will start the drive to get the vehicle and he informs me that he is leaving on vacation but [redacted] will take care of us when we get there. My husband and mother pay for the repairs, over 1100 dollars, my husband drives the car out and can barely drive it to the next four way intersection it is bucking so badly. NEVER were we told that it was misfiring or was running rough, as he states in his response to us. We were told it was all set to tow the camper and my three children 130 miles. Clearly this was a blatant lie, there was no way the vehicle had been test driven, there was no way it was ready to tow a camper and my children home. Mr. [redacted] lied to me in a direct phone conversation, left for vacation with his family and left his manager [redacted] to deal with the situation. At that point we requested they tow the vehicle to [redacted] at their expense because it was clear that the safety of my family was not important to Mr. [redacted] and that this not a place that had skilled mechanics able to rectify this situation. [redacted] confirmed in less than 24 hours, that the grey sludge they were seeing was not stop leak, and that is what happens when engine oil and coolant mix together. It was also reported that that phenomenon is common knowledge and should be recognizable even by the most novice mechanic. They also confirmed that hooking the car up to a diagnostic machine before doing anything else to the vehicle would have been the best indicator of what the problem truly was and that that should have been done before doing any further repairs. If they had done this they would have known it was the engine and not the cooling system, negating the need to do the services to the cooling system. Their computer indicated low pressure in two head gaskets. Mr. [redacted] reports that his facility does not have the diagnostic module specific to ford/merc, this being said, they should have referred us on to someone who was equipped to do appropriate diagnostics. True negligence on behalf of Mr. [redacted] and his employees at Midas of Milford, not to mention Mr. [redacted] put my family in immediate danger by telling me the car was all set to tow my children and the camper home and that it had been test driven and was all set. The dishonesty is reprehensible and he swindled a middle class working family. When you own a business it is only as good as your word and clearly Mr. [redacted] lacks honesty in his communication with his customers. It is unacceptable and Midas needs to refund the services rendered. Final Business Response Retelling the same story with more elaborate drama and embellished descriptions do not change the facts here. As is often said, "You are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts".I will not even begin to respond to your misguided, false accusations and non-sequential description of the events that transpired. Your ad hominem personal attacks are way over the line of decency and have no value other than to trying to distort the truth.It seems to me that you are trying to use all of the information known now, to alter the process of discovery in the past. And in doing so, create both imagined and desired negligence for financial gain. That will not occur here.You simply cannot look backwards with 20/20 vision, knowledge and perception and mold the facts to fit a script you wish to rewrite to your satisfaction and the outcome you desire. Sorry. We repaired an old, broken down vehicle that had been towed to our shop. You drove the car well past the point where you should have noticed it had overheated. Youdestroyed your car.You cannot rewrite or revisit history in real time. Your attempt to do this here is shameful and you, not I, should be embarrassed.

TRYING TO CHARGE FOR LABOR THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN COVERED UNDER LIMITED WARRANTYORIGINAL DATE OF SERVICE [redacted]BROUGHT IN SINCE BRAKES CONTINUED TO SQUEAK ON [redacted] AND WAS TOLD A CLEANING AN ADJUSTMENT WAS DONE AND TO SEE IF THAT WOULD HELP IF NOT THEY WOULD WARRANTY THEM OUTBROUGHT BACK ON [redacted] TO GET BRAKES CHECKED AGAIN THE OWNER WAS NOT IN SO THE EMPLOYEE CALLED HIM TO SEE ABOUT WARRANTING THE BRAKES AND ROTORS OUT AND I WAS TOLD I WOULD HAVE TO PAY LABOR AND HARDWARE KIT FEES. WHEN I TOLD THEM THE WARRANTY STATES THAT I WOULD NOT BE RESPONSIBLE IF WITHIN THE 90 DAYS.WHEN I FINALLY SPOKE TO THE OWNER [redacted] ON [redacted] HE SAID HE THINKS THIS IS DUE TO NOT CHANGING THE HARDWARE KIT. WHICH HE HAS NOT SEEN MY CAR SINCE [redacted] AND NEVER MENTIONED THE HARDWARE KIT BEFORE. I TOLD HIM THE WARRANTY STATED LABOR WOULD NOT BE CHARGED WITHIN 90 DAYS THE OWNER REFUSED AND SAID HE NEVER HEARD OF THAT AND READ THE WARRANTY HIMSELF OUT LOUD WHILE ON THE PHONE HE STILL DENIED IT. HE SAID HE IS GOING TO CONTACT CORPORATE AND MAKE SEE WHAT THEY SAY AND THAT COULD TAKE ANOTHER 2 BUSINESS DAYS. I CALLED CORPORATE MYSELF AND STILL HAVE NOT HEARD FROM THEM.Desired SettlementI AM FORCED TO DRIVE MY CAR WITH DEFECTIVE BRAKES AND WOULD RATHER TAKE MY CAR TO ANOTHER SHOP WHERE THEY WILL DO THE WORK PROPERLY AND STAND BEHIND THE WARRANTY. I WOULD LIKE A REFUND SO I CAN TAKE THE CAR TO GET THE WORK DONE THAT I ORIGINALLY PAID FOR AND SINCE THE DAY THAT IT WAS DONE I HAVE HAD THE SAME ISSUE AND DID NOT IGNORE IT AND WAS TOLD TO GIVE IT TIME. WHICH I THINK IT WAS A COVER UP TO GET ME PASSED THE 90 DAY LIMITED WARRANTYBusiness Response Contact Name and Title: [redacted] / ownerContact Phone: XXX XXX XXXXContact Email: [redacted] returned on [redacted] and all of her parts were replaced free of charge.Consumer Response (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)My car went in that Saturday and came back without a single noise